Job 39:9 · Bible study
Job 39:9 Commentary: The Untamable Wild Ox
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore the wild ox (re'em) in Job 39:9, its identity, untamable nature, and role in God's speech on human limitation and divine power.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The wild ox refuses to be tamed, contrasting human limitation with God's power over creation.
- Key word: re'em (H7214), a wild ox or aurochs, noted for strength and untamable nature.
- Main debate: The precise animal, unicorn (KJV), wild ox, rhinoceros, or buffalo, has been disputed, but all agree it was real, strong, and untamable.
- Theological theme: Divine sovereignty over the untamable parts of creation, calling humans to humble trust.
- Best use: Preaching on human limits, God's majesty, and the wonder of creation.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
WEB World English Bible 2000
“Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
KJV King James Version 1769
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee? Or will he abide by thy crib?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Is a Reem willing to serve thee? Doth he lodge by thy crib?
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Will the buffalo be willing to serve thee, or will he lodge by thy crib?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Shall the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee, or will he stay at thy crib?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Al cual yo puse casa en la soledad, y sus moradas en lugares estériles.
Por acaso o boi selvagem quererá te servir, ou ficará junto de tua manjedoura?
J’ai fait du désert son habitation,
Meinst du das Einhorn werde dir dienen und werde bleiben an deiner Krippe?
Zal de eenhoorn u willen dienen? Zal hij vernachten aan uw kribbe?
Il bufalo vorrà egli servirti o passar la notte presso alla tua mangiatoia?
Któremu dał pustynię miasto domu jego, a miasto mieszkania jego miejsca słone.
Захочет ли единорог служить тебе и переночует ли у яслей твоих?
野牛 豈肯 服事你？豈 肯住 在 你的槽旁？
Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 39:9
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Job 39:9 features an animal of great strength that refuses domestication, contrasting with the tame ox. Barnes notes the animal's independence 'proves God's supremacy and power.' The Cambridge Bible highlights the irony: the wild ox is 'fitted for all the labour performed by the domestic animal' but remains wild. Gill and Adam Clarke both stress its untamable nature; Clarke identifies it with the rhinoceros, citing Arabic usage. The exact species is debated, unicorn (KJV), wild ox, buffalo, or rhinoceros, but the consensus is clear: God uses this creature to show Job that some parts of creation lie beyond human control. The point is not the animal's terror but its refusal to serve, as Cambridge states: 'Who is the author of this strange diversity?' The verse thus underscores the Creator's wisdom and power.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Unicorn (traditional, based on KJV): Follows the Septuagint (monokeros) and Vulgate, reinforced by legendary accounts.
- Wild ox / aurochs (modern majority): Supported by Hebrew lexicography, cross-references (Deuteronomy 33:17 uses two-horned imagery), and natural history of the region.
- Rhinoceros (Adam Clarke): Arabic reim means rhinoceros; its strength and untamable nature fit the description.
What is clear: The animal is strong, untamable, and refuses to serve at the feeding trough, illustrating the limits of human power and the extent of God's creative authority.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the animal (re'em) | It is a large, strong, untamable creature of the ox or antelope family. | Some early translations (KJV) render it 'unicorn'; modern versions prefer 'wild ox.' Others suggest the rhinoceros (Adam Clarke) or buffalo (Barnes, Robinson). |
| The lesson for Job | The verse demonstrates Job's inability to control or command the creature, highlighting human limitation. | Whether the primary point is Job's sin (some older commentators) or simply the mystery of God's ways (most modern scholars). |
| Relationship to surrounding animals | The wild ox is part of a series of wild animals (wild donkey, ostrich, horse, eagle) that showcase God's creative power. | Some see progression from less to more impressive animals; others see a random catalogue designed to overwhelm Job. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Job 39:9 sits within God's extended speech from the whirlwind (Job 38, 41), where the Lord challenges Job's understanding of the natural world. The opening rhetorical questions, 'Who has set the wild donkey free?' (v.5), 'Will the wild ox be content to serve you?' (v.9), press Job to recognize his limits. The wild ox (Hebrew re'em) was likely an aurochs or bison, animals known for their size and ferocity in the ancient Near East. The ancestral region of Uz (likely in the Arabian Peninsula or Edom) had wilderness areas where such beasts roamed. The verse draws on agricultural imagery: a feeding trough (Hebrew 'evus) and the labor of ploughing and harrowing (v.10, 12). These details would resonate with an agrarian audience familiar with oxen that pulled plows and threshed grain. The contrast is sharp: even the strongest domestic ox submits to the yoke, but the wild ox refuses. This unpacks the lesson about human power, Job cannot subdue this animal, but God can. The cross-reference in Numbers 23:22 uses the wild ox as a symbol of Israel's strength, while Isaiah 1:3 contrasts the ox who knows its owner with Israel's stubbornness. The wild ox thus becomes a living parable of God's sovereignty over all creation.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries note no significant textual variants for Job 39:9. Keil & Delitzsch discuss the presence of a dagesh in the resh of reim as an orthographic feature, but this does not affect the meaning. The verse is textually stable across manuscripts.
Reception History
The King James Version's 'unicorn' (following the Latin Vulgate and Septuagint) led many readers to imagine a mythical horse with a single horn. Medieval artists and poets sometimes allegorized the unicorn as Christ or purity. By the 19th century, commentaries like Adam Clarke's argued strongly for the rhinoceros, while others favored the aurochs or wild ox. This shift reflects growing knowledge of Hebrew and ancient Near Eastern fauna. Today, most English Bibles use 'wild ox,' restoring the original context. The verse has been sung in hymns about creation's majesty and preached as a call to humble trust in God's sovereignty over the untamable aspects of life.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The wild ox represents what man cannot tame. Its refusal to serve points to our limited control over creation.
- The animal's strength testifies to God's greater power. The Creator alone can direct such a creature.
- Our limitations humble us before God. Recognizing what we cannot do opens the door to trust in the One who can.
Five-point outline
- God questions Job about the wild ox. The rhetorical form demands a confession of ignorance.
- The wild ox is strong but untamable. Barns notes it is not subject to human purposes.
- Job relied on domestic animals for livelihood; the wild ox mocks his dependence. It will not serve at the feeding trough (crib).
- The passage builds toward a bigger claim: If you cannot control one wild ox, how can you challenge God's governance of the world?
- The point is not Job's failure but God's majesty. The wild ox, like the ostrich and horse later, becomes a hymn of praise to the Creator.
Illustration hooks
- A powerful stallion that refuses the halter, no matter how skilled the trainer.
- A stubborn mule that will not cross a bridge, sometimes strength and will are beyond human coaxing.
- The force of a river in flood: you cannot command it; you can only work around it.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God focus on animals in response to Job's suffering?
- What does this teach me about areas of my life I cannot control?
- How can weakness become the ground for faith rather than frustration?
Leading a Discussion
Job 39:9 stops us short: the wild ox refuses to serve. Before we rush to answer God, we sit with the question. What things in your life are like that wild ox, powerful, real, but beyond your control? The passage invites us to see our limitations not as failures but as places where God's power becomes visible.
Discussion questions
- Observation: What does the verse say about the wild ox's attitude toward its owner?
- Observation: How do the surrounding verses (Job 39:5, 12) describe the wild ox's lifestyle?
- Interpretation: Why do you think God chose an agricultural image (feeding trough, furrow) to make His point?
- Interpretation: In what ways does the wild ox's independence reflect God's creative freedom?
- Application: Where do you feel most like Job, frustrated by something or someone you cannot change?
- Application: How might trusting God with that 'wild ox' change how you pray about it?
- Application: What can you celebrate about God's power today, especially in areas that feel untamable?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Numbers 23:22 | God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. |
| Deuteronomy 33:17 | Majesty belongs to the firstborn of his herd. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.” |
| Psalms 22:21 | Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. |
| Psalms 92:10 | But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil. |
| Isaiah 1:3 | The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know. My people don’t consider.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the animal referred to is the rhinoceros known as רים in Arabic. He explains that this creature is fierce and cannot be tamed.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes argues the Hebrew word re'em, translated "unicorn," does not refer to a mythical one-horned horse but to a real, powerful wild animal such as a buffalo. His point is that this creature is untamable and cannot be domesticated for plowing or harvest, proving its great strength and independence from human control.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Christians who hold the view that Job 39:9 describes a wild ox note that the creature has two horns and belongs to the ox tribe. This animal looks similar to a domestic ox but remains wild and cannot be tamed.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note highlights God's direct claim: He personally made the wilderness and barren salt lands the wild donkey's home. The point is not just that the creature lives there, but that God deliberately chose and created that harsh environment for its dwelling.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill argues the creature is a wild ox, not a mythical unicorn. He points to ancient accounts of such wild oxen in Job's region that were too strong to be tamed. The question highlights that this beast, unlike a tame ox, will not serve or stay at the stall.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary sees the unicorn as a reference to the rhinoceros. It also believes the word used for it means loftiness and power. This view holds that the actual animal described is the buffalo.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch identifies the re'em as the oryx, a mountain-dwelling antelope that cannot be tamed for farm work. They reject the buffalo and rhinoceros interpretations, arguing the oryx's wild nature and habitat fit this passage, and they cite ancient testimony that the animal was depicted as one-horned.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange notes that God’s speech during the storm proves both Job’s long desire for divine presence and his deep failure to see his own smallness. This revelation forces Job to give up all criticism of God and accept His will in complete humility.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that humans do not know when these animals give birth. He says God’s care keeps every species alive through their births.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that scholars disagree over the animal called "unicorn" in this verse. Some connect it to the rhinoceros, while others argue it refers to a type of wild bull. He simply presents this uncertainty without settling the question.