God, having displayed his own power in those creatures that are strong and despise man, here shows it in one scarcely inferior to any of them in strength, and yet very tame and serviceable to man, and that is the horse, especially the horse that is prepared against the day of battle and is serviceable to man at a time when he has more than ordinary occasion for his service. It seems, there was, in Job's country, a noble generous breed of horses. Job, it is probable, kept many, though they are not mentioned among his possessions, cattle for use in husbandry being there valued more than those for state and war, which alone horses were then reserved for, and they were not then put to such mean services as with us they are commonly put to. Concerning the great horse, that stately beast, it is here observed, 1. That he has a great deal of strength and spirit (v. 19): Hast thou given the horse strength? He uses his strength for man, but has it not from him: God gave it to him, who is the fountain of all the powers of nature, and yet he himself delights not in the strength of the horse (Psa 147:10), but has told us that a horse is a vain thing for safety, Psa 33:17. For running, drawing, and carrying, no creature that is ordinarily in the service of man has so much strength as the horse has, nor is of so stout and bold a spirit, not to be made afraid as a grasshopper, but daring and forward to face danger. It is a mercy to man to have such a servant, which, though very strong, submits to the management of a child, and rebels not against his owner. But let not the strength of a horse be trusted to, Hos 14:3; Psa 20:7; Isa 31:1, Isa 31:3. 2. That his neck and nostrils look great. His neck is clothed with thunder, with a large and flowing mane, which makes him formidable and is an ornament to him. The glory of his nostrils, when he snorts, flings up his head, and throws foam about, is terrible, Job 39:20. Perhaps there might be at that time, and in that country, a more stately breed of horses than any we have now. 3. That he is very fierce and furious in battle, and charges with an undaunted courage, though he pushes on in imminent danger of his life. (1.) See how frolicsome he is (Job 39:21): He paws in the valley, scarcely knowing what ground he stands upon. He is proud of his strength, and he has much more reason to be so as using his strength in the service of man, and under his direction, than the wild ass that uses it in contempt of man, and in a revolt from him Job 39:8. (2.) See how forward he is to engage: He goes on to meet the armed men, animated, not by the goodness of the cause, or the prospect of honour, but only by the sound of the trumpet, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting of the soldiers, which are as bellows to the fire of his innate courage, and make him spring forward with the utmost eagerness, as if he cried, Ha! ha! Job 39:25. How wonderfully are the brute-creatures fitted for and inclined to the services for which they were designed. (3.) See how fearless he is, how he despises death and the most threatening dangers, (Job 39:22): He mocks at fear, and makes a jest of it; slash at him with a sword, rattle the quiver, brandish the spear, to drive him back, he will not retreat, but press forward, and even inspires courage into his rider. (4.) See how furious he is. He curvets and prances, and runs on with so much violence and heat against the enemy that one would think he even swallowed the ground with fierceness and rage, Job 39:24. High mettle is the praise of a horse rather than of a man, whom fierceness and rage ill become. This description of the war-horse will help to explain that character which is given of presumptuous sinners, Jer 8:6. Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and he is carried on in a wicked way by the violence of inordinate appetites and passions, there is no making him afraid of the wrath of God and the fatal consequences of sin. Let his own conscience set before him the curse of the law, the death that is the wages of sin, and all the terrors of the Almighty in battle-array; he mocks at this fear, and is not affrighted, neither turns he back from the flaming sword of the cherubim. Let ministers lift up their voice like a trumpet, to proclaim the wrath of God against him, he believes not that it is the sound of the trumpet, nor that God and his heralds are in earnest with him; but what will be in the end hereof it is easy to foresee.

Hast thou given the horse strength? - Before I proceed to any observations, I shall give Mr. Good's version of this, perhaps inimitable, description: -

Job 39:19 Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle?Hast thou clothed his neck with the thunder flash?

Job 39:20 Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow?Terrible is the pomp of his nostrils.

Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and exulteth.Boldly he advanceth against the clashing host:

Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and trembleth not:Nor turneth he back from the sword.

Job 39:23 Against him rattleth the quiver,The glittering spear, and the shield:

Job 39:24 With rage and fury he devoureth the ground;And is impatient when the trumpet soundeth.

Job 39:25 He exclaimeth among the trumpets, Aha!And scenteth the battle afar off,The thunder of the chieftains, and the shouting.

In the year 1713, a letter was sent to the Guardian, which makes No. 86 of that work, containing a critique on this description, compared with similar descriptions of Homer and Virgil. I shall give the substance of it here: -

The great Creator, who accommodated himself to those to whom he vouchsafed to speak, hath put into the mouths of his prophets such sublime sentiments and exalted language as must abash the pride and wisdom of man. In the book of Job, the most ancient poem in the world, we have such paintings and descriptions as I have spoken of in great variety. I shall at present make some remarks on the celebrated description of the horse, in that holy book; and compare it with those drawn by Homer and Virgil.

Homer hath the following similitude of a horse twice over in the Iliad, which Virgil hath copied from him; at least he hath deviated less from Homer than Mr. Dryden hath from him: -

Ὡς δ' ὁτε τις στατος ἱππος, ακοστησας επι φατνη,

Δεσμον απορῥηξας θειει πεδιοιο κροαινων,

Ειωθως λουεσθαι εΰρῥειος ποταμοιο,

Κυδιοων· ὑψου δε καρη εχει, αμοι δε χαιται

Ωμοις αΐσσονται· ὁ δ' αγλαΐῃφι πεποιθως

Ῥιμφα ἑ γουνα φερει μετα τ' ηθεα και νομον ἱππων.

Hom. Il. lib. vi., ver. 506; and lib. xv., ver. 263.

Freed from his keepers, thus with broken reins

The wanton courser prances o'er the plains,

Or in the pride of youth o'erleaps the mound,

And snuffs the female in forbidden ground;

Or seeks his watering in the well-known flood,

To quench his thirst, and cool his fiery blood;

He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain,

And o'er his shoulders flows his waving mane;

He neighs, he snorts, he bears his head on high;

Before his ample chest the frothy waters fly.

Virgil's description is much fuller than the foregoing, which, as I said, is only a simile; whereas Virgil professes to treat of the nature of the horse: -

- Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,

Stare loco nescit: micat auribus, et tremit artus

Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem:

Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.

At duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatque

Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.

Virg. Georg. lib. iii., ver. 83.

Which is thus admirably translated: -

The fiery courser, when he hears from far

The sprightly trumpets, and the shouts of war,

Pricks up his ears; and, trembling with delight,

Shifts pace, and paws, and hopes the promised fight.

On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined,

Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.

His horny hoofs are jetty black and round;

His chin is double: starting with a bound,

He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.

Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow;

He bears his rider headlong on the foe.

Now follows that in the Book of Job, which, under all the disadvantages of having been written in a language little understood, of being expressed in phrases peculiar to a part of the world whose manner of thinking and speaking seems to us very uncouth; and, above all, of appearing in a prose translation; is nevertheless so transcendently above the heathen descriptions, that hereby we may perceive how faint and languid the images are which are formed by human authors, when compared with those which are figured, as it were, just as they appear in the eye of the Creator. God, speaking to Job, asks him: - [To do our translators as much justice as possible, and to help the critic, I shall throw it in the hemistich form, in which it appears in the Hebrew, and in which all Hebrew poetry is written.]

Job 39:19 Hast thou given to the Horse strength?Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

Job 39:20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?The glory of his nostrils is terrible!

Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in strength:He goeth on to meet the armed men.

Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted:Neither turneth he back from the sword.

Job 39:23 Against him rattleth the quiver,The glittering spear and the shield.

Job 39:24 He swalloweth the ground with rage and fierceness:Nor doth he believe that it is the sound of the trumpet.

Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Heach!And from afar he scenteth the battle,The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

Here are all the great and sprightly images that thought can form of this generous beast, expressed in such force and vigor of style as would have given the great wits of antiquity new laws for the sublime, had they been acquainted with these writings. I cannot but particularly observe that whereas the classical poets chiefly endeavor to paint the outward figure, lineaments, and motions, the sacred poet makes all the beauties to flow from an inward principle in the creature he describes; and thereby gives great spirit and vivacity to his description. The following phrases and circumstances are singularly remarkable: -

Job 39:19 Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

Homer and Virgil mention nothing about the neck of the horse but his mane. The sacred author, by the bold figure of thunder, not only expresses the shaking of that remarkable beauty in the horse, and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning; but likewise the violent agitation and force of the neck, which in the oriental tongues had been flatly expressed by a metaphor less bold than this.

Job 39:20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? - There is a twofold beauty in this expression, which not only marks the courage of this beast, by asking if he can be scared; but likewise raises a noble image of his swiftness, by insinuating that, if he could be frightened, he would bound away with the nimbleness of a grasshopper.

The glory of his nostrils is terrible - This is more strong and concise than that of Virgil, which yet is the noblest line that was ever written without inspiration: -

Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.

And in his nostrils rolls collected fire.

Geor. iii., ver. 85.

Job 39:21 He rejoiceth in his strength.

Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear.

Job 39:24 Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.

Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha!

These are signs of courage, as I said before, flowing from an inward principle. There is a peculiar beauty in his not believing it is the sound of the trumpet: that is, he cannot believe it for joy; but when he is sure of it, and is among the trumpets, he saith, Ha! ha! He neighs, he rejoices. His docility is elegantly painted in his being unmoved at the rattling quiver, the glittering spear, and the shield, Job 39:23, and is well imitated by Oppian, - who undoubtedly read Job, as Virgil did, - in his Poem on Hunting: -

Πως μεν γαρ τε μαχαισιν αρηΐος εκλυεν ἱππος

Ηχον εγερσιμοθον δολιχων πολεμηΐον αυλων;

Η πως αντα δεδορκεν ασκαρδαμυκτοισιν οπωπαις

Αιζηοισι λοχον πεπυκασμενον ὁπλιτησι;

Και χαλκον σελαγευντα, και αστραπτοντα σιδηρον;

Και μαθεν ευτε μενειν χρειω, ποτε δ' αυτις αρουειν.

Oppian Cyneget, lib. i., ver. 206.

Now firm the managed war-horse keeps his ground,

Nor breaks his order though the trumpet sound!

With fearless eye the glittering host surveys,

And glares directly at the helmet's blaze.

The master's word, the laws of war, he knows;

And when to stop, and when to charge the foes.

He swalloweth the ground, Job 39:24, is an expression for prodigious swiftness in use among the Arabians, Job's countrymen, to the present day. The Latins have something like it: -

Latumque fuga consumere campum.

Nemesian.

In flight the extended champaign to consume.

Carpere prata fuga.

Virg. Georg. III., Ver. 142.

In flight to crop the meads.

- Campumque volatu

Cum rapuere, pedum vestigia quaeras.

When, in their fight, the champaign they have snatch'd,

No track is left behind.

It is indeed the boldest and noblest of images for swiftness; nor have I met with any thing that comes so near it as Mr. Pope's, in Windsor Forest: -

Th' impatient courser pants in every vein,=

And pawing, seems to beat the distant plain;

Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross'd;

And ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.

He smelleth the battle afar off, and what follows about the shouting, is a circumstance expressed with great spirit by Lucan: -

So when the ring with joyful shouts resounds,

With rage and pride th' imprison'd courser bounds;

He frets, he foams, he rends his idle rein,

Springs o'er the fence, and headlong seeks the plain.

This judicious and excellent critique has left me little to say on this sublime description of the horse: I shall add some cursory notes only. In Job 39:19 we have the singular image, clothed his neck with thunder. How thunder and the horse's neck can be well assimilated to each other, I confess I cannot see. The author of the preceding critique seems to think that the principal part of the allusion belongs to the shaking of this remarkable beauty (the mane) in a horse; and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning. I am satisfied that the floating mane is here meant. The original is רעמה ramah, which Bochart and other learned men translate as above. How much the mane of a horse shaking and waving in the wind adds to his beauty and stateliness, every one is sensible; and the Greek and Latin poets, in their description of the horse, take notice of it. Thus Homer: -

- Αμφι δε χαιται

Ωμοις αΐσσονται.

Iliad vi., ver. 509.

"His mane dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies."

And Virgil: -

Luduntque per colla, per armos.

Aen. xi., ver. 497.

The verb רעם raam signifies to toss, to agitate; and may very properly be applied to the mane, for reasons obvious to all. Virgil has seized this characteristic in his fine line, Georg. iii. ver. 86: -

Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.

"His toss'd thick mane on his right shoulder falls."

Naturally, the horse is one of the most timid of animals; and this may be at once accounted for from his small quantity of brain. Perhaps there is no animal of his size that has so little. He acquires courage only from discipline; for naturally he starts with terror and affright at any sudden noise. It requires much discipline to bring him to hear the noise of drums and trumpets, and especially to bear a pair of kettle drums placed on each side his neck, and beaten there, with the most alarming variety of sounds. Query, Does the sacred text allude to any thing of this kind? I have been led to form this thought from the following circumstance. In some ancient MSS. of the Shah Nameh, a most eminent heroic poem, by the poet Ferdoosy, the Homer of India, in my own collection, adorned with paintings, representing regal interviews, animals, battles, etc., there appear in some places representations of elephants, horses, and camels, with a pair of drums, something like our kettle drums, hanging on each side of the animal's neck, and beaten, by a person on the saddle, with two plectrums or drumsticks; the neck itself being literally clothed with the drums and the housings on which they are fixed. Who is it then that has framed the disposition of such a timid animal, that by proper discipline it can bear those thundering sounds, which at first would have scared it to the uttermost of distraction? The capacity to receive discipline and instruction is as great a display of the wisdom of God as the formation of the bodies of the largest, smallest, or most complex animals is of his power. I leave this observation without laying any stress upon it. On such difficult subjects conjecture has a lawful range.

Hast thou given the horse strength?.... Not only to bear burdens and draw carriages, but for war; for it is the war horse that is here spoken of, as what follows shows, and his strength denotes; not strength of body only, but fortitude and courage; for which, as well as the other, the horse is eminent, and both are the gift of God, and not of men;

hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? or with strength, as the Targum; the horse having particularly great strength in its neck, as well as in other parts; or with strength of voice, as Ben Gersom explains it; and it has been generally understood of the neighing of horses, which comes through and out of their neck, and makes a vehement sound: some render it, "with a mane" (p); and could it be made to appear that the word is so used in any other place, or in any other writings, or in any of the dialects, it would afford a very good sense, since a fine large mane to a horse is a great ornament and recommendation: the Septuagint render it by "fear", and Jarchi interprets it of "terror"; and refers to the sense of, he word in Eze 27:35; and it may signify such a tremor as thunder makes, from whence that has its name; and it may be observed that between the neck and shoulder bone of an horse there is a tremulous and quavering motion; and which is more vehement in battle, not from any fearfulness of it, but rather through eagerness to engage in it; and therefore Schultens translates the words, "hast thou clothed his neck with a cheerful tremor?"

(p) Bochart, Bootius, &c.

The allusion to "the horse" (Job 39:18), suggests the description of him. Arab poets delight in praising the horse; yet it is not mentioned in the possessions of Job (Job 1:3; Job 42:12). It seems to have been at the time chiefly used for war, rather than "domestic purposes."

thunder--poetically for, "he with arched neck inspires fear as thunder does." Translate, "majesty" [UMBREIT]. Rather "the trembling, quivering mane," answering to the "vibrating wing" of the ostrich (see on Job 39:13) [MAURER]. "Mane" in Greek also is from a root meaning "fear." English Version is more sublime.