Job 39:6

6 I made the wilderness its home, and the salty wasteland^[a] its dwelling.

Job 39:6 Meaning and Commentary

Job 39:6

Whose house I have made the wilderness
Appointed that to be his place of residence, as being agreeable to his nature, at a distance from men, and in the less danger of being brought into subjection by them. Such were the deserts of Arabia; where, as Xenophon

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 relates, were many of these creatures, and which he represents as very swift: and Leo Africanus ^F15 says, great numbers of them are found in deserts, and on the borders of deserts; hence said to be used to the wilderness ( Jeremiah 2:24 ) ;

and the barren land his dwellings;
not entirely barren, for then it could not live there; but comparatively, with respect to land that is fruitful: or "salt land" ^F16; for, as Pliny ^F17 says, every place where salt is, is barren.

F14 De Expedition. Cyri, l. 1.
F15 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.
F16 (hxlm) "salsuginem", Montanus; "salsuginosam terram", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F17 Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 7.

Job 39:6 In-Context

4 Their offspring are healthy and grow up in the open field. They leave and do not return.

5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from its harness?

6 I made the wilderness its home, and the salty wasteland its dwelling.

7 It scoffs at the noise of the village and never hears the shouts of a driver.

8 It roams the mountains for its pastureland, searching for anything green.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ps 107:34; Jr 17:6