Job 6:5

Complaints Reflect Suffering

6:5 “Does the wild donkey ¹  bray ²  when it is near grass? ³ 

Or ⁴  does the ox low near its fodder? ⁵ 

Job 11:12

11:12 But an empty man will become wise,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being. ⁶ 

Job 24:5

24:5 Like ⁷  wild donkeys in the desert

they ⁸  go out to their labor, ⁹ 

seeking diligently for food;

the wasteland provides ¹⁰  food for them

and for their children.

Genesis 16:12

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹¹  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ¹² 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ¹³ 

He will live away from ¹⁴  his brothers.”

Psalms 104:11

104:11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Isaiah 32:14

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ¹⁵  city is abandoned.

Hill ¹⁶  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ¹⁷ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 2:24

2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.

In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. ¹⁹ 

No one can hold her back when she is in heat.

None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.

At mating time she is easy to find. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 14:6

14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops

and pant for breath like jackals.

Their eyes are strained looking for food,

because there is none to be found.” ²¹ 

Daniel 5:21

5:21 He was driven from human society, his mind ²²  was changed to that of an animal, he lived ²³  with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

Hosea 8:9

The Willful Donkey and the Wanton Harlot

8:9 They have gone up to Assyria,

like a wild donkey that wanders off.

Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers. ²⁴ 

[6:5]  ¹ tn There have been suggestions to identify this animal as something other than a wild donkey, but the traditional interpretation has been confirmed (see P. Humbert, “En marge du dictionnaire hébraïque,” ZAW 62 [1950]: 199-207).

[6:5]  ² tn The verb נָהַק (nahaq, “bray”) occurs in Arabic and Aramaic and only in Job 30:7 in Hebrew, where it refers to unfortunate people in the wilderness who utter cries like the hungry wild donkey.

[6:5]  ³ sn In this brief section Job indicates that it would be wiser to seek the reason for the crying than to complain of the cry. The wild donkey will bray when it finds no food (see Jer 14:6).

[6:5]  ⁴ tn The construction forms a double question (אִם...הֲ, ha…’im) but not to express mutually exclusive questions in this instance. Instead, it is used to repeat the same question in different words (see GKC 475 §150.h).

[6:5]  ⁵ tc The LXX captures the meaning of the verse, but renders it in a more expansive way.

[11:12]  ⁶ tn As A. B. Davidson (Job, 84) says, the one thing will happen when the other happens – which is never. The word “empty” נָבוּב (navuv) means “hollow; witless,” and “become wise” (יִלָּבֵב, yillavev) is “will get heart” (not to “lack heart” as Driver suggested”). Many commentators do not like the last line of the verse, and so offer even more emendations. E. F. Sutcliffe wanted to change פֶּרֶא (pere’, “donkey”) to פֶּרֶד (pered, “stallion”), rendering “a witless wight may get wit when a mule is born a stallion” (“Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 70-71); and others approached the verse by changing the verb from יִוָּלֵד (yivvaled, “is born”) to יִלָּמֵד (yillamed, “is taught”), resulting in “a hollow man may get understanding, and a wild donkey’s colt may be taught [= tamed]” (cf. NAB).

[24:5]  ⁷ tc The verse begins with הֵן (hen); but the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac all have “like.” R. Gordis (Job, 265) takes הֵן (hen) as a pronoun “they” and supplies the comparative. The sense of the verse is clear in either case.

[24:5]  ⁸ tn That is, “the poor.”

[24:5]  ⁹ tc The MT has “in the working/labor of them,” or “when they labor.” Some commentators simply omit these words. Dhorme retains them and moves them to go with עֲרָבָה (’aravah), which he takes to mean “evening”; this gives a clause, “although they work until the evening.” Then, with many others, he takes לוֹ (lo) to be a negative and finishes the verse with “no food for the children.” Others make fewer changes in the text, and as a result do not come out with such a hopeless picture – there is some food found. The point is that they spend their time foraging for food, and they find just enough to survive, but it is a day-long activity. For Job, this shows how unrighteous the administration of the world actually is.

[24:5]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is not included in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation.

[16:12]  ¹¹ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ¹² tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[32:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ¹⁶ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[2:24]  ¹⁹ tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:24]  ²⁰ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.

[14:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “their eyes are strained because there is no verdure.”

[5:21]  ²² tn Aram “heart.”

[5:21]  ²³ tn Aram “his dwelling.”

[8:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “has hired herself out to lovers”; cf. NIV “has sold herself to lovers.”