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 39:5-8

39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free?

Who released the bonds of the donkey,

39:6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,

the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;

it does not hear the shouts of a driver. ⁶ 

39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,

and searches after every green plant.

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. ⁷ 

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. ⁸ 

[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.

[39:7]  ⁶ sn The animal is happier in open countryside than in a busy town, and on its own rather than being driven by a herdsman.

[2:24]  ⁷ tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:24]  ⁸ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.