Job 39:1

“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God addresses Job during a discourse on the natural world, posing rhetorical questions about wildlife reproduction. The words — יָדַ֗עְתָּ (ya.Da'.ta) translates to "do you know," and חֹלֵ֖ל (cho.Lel) means "giving birth." The thread — The imagery of mountain goats and rocky refuges recurs in Psalm 104:18 and 1 Samuel 24:2, while Job 39:2 immediately extends the inquiry to pregnancy duration. Why it lands — The text asks whether Job can track the exact timing of animal birth, demanding a plain acknowledgment of human limitation regarding natural cycles.

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The Hebrew words

הֲיָדַ֗עְתָּha./ya.Da'.ta¿/ do you know עֵ֭ת'et[the] time of לֶ֣דֶתLe.det[the] bringing forth of יַעֲלֵי־ya.'a.lei-mountain goats of סָ֑לַעSa.la'rock חֹלֵ֖לcho.Lel[the] giving birth of אַיָּל֣וֹת'ai.ya.Lotdoes תִּשְׁמֹֽר׃tish.Mordo you watch?

King James Version

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

Cross-references

Psalms 29:9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”
1 Samuel 24:2 So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to look for David and his men in the region of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
Psalms 104:18 The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.
Deuteronomy 14:5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
Jeremiah 14:5 Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.