Bible Strands
Job 39:24
Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Job in a rhetorical discourse about wild animals to demonstrate divine sovereignty and human limitation. The passage describes the warhorse's physical response as combat begins.
The words — The phrase יְגַמֶּא־אָרֶץ (yegamma-arets) literally means "it swallows the ground," and לֹא־יַאֲמִין (lo-ya'amin) translates to "it does not stand firm."
The thread — The root for "stand firm" or "believe" reappears in Job 9:16 and Job 29:24, where it describes human uncertainty before God rather than animal instinct.
Why it lands — The text records an animal's involuntary, unstoppable movement at the sound of war, establishing that power operates independently of human command. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human authority cannot dictate or fully comprehend forces outside its design.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Cross-references
- Job 9:16 If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.
- Job 29:24 If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
- Job 37:20 Should He be told that I want to speak? Would a man ask to be swallowed up?
- Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
- Amos 3:6 If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Luke 24:41 While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
- Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.