Job 6:5
Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Job 6:5
Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
Job isn't just saying he's suffering; he's pointing out that even the lowest creatures don't cry out when they have what they need. His complaints are a sign that his need is desperate, just like an animal's cry signals hunger or pain.
Job is responding to his friends, particularly Eliphaz, who has criticized him for his excessive complaining and despair. Job argues that his laments are not born of mere petulance but are a natural, instinctive reaction to the immense suffering God has inflicted upon him. He uses the behavior of animals—a wild ass or an ox—to illustrate that even brute creatures only make noise when they are in distress and lack sustenance.
Why do we complain? Is it just to annoy others, or is there something deeper at play? Job uses a simple observation from the animal kingdom to explain his own cries.
A Universal Principle
Job points to the wild donkey and the ox, animals familiar to everyone in his time. He's not asking a trick question; he's stating a self-evident truth: these animals only make noise when they're lacking something essential – usually food.
Job is using this as an analogy for himself. His complaints aren't born out of malice or a desire to be difficult. They are the natural, instinctive cries of someone in profound distress.
Animals cry out from instinct, but what about us? Job's friends seem to think he should be silent, but Job argues that his complaints are more than just animalistic noise.
The Burden of Being Human
While Job uses the brute beasts to illustrate the naturalness of his complaints, the commentary highlights a subtle but important distinction: humans are rational beings.
This passage echoes Job's analogy, describing wild donkeys and cattle panting for water and looking around in vain, directly linking animal distress to lack of sustenance and suffering.
Matthew 6:26Jesus uses the analogy of birds and their provision by God to encourage trust, highlighting that even creatures without human reason have their needs met, making their cries of distress (like Job's) particularly significant when they occur.
Job 39:5-8This passage describes the wild donkey (onager) and its freedom, emphasizing its self-sufficiency and lack of need for human provision, which amplifies Job's point that the animal would only cry out if it were in distress and lacking.
Psalm 147:9The Psalmist praises God for providing for the wild animals and birds, showing that divine care extends to all creatures, reinforcing the idea that any distress signals from them indicate a genuine lack or suffering.
clarkeJob 6:5: "Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?"
Doth the wild ass - פרא pere, translated onager, by the Vulgate, from the ονος αγριος of the Septuagint, which we properly enough, translate wild ass. It is the same with the tame ass; only in a wild state it grows to a larger size, is stronger, and more fleet. The meaning of Job appears to be this: You condemn me for complaining; do I complain without a cause? The wild ass will not bray, and the ox will no…
jfbJob 6:5: "Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?"
- Neither wild animals, as the wild ass, nor tame, as the ox, are dissatisfied when well-supplied with food. The braying of the one and the lowing of the other prove distress and want of palatable food. So, Job argues, if he complains, it is not without cause; namely, his pains, which are, as it were, disgusting food, which God feeds him with (end of Job 6:7). But he should have remembered a rational being…
Job isn't just saying he's suffering; he's pointing out that even the lowest creatures don't cry out when they have what they need. His complaints are a sign that his need is desperate, just like an animal's cry signals hunger or pain.
Job is responding to his friends, particularly Eliphaz, who has criticized him for his excessive complaining and despair. Job argues that his laments are not born of mere petulance but are a natural, instinctive reaction to the immense suffering God has inflicted upon him. He uses the behavior of animals—a wild ass or an ox—to illustrate that even brute creatures only make noise when they are in distress and lack sustenance.
Job is responding to his friends, particularly Eliphaz, who has criticized him for his excessive complaining and despair. Job argues that his laments are not born of mere petulance but are a natural, instinctive reaction to the immense suffering God has inflicted upon him. He uses the behavior of animals—a wild ass or an ox—to illustrate that even brute creatures only make noise when they are in distress and lack sustenance.
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He's essentially saying, 'If even a donkey or ox would cry out in my situation, how much more should a thinking, feeling human like me express the agony I'm experiencing?' This doesn't excuse sin, but it acknowledges the profound depth of his pain.
"Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?" — Job isn't just saying he's suffering; he's pointing out that even the lowest creatures don't cry out when they have what they need. His complaints are a sign that his need is desperate, just like a…