Arthur Walker-Jones, «The So-called Ostrich in the God Speeches of the Book of Job (Job 39,13-18)», Vol. 86 (2005) 494-510
The so-called ostrich passage (39,13-18) has been much discussed by scholars
both because of the difficulties it presents and the importance of its position in the
book of Job. Discussions have focused on why an ostrich appears, rather than
whether the Mynnr is, in fact, an ostrich. Quite a number of Hebrew words and
expressions have to be emended or explained to make them fit an ostrich.
Moreover, H.-P. Müller has shown that Mynnr is not the name for ostrich in Hebrew
or any Semitic languages, is not translated "ostrich" in early Greek versions, the
Peshitta, or Targums, and the translation "ostrich" probably came from a false
identification in early Christian reflection on nature. This article uses contemporary
ornithological literature and the information the passage provides on the
nest, habitat, behaviours, and calls of the Mynnr to identify a more likely type of
bird. The identification of the Mynnr as a sand grouse helps resolve a number of
problems in the text and clarify the literary connections of the passage to the rest
of the animal discourse, God speeches, and book of Job.
The So-called Ostrich in the God Speeches 507
captivity (52). For instance, in a rock drawing near Silwa Bahari from
pre-dynastic times, a man on foot shoots an arrow at an ostrich (53).
Pictures from dynastic times frequently show pharaohs and noblemen
hunting ostriches by chariot and shooting at them in large fenced areas
where they had been herded with other desert animals (54). According
to Laufer, early Arab poetry mentions ostrich hunting. He says hunting
ostriches on horseback has always been popular with Arabs and
describes the same method as Aelian (55). In the late-nineteenth and
early-twentieth century, Meinertzhagen knows of Arabs hunting
ostriches on horseback and says they “flew falcons at them, worrying
them and checking their pace so that the riders could approach†(56).
The ability of ostriches to run faster than horses would be a limited
reason for laughing if they can and were hunted on horseback and kept
in captivity. Horses cannot fly and, in this sense, many birds can laugh
at the earthbound horse.
Moreover, the passage does not mention the speed of the horse, but
its strength and lack of fear. “Do you give to the horse strength? … it
laughs at fear†(Job 39,19-22). Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible the
horse is associated with strength (Pss 33,17; 147,10) and, like the bird,
lack of understanding (Ps 32,9; cf Prov 26,3; Jer 8,6) (57). The bird
“laughs at the horse and its rider†(39,18); the horse “laughs at fearâ€
(39,22). The bird appears to lack wisdom, because it lays its eggs on
the ground where they are vulnerable, but an adult bird can laugh
at the horse and its rider because it can fly. The horse laughs at
fear because of its strength and, perhaps, because of a lack of
understanding similar to that of the bird’s. Both lack wisdom and
understanding, but have other talents that allow them laughter.
Laughter and fearlessness, not speed, are the literary connection
between the µynnr and the horse.
Many commentators have noted that the animals in Job
38,39–39,30 are wild or dangerous. What are less often noticed are the
(52) HOULIHAN, Birds of Ancient Egypt, 1-5; cf. also O. KEEL, Jahwes
Entgegnung an Ijob: Eine Deutung von Ijob 38–41 vor dem Hintergrund der
zeitgenössischen Bildkunst (Göttingen 1978) 72 Abb. 1, 74 Abb. 3, 103-107 Abb.
33-46.
(53) HOULIHAN, Birds of Ancient Egypt, 3 fig. 2.
(54) HOULIHAN, Birds of Ancient Egypt, 2 fig. 1; 2-3 fig. 3.
(55) LAUFER, “Ostrich Egg-shell Cupsâ€, 14.
(56) MEINERTZHAGEN, Birds of Arabia, 575.
(57) The only mention of the speed of horses I could find was in Jer 4,13 and
perhaps Jer 12,5 and Hab 1,8.