500 Arthur Walker-Jones scrape. The mention of dust, rp[ (20), seems to indicate the nest is in an arid area on dirt or sand, probably in the desert. Müller translates µynnr as “songbird”, based on the early versions, but few species that are called songbirds in English nest directly on the ground (v. 14). For the poet to have knowledge of the nesting habits of the bird, it would need to be a bird that breeds in the Middle East rather than one of the numerous species that migrate through. The µynnr, therefore, is probably a bird that nests in an unlined scrape in the desert in the Middle East. Second, the passage may provide information about the call or calls of the bird that could help narrow the list of suspects. Two references to the call of the bird form an inclusio around the pericope. The name of the bird in the first verse (13) is from a root that can mean a cry of joy or lamentation. In the final verse (18), the bird “laughs” at the horse and its rider. The bird could have a call that sounds either to be both laughing and mournful like a Herring Gull, or have two different cries. If the plural ending is an intensive plural (21), then this would be additional evidence that the call is particularly piercing or harmonious. Although commentators have commonly interpreted µynnr as referring to a mournful cry to fit an ostrich, a joyous call seems more likely in the literary context. The root of the word after µynnr is sl[ “rejoice”. Some modern interpreters emend hsl[ “rejoices” to hl[ “go up” following ancient versions and say it refers to ostriches holding aloft their wings as they run. “Rejoices”, however, is more likely to be original because it is difficult and, as Habel says, “represents fine lyrical style” (22). The meaning of the root ˆnr the other time it appears in Job refers to a cry of joy (29,13). Moreover, a cry of joy would cohere with the laughter in verse eighteen. The µynnr, therefore, probably has a noteworthy and joyous call. Finally, could the opening reference to the “wing of the µynnr” be another clue? Could there be a concrete reference behind this expression? Is there something about the wing or the flight of the µynnr (20) While this word has a range of meanings, a basic and frequently occurring meaning is “dry earth, dust” (F. BROWN – S.R. DRIVER – C. A. BRIGGS, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament [Oxford 1907] 779). (21) MÜLLER, “Straußenperikope ”, 101; Another possibility is that this is a case of a plural used to name a whole species (B.K. WALTKE – M. O’CONNOR, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax [Winona Lake, IN. 1990] §7.4.3 citing Zech 9,9 and Cant 2,9 as examples). (22) HABEL, The Book of Job, 525.