Job 39:26

"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?

WEB

Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?

KJV

What Job 39:26 means

In the whirlwind, God asks Job whether the hawk's skill and its migration are Job's doing, pressing home that the wild world runs on a wisdom Job neither gave nor controls.

For most of the book of Job, a suffering man demands that God explain why the innocent suffer. When God finally answers, he does not give reasons. He asks questions. For four chapters he walks Job through the natural world, the sea, the stars, the storm, and a long parade of wild animals, asking each time whether Job is the one who made it or runs it.

This line comes near the end of that parade. The hawk was a bird of prey Job would have watched riding the wind and turning south as the seasons changed. God's question is simple. Is any of that your doing? Did you teach the hawk to hunt, or to know when to fly? The obvious answer is no, and that is the point.

The hawk serves no human purpose. It cannot be tamed or put to work, and God speaks of it with evident pride. The whole speech makes one point through many creatures. The world is larger than Job's understanding, it was not built mainly for his convenience, and the God who made the hawk fly can be trusted with the questions Job cannot answer.

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