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trates the propriety of thus connecting the terms D 'ostrich,' and by vibrating' like a musical instrument, or fluttering or clapping,' as the wings of a bird: 'I had several opportunities of amusing myself,' it is said, with the actions and behaviour of the ostrich. It was very diverting to observe with what dexterity and equipoise of body it would play and frisk about on all occasions. In the heat of the day, particularly, it would strut along the sunny side of the house with great majesty. It would be perpetually fanning and priding itself with its quivering wings;-even at other times it would continue these vibrating motions.' We see, then, with what descriptive accuracy a vibrating wing is, in the present text, bestowed upon the ostrich.

-'Peacock.'-The original is here the same which is elsewhere rightly rendered the 'stork,' for a figure and description of which see Lev. xi. 19.

Ostrich.'-There are two names by which this bird is mentioned in Scripture-Drenonim, as in the present text, and frequently by the poetical designation of nay na bath-yaanah, the daughter of vociferation, or of loud moaning,' which has usually been rendered 'owl' in our version. This designation doubtless arose from the noises made by the female ostrich in her native deserts, and which have been particularly noticed by various travellers. The bird is called in the Greek στρουθοκάμηλος, • the camelbird; a name borrowed also by the Romans (Struthio camelus), and adopted by Linnæus. It is to this day called 'the camel-bird' in the East, owing this name, it would seem, to the very considerable resemblance to the camel which its outline and structure exhibit. The history of

this bird in its native condition is not yet so fully known as might be desired; but what has been ascertained tends to illustrate the present description, which ought to be received as authority, deciding those points which other sources of information leave doubtful.

There are two varieties, if not species, of the ostrich ; one never attaining seven feet in height, and covered chiefly with grey and dingy feathers; the other sometimes growing to more than ten feet, and of a glossy black plumage; the males in both having the great feathers of the wings and tail white, but the females the tail only of that colour. These dimensions render them both the largest animals of the feathered creation now existing. They appear promiscuously in Asia and Africa, but the troops or coveys of each are always separate: the grey is more common in the south of the equator, while the black predominates to the north. The common-sized ostrich weighs about eighty pounds, but examples much heavier sometimes occur.

These birds are gregarious, from families consisting of a male with one or several female birds, and perhaps a brood or two of young, up to troops of near a hundred. It is not yet finally decided whether the ostrich is polygamous, though current testimony seems to leave no doubt of the fact; there is, however, no uncertainty respecting the nest, which is merely a circular basin scraped out of the soil, with a slight elevation at the border, and sufficiently large to contain a great number of eggs; for from twelve to sixty have been found in them, exclusive of a certain number always observed to be outlying, or placed beyond the raised border of the nest, and amounting apparently to near one-third of the whole. These are

supposed to feed the young brood when first hatched, either in their fresh state or in a corrupted form, when the substance in them has produced worms. These eggs are of different periods of laying, like those within, and the birds hatched form only a part of the contents of a nest, until the breeding season closes. The eggs are of different sizes, some attaining to seven inches in their longer diameter, and others less.

Beyond the tropics, one or more females usually sit constantly, and the male bird takes the duty himself after the sun is set. But within the tropics, the nests are kept sufficiently warm in the daytime not to require incubation; and this is so much the case in the Arabian plains, which are subject to almost tropical heat in summer, that the birds venture to leave the nest during part of the day, a fact to which there is here an evident allusion. The fact was formerly disputed, but is now well substantiated by more accurate observation; and popular opinion would on this ground subject the bird to a charge of carelessness of its nest, which brings it into apparent contrast with the stork, whose very name in Hebrew means kindness,' and which, having its nest in situations where the heat is naturally less concentrated, is obliged to manifest more uninterrupted attention to its nest. The strong assertions of some naturalists, founded on partial observation, that the ostrich never did leave its nest, gave much pain to some expositors, who strove to elicit from the words of the text a meaning in accordance with that assertion. But the text is now, in this respect, corroborated not only by more discriminating observation, but by the unvarying testimony of the Arabian writers, who had ample opportunities of knowing the bird, and who scarcely ever mention it without some allusion to its apparent indifference to or neglect of its nest, to which large birds usually pay the most sedulous attention.

The food of ostriches is chiefly seeds and vegetables; but as their organs of taste are very obtuse, they swallow with little or no discrimination all kinds of substances, not excepting even stones. It is also probable that they

devour lizards, snakes, and young birds that fall in their way. This indiscriminate mode of feeding is probably the reason that the law pronounces the flesh of this bird to be unclean (Lev. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 15). Colonel Hamilton Smith suggests that there may also have been an intention to lay a restriction upon the Israelites tending to wean them from a nomade life, which hunting in the desert would have fostered. For ostriches must be sought in the barren plains, where they are not accessible except by stratagem. The bird is to this day hunted by no one except on horseback; and such is its speed, that it easily 'scorneth the horse and its rider,' and is only at last overcome by its disposition to take a winding route, which gives the hunter an opportunity of crossing its track, and of thus giving him a chance to hit her with his gun or javelin. Ostriches do not exist in Palestine; but they are still found in the great Syrian desert, especially in the plains extending from the Hauran towards the Jebel Shammar and Nejed. Some are found in the Hauran, and a few are taken almost every year within two days' journey of Damascus. The Arabs here seldom hunt them, but take them by stratagem. This being at the extreme northward limit of their habitat, they do not at any time leave their eggs, the warmth being there insufficient to hatch them so early in the year; but that they do so anywhere is sufficient for the indication of the present text. The Arabs who inhabit this quarter reckon the eggs delicious food, and sell them for about a shilling each to the townspeople, who hang up the shells as ornaments in their rooms. Ostrich feathers are sold by the Arabs at Aleppo and Damascus, principally at the latter city. The Sherarat Arabs often sell the whole skin with the feathers on for about two Spanish dollars, or 88. 4d.; but the finest feathers sell singly at one or two shillings each.

19. Hast thou given the horse strength?' etc.- Here we arrive at one of the most glorious descriptions in the book of Job-a description which no translation has been able to disfigure, and which in all translations has been admired. It is unnecessary to explain the figures em

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ployed, the force and beauty of which will be felt by every reader. There is a well-known description of the horse in Virgil, which is unquestionably the finest in classical antiquity. It is exceedingly noble, but is not comparable to that which the sacred text offers. The following is Sotheby's translation:

"But at the clash of arms, his ear afar

Drinks the deep sound and vibrates to the war:
Flames from each nostril roll in gather'd stream;
His quivering limbs with restless motion gleam;
O'er his right shoulder, floating full and fair,
Sweeps his thick mane and spreads his pomp of hair:
Swift works his double spine; and earth around
Rings to the solid hoof that wears the ground.'

To this we will add a few descriptive touches from Antar, which will be particularly appropriate, because the book of Job conducts us to Arabia or its vicinity, and because the Arabians do so passionately admire this noble animal that they have exhausted all the wealth of their fine language and rich imaginations in descriptions of its beauty, spirit, and pride. The mare of Shedad, called Jirwet, is thus mentioned:- Shedad's mare was called Jirwet, whose like was unknown. Kings negotiated with him for her, but he would not part with her, and would accept no offer or bribe for her; and thus he used to talk of her in his verses: "Seek not to purchase my horse, for Jirwet is not to be bought or borrowed. I am a strong castle on her back; and in her bound are glory and greatness. I would not part with her were strings of camels to come to me, with their drivers following them. She flies with the wind without wings, and tears up the waste and the desert. I will keep her for the day of calamities, and she will rescue me when the battle dust rises." There are many touches, in a similar spirit, in the history of the horse Dahis, which was the occasion of a war among the Arab tribes. At a great feast, where the conversation

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turned upon celebrated horses, one said of Dahis, 'He startles every one that looks at him; he is the antidote of grief to every one that beholds him; and he is a strong tower to every one that mounts him.' Again, He is a horse, when a night of dust sheds its obscurity, you may see his hoofs like a firebrand:' and, finally, in a race between this and another, They started forth like lightning, when it blasts the sight with its flash; or a gust of wind, when it becomes a hurricane in its course.... When they came to the mead, Dahis launched forth like a giant when he stretches himself out, and he left his dust behind. He appeared as if without legs or feet; and in the twinkling of an eye he was ahead of Ghabra.'

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21. He goeth on to meet the armed men.'-Michaelis is quite of opinion that none but a military man, who has observed the war-horse in battle, can fully appreciate the force of this part of the description. He says, 'I have myself perhaps rode more than many who have become authors and illustrators of the Bible; but one part of the description, namely, the behaviour of the horse on the attack of a hostile army, I only understand rightly from what old officers have related to me: and as to the proper meaning of the two lines-" Hast thou clothed his neck with ire?" [" with thunder ?" in our version, verse 19], and "The grandeur of his neighing is terror" [" The glory of his nostrils is terrible," verse 20]-it had escaped me; indeed the latter I had not understood, until a person who had had an opportunity of seeing several stallions together instructed me; and then I recollected that, in my eighteenth year, I had seen their bristled-up necks, and heard their fierce cries, when rushing to attack each other.'

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of the falcon family. Of these, many are birds of passage, winging their way southward into warmer climates at the approach of winter, and returning northward in the spring. To this the present text distinctly alludes; and the meaning of the question clearly is, Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk knoweth the due season for migrating to the warm south?" There are more precise references to the migrations of birds in Jer. viii. 7, where the reader will find such observations as this interesting subject requires.

27. The eagle.'-See the notes on Deut. xxxii. 11; see also Jer. xlix. 16. We shall now observe, with reference to the 29th verse, which states that his eyes behold afar off' when he seeketh his prey,' that the eagle has in all ages been noted for its astonishing powers of vision, which is believed to exceed that possessed by any other creature. It has always been believed that, when mounted into the air at a height which rendered it perfectly invisible to human eye, it could discern the motions of very small animals upon the surface of the earth. The ideas entertained on this subject in the East may be estimated from some of the statements of the Arabian writers, one of whom (Damir, as quoted by Bochart) says that the eagle could discover its prey at the distance of 400 parasangs-more than a thousand miles! Homer is more moderate and more correct. Speaking of Menelaus, he describes him as The field exploring, with an eye

Keen as the eagle's, keenest eyed of all
That wing the air, whom, though he soar aloft,

JOB.

[B.C. 1520.

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4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.

11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.

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12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.

13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.

14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

15 Behold now 'behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and i his force is in the navel of his belly.

17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.

that made him can make his sword to approach
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he
unto him.

food, where all the beasts of the field play.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth

covert of the reed, and fens.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the

shadow; the willows of the brook compass him
22 The shady trees cover him with their

about.

hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and
Jordan into his mouth.

pierceth through snares.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose

7 Or, Will any take him in his sight, or, bore his nose with a ginn.
4 Or, the elephant, as some think. 5 Or, he setteth up.

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15. Behemoth,' nina.-Not the least remarkable thing about the Behemoth is its name. The word is plural, and yet denotes one animal, whereas the singular of the same word (na behemah) is a noun of multitude, properly rendered by cattle,' or beasts.' The plural form is usually supposed to be here applied to one animal to express its pre-eminence. What animal this is has occasioned no small amount of discussion. All the alternatives which have been suggested are limited to the animals which Cuvier has put in one class, which he calls pachydermata, on account of the thickness of their skins. To this class equally belong the elephant, the hippopotamus (or river-horse), and some extinct species of enormous animals, as the mastodon or mammoth, and others. Now in all these the Behemoth has been sought. And the probability seems to be that the word in this plural shape is to be taken as a poetical personification of the great pachydermata generally. It is confessedly difficult to make all the details correspond to any one in particular, but we can discover that the idea of the hippopotamus, or river-horse, predominates in the description, although there are details which answer better to the elephant. This explanation solves the difficulty which Dr. J. M. Good could only get over by supposing that the Behemoth was some extinct species of mastodon, in which the characteristics of the elephant and of the hippopotamus were united. That the characteristics of the latter predominate is explained by the fact that, although the elephant may have been known to the ancients from report and description, they were likely to be better acquainted with the hippopotamus, which abounded in the river Nile.Let us trace the details.

-'He eateth grass as an ox.'-This is true of all the

pachydermata, but in respect to the hippopotamus it would perhaps be a special matter of attention that this animal, living so much in the water, and being in fact an aquatic creature, should yet eat grass as an ox.

16. His strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.-This agrees with the hippopotamus, and not with the elephant, in which the belly is the weakest and most penetrable part. In the river-horse the skin of the belly is as thick as in other parts, and is indeed rendered in some degree callous by being dragged over the rough stones at the bottom of the rivers.

17. He moveth his tail like a cedar.'-It is doubtful that the word here used does mean the tail. Supposing it does, it may be remarked that this appendage in all the pachydermata is inconsiderable in proportion to the bulk of the animal; but it is thicker and firmer in the riverhorse than in the elephant, and therefore, in regard to mere appearance, admits of a better comparison to the cedar. But the reference is rather to the action than to the appearance of the tail; and it may be observed that the river-horse, no less than the elephant, has a perfect command over it, moving and twisting it at pleasure, which seems to be here mentioned as an evidence of strength.

18. His bones,' etc.-This verse, with reference to the bones, is applicable figuratively to all the pachydermata.

19. He that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.'-This is obscure. He that made him gave him his sword' is more in accordance with the general idea which interpreters have evolved from the text. The sword of the animal is its weapon, and may apply to the sharp-pointed and projecting tusks either of the river-horse or the elephant, and does probably apply to both.

20. The mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.'-Unless this applies by contrast as singular attributes of an aquatic animal worthy of special note, it would be more applicable to the elephant than to the river-horse, which is never seen upon the

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