Her eyes behold afar off— Dr. Young paraphrases this well:
Thence [from the rock] wide o'er nature takes her dread survey, And, with a glance predestinates her prey.
And he observes, that the eagle is said to be of so acute a sight, that when she is so high in the air that man cannot see her, she can discern the smallest fish under water. The author of this book accurately understood the nature of the creatures which he describes, and seems to have been as great a naturalist as a poet. The classical reader will have a fine comment on this passage in the 4th book of Horace, Ode 4.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, How little Job's knowledge was, and how infinite that of God, is here most beautifully manifested; and while his tender mercies are seen over all his works, how unreasonable were Job's complaints against God, as cruel or unkind?
1. Who knows, but God alone, when the wild goats and hinds bring forth, how long they bear their burden, and the hour and moment in which they shall be delivered? Though their travailing pangs are sharp, they are safely preserved. Their young ones grow up by their sides, till able to seek their own sustenance; and then they quit their dam, forgetting and forgotten.
2. Who gave the wild ass liberty, and that untameable spirit which rejects restraint? God gives each beast its peculiar qualities, and provides for each a suitable provision and abode. The wilderness and barren mountain are his dwelling: far from the haunts of men, preferring liberty, though with poverty, to slavery with plenty; he despises the multitude that would seize him, and no driver urges him on with his cries. From place to place he roams in search of food, and finds pasture even in the wilderness. Note; (1.) Liberty is a precious jewel; and they who are free should, with noble spirit, maintain their happy independence. (2.) Shall man, who cannot give law to the wild ass's colt, presume to direct his Maker?
3. God bids him try to bind the רים riim, which we translate unicorn; though it is much doubted whether there be any such creature as we represent him. It is therefore frequently rendered the wild bull, which comes in appositely after what had been spoken of the wild ass. The tame ox might be brought to the yoke and crib; but who could make the wild bull serviceable, or break him to the plough or harrow? Great as his strength is, he is too unruly to be trusted with any labour of the field, and can neither be led nor driven. If Job then was not able to govern one creature, much more unfit was he to preside over the world, and direct the ways of Providence. Note; It is not ability, but the willingness to do good, which makes a man truly valuable.
2nd, The ostrich is next produced, as among the wondrous works of God. Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks, or rather ostriches, as others translate the word, to which alone the following verses relate, and whose wings are beautiful, while the peacocks have nothing singular. She layeth her eggs on the earth; not that, as some have suggested, they are dropped at random, and left to be hatched by the sun; for she has a nest where her eggs are deposited, yet on the earth, where every foot may crush them; and so forgetful is she, that when she lights on another nest, she will sit and hatch there, leaving her eggs, and hardened against her real young, as though they were not her own. Thus her labour is frequently for another, without fear of what will happen to her own; and this because God, from whom alone the different instincts of beasts, as well as reason in man, are derived, hath deprived her of wisdom. But, though so stupid and unnatural in danger, her speed is most rapid: raising herself (though unable to fly) by the assistance of her wings, she leaves the fleetest horse and its rider far behind. Note; (1.) How many ungodly parents, like the cruel ostrich, insensible to the fruit of their womb, expose their children to want by their extravagancies, or their souls to ruin by their neglect! (2.) Thus careless ministers desert their flocks, indifferent as to what becomes of them: if deceivers seduce them, or they perish for lack of knowledge, they are hardened against the loss. One thing, however, they forget not; though they refuse to feed their young, they are abundantly careful to feed themselves, and will have the fleece, though the devil seize the fold.
3rdly, How inimitably beautiful is the description of the Horse! Behold the horse trained for war; strength is in every motion; his rising neck is clothed with thunder; from his wide nostrils issues the copious stream; pawing in the valley, he seems to glory in his might; the armed host and glittering spear cannot intimidate him: eager to engage, he scarce can bear restraint, and, prancing fierce, seems as if he would swallow the ground under his feet; his ears erect, catch with delight the martial trumpet's sound; he snuffs the smell of battle from afar, and, animated by the shout or signal for engagement, fearless of death or danger, on he rushes, defies the sharp sword and rattling quiver, and tramples with resistless fury on whatever opposes him in his course: Note; such is the sinner: Jeremiah 8:6 hurried on by inordinate appetite, he rushes to the gratification of his lusts; no danger, loss, or suffering can restrain him; yea, the very terrors of God's wrath he scorns, and runs on the thick bosses of his buckler; till, smitten through with the sword of death, he falls, and plunges into that gulph of perdition which he would not be warned to avoid.
4thly, The hawk and eagle are produced, among birds, in proof of the power and providence of God: the hawk, which with such sagacity pursues her prey, swift and strong, and from the colder climes at winter's approach, follows the southern sun: the eagle, which mounts to such a towering height, fixes her nest on the craggy rock, and makes it her abode; thence darting on her prey, descried from afar, she feeds her young with the raw flesh of slaughtered beasts; or, at the battle, waits for the carcases of the slain. Who taught such wisdom to the feathered fowl, or who directs their flight? not Job: and if he pretended not to challenge these, much less ought he to claim a right to direct the providence of God. Note; (1.) Though the sinner, like the eagle, builds his nest on the rock, Jeremiah 44:16, he that set him up on high can also cast him down. (2.) The greedy eye, sharp as the eagle's, ever attentive on gain, little cares how it be obtained, whether by sucking the blood of the oppressed, or by practices corrupt as the corpses of the dead.