Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Ver. 19. Hast thou given the horse strength?] Having mentioned the horse, he comes next to show his nature; and here we have a most elegant description of a generous horse, such as Dubartas maketh Cain to manage, and as the Greeks call φρυσγματιαν, fremebundum.
- Quod siqua sonum procul arms dedere
Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus;
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem
(Virg. Georg.).
In this creature therefore we have a clear instance of the wonderful power and wisdom of God. If the horse be so strong and warlike, what is the Almighty, that man of war? Exodus 15:3 , and victor in battle, as the Chaldee there calleth him? This is one way whereby we may conceive of God, sc. per viam eminentiae, for if there be such and such excellence in the creature, what is there in the Creator, since all that is in us is but a spark of his fame, a drop of his ocean? How then wilt thou, O Job, dare to contend with him, who art not able to stand before this creature of his? Wonderful things are reported concerning Bucephalus, and the horse of Julius Caesar, of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, of the Sybarites' war horses, Qui ad symphoniae cantum saltatione quadam movebantur (Pausan.). The Persians dedicated a horse to the sun, so did the idolatrous Israelites, 2 Kings 23:11, as the swiftest creature to the swiftest God. Very serviceable he is for drawing and carrying, but especially in battle, whereof only here, De equis militaribus et cataphractis; of war horses, the use whereof appeareth to be very ancient, even in Job's days. The Israelites made little or no use of them in the conquest of Canaan; but their enemies there did, and Pharaoh before them, Exo 14:6-10 Let it be held that "a horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength," Psalms 33:17. The Jews are sharply reproved and heavily threatened for trusting to the horses of Egypt, Isaiah 31:1; Yεος ουκ εστι φιλιππος (Plut. in Numa).
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?] That is, with neighing and snorting, answerable to his strength, and which soundeth terribly from within his neck, till his very eyes sparkle, as if he did both thunder and lighten. The apostles and other ministers of God are called Christ's white horses, Revelation 6:1,2, upon which he rideth about the world, conquering and to conquer; horses, for their courage and constance, and white, for their purity of doctrine, discipline, and conversion: they thunder in their doctrine and lighten in their lives (as Nazianzen, saith Basil, did), to the subduing of souls to the obedience of faith.