He scorneth the multitude of the city,.... Choosing rather to be alone in the wilderness and free than to be among a multitude of men in a city, and be a slave as the tame ass; or it despises and defies a multitude of men, that may come out of cities to take it, Leo Africanus says r it yields to none for swiftness but Barbary horses: according to Xenophon s, it exceeds the horse in swiftness; and when pursued by horsemen, it will outrun them, and stand still and rest till they come near it, and then start again; so that there is no taking it, unless many are employed. Aristotle t says it excels in swiftness; and, according to Bochart u, it has its name in Hebrew from the Chaldee word פדא, "to run". Or it may be rendered, "the noise of the city", so Cocceius; the stir and bustle in it, through a multiplicity of men in business;
neither regardeth he the crying of the driver; or "hears" w: he neither feels his blows, nor hears his words; urging him to move faster and make quicker dispatch, as the tame ass does; he being neither ridden nor driven, nor drawing in a cart or plough.
r Ut supra. (Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.) s Ut supra. (De Expedition. Cyril, l. 1.) t Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 36. u Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 1. c. 9. col. 63. w לא ישמע "non audiet", Pagninus, Montanus.