Laughter in the animal kingdom

LAUGHTER IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Job 39:18 "When she lifts herself on high, She
laughs at the horse and his rider.
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Careless Ostrich
Job 39:13-18
W.F. Adeney
Each creature has its own distinctive features determined for it by the
wisdom and conferred on it by the power of God. Some of these features
are not attractive, nor what we should have selected if we had had the
ordering of creation. They are the more significant on this account,
because they show us the more clearly that nature is not ordered
according to our thought, and yet the whole description shows that it is
ordered well, and for a grand total result of life far beyond anything we
could have imagined. Now, we have the special characteristics of the
ostrich sketched with a master-hand in view of these considerations.
I. EXCELLENCES. Here is no caricature, exaggerating eccentricities.
Though what look like the defects of the ostrich are to be referred to, its
goodly wings are first mentioned. Let us see merit wherever we can. In
giving blame, let us not condemn wholesale. Although all may not be as
we should wish, let us generously acknowledge that all is not bad. It is
better to admire the good in the world than to be only on the look out
for the evil. We shall be more helpful friends if we rejoice to lay hold of
what is admirable in others, and seek this first, instead of pouncing

upon the ugly faults, like vultures who have eyes for nothing but
carrion.
II. DEFECTS. The ostrich is not perfect, according to man's idea of
perfection. There are defects in nature, and these defects are not ignored
in the natural theology of "Job;" It is wiser to admit them frankly than
to gloss them over. Although they may not be the principal
characteristics, they startle us by their very existence, The ostrich
appears to be lacking in maternal care; it is a foolish creature, leaving
its eggs without imagining the danger they are in of being trampled on
by the wild animals of the desert. God is leading nature on to perfection,
but it is not yet perfect. The law of nature, like that of man, is progress,
not stationary completeness.
III. COMPENSATIONS. Things are not so bad with the ostrich as they
appear to us at first sight. Although the ostrich-eggs are left in the sand,
they do not perish as the eggs of most birds under ordinary
circumstances would do. Beneath the tropical heat of the sun they can
be deserted during the day, the bird returning to sit on them at night.
Thus by the wonderful balancing of influences in nature the careless
maternity of the ostrich does not seriously endanger its offspring. If God
has not given the bird wisdom, it does not need it. So long as we keep to
the lines that God has laid down, we shall see that most defects have
ample compensation in other directions. The culpable carelessness is
that which goes against the laws of God; the fatal folly is that which
departs from his ways. This carelessness and this folly are not found in
the ostrich; they are only seen in man. - W.F.A.
Even members of the animal creation are depicted as laughing in scorn.
The female ostrich is represented as laughing at the pursuing horse and
its rider (because of her speed), and the horse as laughing at dread when
going into battle (because of his strength and fearlessness). (Job 39:13,
18, 19, 22) Leviathan (the crocodile) is said to laugh at the rattling of a

javelin, because of his heavy armor.—Job 41:1, 29.
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
She lifteth up herself - When she raiseth up herself to run away. Proofs
of the fleetness of this bird have already been given. It neither flies nor
runs distinctly, but has a motion composed of both; and, using its wings
as sails, makes great speed. So Claudian: -
Vasta velut Libyae venantum vocibus ales
Cum premitur, calidas cursu transmittit arenas,
Inque modum veli sinuatis flamine pennis
Pulverulenta volat.
"Xenophon says, Cyrus had horses that could overtake the goat and the
wild ass; but none that could reach this creature. A thousand golden
ducats, or a hundred camels, was the stated price of a horse that could
equal their speed." - Dr. Young.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/job-
39.html. 1832.

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Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible
What time she lifteth up herself on high - In the previous verses
reference had been made to the fact that in some important respects the
ostrich was inferior to other animals, or had special laws in regard to its
habits and preservation. Here the attention is called to the fact that,
notwithstanding its inferiority in some respects, it had properties such
as to command the highest admiration. Its lofty carriage, the rapidity of
its flight, and the proud scorn with which it would elude the pursuit of
the fleetest coursers, were all things that showed that God had so
endowed it as to furnish proof of his wisdom. The phrase “what time she
lifteth up herself,” refers to the fact that she raises herself for her rapid
flight. It does not mean that she would mount on her wings, for this the
ostrich cannot do; but to the fact that this timid and cowardly bird
would, when danger was near, rouse herself, and assume a lofty courage
and bearing. The word here translated “lifteth up” ( “to lash, to whip,”
as a horse, to increase its speed, and is here supposed by Gesenius to be
used as denoting that the ostrich by flapping her wings lashes herself up
as it were to her course. All the ancient interpretations, however, as well
as the common English version, render it as if it were but another form
of the word “At once she is up, and urges herself forward.” Taylor (in
Calmet) renders it:
“Yet at the time she haughtily assumes courage;
She scorneth the horse and his rider.”
The leading idea is, that she rouses herself to escape her pursuer; she
lifts up her head and body, and spreads her wings, and then bids
defiance to anything to overtake her.
She scorneth the horse and his rider - In the pursuit. That is, she runs
faster than the fleetest horse, and easily escapes. The extraordinary
rapidity of the ostrich has always been celebrated, and it is well known
that she can easily outstrip the fleetest horse. Its swiftness is mentioned

by Xenophon, in his Anabasis; for, speaking of the desert of Arabia, he
says, that ostriches are frequently seen there; that none could overtake
them; and that horsemen who pursued them were obliged soon to give
over, “for they escaped far away, making use both of their feet to run,
and of their wings, when expanded, as a sail, to waft them along.”
Marmelius, as quoted by Bochart (see above), speaking of a remarkable
kind of horses, says, “that in Africa, Egypt, and Arabia, there is but one
species of that kind which they call the Arabian, and that those are
produced only in the deserts of Arabia. Their velocity is wonderful, nor
is there any better evidence of their remarkable swiftness, than is
furnished when they pursue the camel-bird.”
It is a common sentiment of the Arabs, Boehart remarks, that there is
no animal which can overcome the ostrich in its course. Dr. Shaw says,
“Notwithstanding the stupidity of this animal, its Creator hath amply
provided for its safety by endowing it with extraordinary swiftness, and
a surprising apparatus for escaping from its enemy. ‹They, when they
raise themselves up for flight, laugh at the horse and his rider.‘ They
afford him an opportunity only of admiring at a distance the
extraordinary agility, and the stateliness likewise of their motions, the
richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there was in ascribing
to them an expanded, quivering wing. Nothing, certainly, can be more
entertaining than such a sight; the wings, by their rapid but unwearied
vibrations, equally serving them for sails and for oars; while their feet,
no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less insensible of
fatigue.” “Travels,” 8vo., vol. ii. p. 343, as quoted by Noyes. The same
representation is confirmed by the writer of a voyage to Senegal, who
says,” She sets off at a hand gallop; but after being excited a little, she
expands her wings, as if to catch the wind, and abandons herself to a
speed so great, that she seems not to touch the ground.
I am persuaded she would leave far behind the swiftest English courser”
- Rob. Calmet. Buffon also admits that the ostrich runs faster than the
horse. These unexceptionable testimonies completely vindicate the
assertion of the inspired writer. The proofs and illustrations here
furnished at considerable length are designed to show that the

statements here made in the book of Job are such as are confirmed by
all the investigations in Natural History since the time the book was
written. If the statements are to be regarded as an indication of the
progress made in the science of Natural History at the time when Job
lived, they prove that the observations in regard to this animal had been
extensive and were surprisingly accurate. They show that the minds of
sages at that time had been turned with much interest to this branch of
science, and that they were able to describe the habits of animals with
an accuracy which would do the highest credit to Pliny or to Buffon. If,
however, the account here is to be regarded as the mere result of
inspiration, or as the language of God speaking and describing what he
had done, then the account furnishes us with an interesting proof of the
inspiration of the book. Its minute accuracy is confirmed by all the
subsequent inquiries into the habits of the animal referred to, and shows
that the statement is based on simple truth. The general remark may
here be made, that all the notices in the Bible of the subjects of science -
which are indeed mostly casual and incidental - are such as are
confirmed by the investigations which science in the various
departments makes. Of what other ancient book but the Bible can this
remark be made?
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "Barnes' Notes on the
New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/job-39.html. 1870.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

What time she lifted up herself on high,.... It is sometimes eight foot
highF12; when alarmed with approaching danger she raises up herself,
being sitting on the ground, and erects her wings for flight, or rather
running;
she scorneth the horse and his rider; being then, as PlinyF13 says,
higher than a man on horseback, and superior to a horse in swiftness;
and though horsemen have been able to take wild asses and goats, very
swift creatures, yet never ostriches, as Xenophon relatesF14 of those in
Arabia; and this creature has another method, when pursued, by which
it defies and despises, as well as hurts and incommodes its pursuers,
which is by casting stones backward at them with its feet as out of a
slingF15.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernised and
adapted for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes
Reserved, Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "The New John Gill
Exposition of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/job-39.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
What l time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his
rider.

(l) When the young ostrich is grown up, he outruns the horse.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/job-39.html.
1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Notwithstanding her deficiencies, she has distinguishing excellences.
lifteth ‹ herself — for running; she cannot mount in the air. Gesenius
translates: “lashes herself” up to her course by flapping her wings. The
old versions favor English Version, and the parallel “scorneth” answers
to her proudly “lifting up herself.”
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scanned by Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-Brown Commentary is
in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary
on Job 39:18". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole

Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/job-39.html.
1871-8.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes
What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his
rider.
Lifteth — To flee from her pursuer: to which end she lifts up her head
and body, and spreads her wings.
Scorneth — She despises them thro' her swiftness; for though she
cannot fly, yet by the aid of her wings she runs so fast, that horse-men
cannot reach her.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic
edition that is available on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "John Wesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/job-39.html. 1765.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Job 39:18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the
horse and his rider.
Ver. 18. What time she lifteth up herself on high, &c.] That is, when she
runneth away from the hunter (which she doth with singular swiftness),

she lifteth up herself on high, not from the earth, as other birds (for that
she cannot do), but on the earth, with wings stretched out like sails, and
her whole body bolt upright, scarce touching the earth at all with her
feet, but quickening her own pace with sharp spurs, which they say she
hath in the pinion of each wing, so pricking herself on, that she may run
the faster; to teach us what we should do in the race of religion, and
when pursued by Satan, how to hasten to Christ.
She scorneth the horse and his rider] That is, she easily outrnns them,
being as swift as a bird that flieth. They say the Arabians are wont to try
their horses’ swiftness by trying to overtake them.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Job 39:18". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/job-
39.html. 1865-1868.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible
She lifteth up herself on high, to flee from her pursuer; to which end she
lifteth up her head and body, and spreads her wings.
She scorneth the horse and his rider she despiseth them in regard of her
greater swiftness; for though she cannot fly because of her great bulk,
being said to be as big as a new-born camel, yet by the aid of her wings
she runs so fast that horsemen cannot reach her, as both Greek and
other authors have noted.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on Job 39:18". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/job-39.html. 1685.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
18. Lifteth up herself — Others read, lasheth herself, justifying the
rendering by the feeble reason that her wings seem a lash to impel
herself forward. Such “lashing of wing” would but faintly repeat the
grander conception of Job 39:13, of “waving the wing joyously.” It is
now generally accepted, that the ostrich runs more swiftly than any
other animal. Hence the Arab proverb, “swifter than an ostrich.” Dr.
Livingstone calculates the speed of the ostrich at twenty-six miles an
hour, and its stride, when bounding at full speed, Tristram says is from
twenty-two to twenty-eight feet. Xenophon furnishes a fine illustration
of the Authorized Version, “But no one ever caught the ostrich, for in
her flight she kept constantly drawing on the pursuer, now running on
foot, and again lifting herself up with her wings spread out, as though
she had hoisted sails.” Anabasis, Job 1:3. In keeping with nature’s law
of compensation, the swiftness of this bird compensates for its stupidity.
The horse and his rider — This casual mention of the horse and his
rider prepares us, rhetorically, for the ensuing description of the war
horse, “the only one, in this series, which refers to a tamed animal.” —
Zockler.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "Whedon's
Commentary on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/job-39.html. 1874-
1909.
Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments
Job 39:18. What time she lifteth up herself on high — Or, as Dr. Shaw
more properly renders this clause, When she raiseth herself up to run
away, namely, from her pursuers. For which purpose she stretches out
her neck and legs, both which are very tall, lifts up her head and body,
and spreads her wings; she scorneth the horse and his rider — She
despiseth them on account of her greater swiftness; for though she
cannot fly, because of her great bulk, yet by the aid of her wings she
runs so fast, that horsemen cannot overtake her. Xenophon says,
Cyrus’s horsemen, who were able to run down wild asses and wild
goats, could never take ostriches. See Bochart. “When these birds are
surprised,” says Dr. Shaw, “by persons coming suddenly upon them,
while feeding in some valley, or behind some rocky or sandy eminence in
the deserts, they will not stay to be curiously viewed and examined.
Neither are the Arabs ever dexterous enough to overtake them, even
when they are mounted upon their jinse, or horses. They afford them an
opportunity only of admiring at a distance their extraordinary agility,
and the stateliness, likewise, of their motions, the richness of their
plumage, and the great propriety there was of ascribing to them an
expanded, quivering wing. Nothing, certainly, can be more beautiful and
entertaining than such a sight. The wings, by their repeated, though
unwearied, vibrations, equally serving them for sails and oars, while

their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less
insensible of fatigue.” We have mentioned their great bulk, as unfitting
them for flying, and shall here observe, from the Encyclop. Brit., that
the “ostrich is, without doubt, the largest of all birds, being nearly eight
feet in length, and, when standing upright, from six to eight feet in
height. We are told, in the Gentleman’s Magazine, (vol. 20. page 356,)
that two ostriches were shown in London in the year 1750, the male of
which was ten feet in height, and weighed 3 cwt. and 1 qr. But, though
usually seven feet high from the top of the head to the ground, from the
back it is only four, so that the head and neck are above three feet long.
One of the wings, without the feathers, is a foot and a half; and being
stretched out with the feathers is three feet.”
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Benson, Joseph. "Commentary on Job 39:18". Joseph Benson's
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rbc/job-
39.html. 1857.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
High. With her head erect, the ostrich is taller than a man on horseback.
(Pliny x. 1.) --- Its wings are used like sails, and enable it to run as fast
as many birds can fly, (Calmet0 while it hurls stones at the pursuer with
its feet, so as frequently to kill them. (Diodorus ii.) --- Rider, as they can
travel with equal speed. (Menochius) (Ver. 13.) --- Adamson (Senegal)
placed two negroes on one, and testified that it still went faster than any
English horse. (Haydock)

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentary on Job 39:18". "George
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/job-39.html. 1859.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -
Unabridged
What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his
rider.
Not withstanding her deficiences, she has distinguishing, excellences.
Lifteth ... herself - for running: she cannot mount in the air. Gesenius
translates [ tamriy' (Hebrew #4754), from maaraa' (Hebrew #4754),
akin to the Arabic], lashes herself up to her course by flapping her
wings. The old versions, the Septuagint and Vulgate, favour the English
version, and the parallel "scorneth" answers to her proudly "lifting up
herself" [from ruwm (Hebrew #7311), to raise one's self].
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary
on Job 39:18". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible - Unabridged".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/job-39.html. 1871-8.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(18) She lifteth up herself.—That is, either from the nest when she
comes to maturity, or when she sets out to run. The ostrich has a habit
of running in a curve, which alone enables horsemen to overtake and
kill or capture her. As in Job 39:13 a comparison seems to be drawn
between the ostrich and the stork, so here, probably, the subject spoken
of is the stork. Swift and powerful as the ostrich is, yet no sooner does
the stork, on the contrary, rise on high into the air than she—as, indeed,
any bird—can baffle the pursuit of horsemen.
CONSIDER THE HORSE, "Job 39:22 22It laughs at fear, afraid of
nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The War-horse
Job 39:19-25
W.F. Adeney
This magnificent picture of the horse shows him to us as he is about to
rush into battle. Whilst asses, oxen, and camels were employed for
peaceable work on the farm and as beasts of burden, the horse was
almost confined to war. He was rarely used excepting to dash with the
charioteer into the thick of the fight. In the poet's picture he is scenting
the battle from afar. Let us look at his striking features.
I. STRENGTH. There are two kinds of strength - mere brute strength of

muscle, and the strength that is vitalized by nervous and mental
influences. The urus is an instance of the former. In simple contractility
of muscle he may exceed the horse. But the strength of the horse is
nervous strength. It cannot well be measured, for it is continually
fluctuating. It varies in degree according to the extent to which the
sensitive animal is excited. We meet with the two kinds of strength in
men, and especially in women. When the mind fires the body, unheard-
of feats are performed. In moments of heroism naturally feeble people
seem to have the strength of a giant. God gives strength through
spiritual influences.
II. COURAGE. We may be surprised to meet with this characteristic in
a description of the horse. Is he not a timid creature, shying at any
unusual object by the wayside? This is true when he is dull and
subdued. But our picture shows him to us as the war-horse rushing in to
battle. Then he is brave as a lion. His courage is not the dull indifference
to danger that is a trait of stupidity, but the fiery courage of intense
excitement. It is difficult to be brave in cold blood. It is not easy to face
the troubles and dangers of life without some inspiring influence. The
Spirit of God in him makes the most timid brave.
III. ENTHUSIASM. The life of the picture is its enthusiasm. The horse
is impatient for the rage of the battle, excited by the distant sound of it
to a strong desire to rush into it. That is the spirit which will give him
strength and courage to go right into the midst of the danger. Nothing
succeeds like enthusiasm. Nothing is so beautiful, so inspiriting, so full
of life and hope. It needs guidance or it may plunge into disaster; it is
not enough without the direction of wisdom. But wisdom is vain without
enthusiasm. In the Christian life men are uplifted and borne onward
when they are reached by a wave of enthusiasm. Christ inspires the
"enthusiasm of humanity," because he first inspires an enthusiasm for
himself. Now, the first essential in a worthy enthusiasm is the perception
of a worthy object. The horse scents the battle, and the horse knows its
master. We see the great battle of sin and misery, and we have a glorious
Captain of salvation. The need of the world calls us to the fight; the
presence of our Lord gives us strength and courage, and ensures the

victory. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
Hast thou given the horse strength?
Job 39:19-30
The higher teaching of Nature
John Fry, B. A.
The intent of all these beautiful references to the works of Nature is to
teach us, from the wisdom, skill, and curious designs discoverable in the
formation and the instincts of various birds and beasts, to impress
ourselves with a worthy notion of the "riches of the wisdom" of Him
that made and sustaineth all things. These impressions we are to carry
with us when we consider the dealings of God in the way of Providence,
and in His ordering of all events, as the great Governor of the universe.
Can we suppose that there is anything wrong here, or without the design
of the most consummate wisdom, when He has put forth so much of His
skill and contrivance in the formation and ordering of these inferior
animals? May He not be trusted to do all things well, concerning the
destiny of man, the greatest of His works? In this higher economy, are
we to suppose there is less wisdom and design to be manifested, than in
this, which displays itself so visibly in these inferior works of His hand?
Thus would our blessed Lord increase the confidence of His disciples in
His providential care of them, by observing, "Are not two sparrows sold
for a farthing, and not one of them falleth to the ground without your
Father?" "Fear not," "are ye not much better than they? — of more
value than many sparrows." It was the want of such due impressions
concerning the designing wisdom of God, ever present, and ever
operating in all things, that had led Job to think and speak unworthily
of that dispensation of Providence under which he now lived, as being
altogether arbitrary, discovering no design and discriminating wisdom,
nor manifesting the righteous Governor of all things. His despairing

mind seemed to think that the Lord had forsaken the earth; and such
confusion and misrule permitted that the wisdom and justice and
goodness of God could only be manifested in what was hereafter to take
place in a future state. Therefore had Job despaired of life, and longed
for death. And we remember what it was that led Job into this unhappy
state of mind. On account of his moral and religious attainments, he had
been so lifted up with pride, that when it pleased God, in His secret
wisdom, to suffer him to be afflicted, he dared to say he did not deserve
it: and in order to reconcile the possibility of that, with the notions that
he held in common with his friends, respecting the Providence of God,
— as certainly willing and accomplishing all things which come to pass,
— he was led to express those unworthy notions of the present
dispensation of things which we have seen exposed, first by His
messenger Elihu, and now by Jehovah Himself.
(John Fry, B. A.)
The horse
T. De Witt Talmage.
As the Bible makes a favourite of the horse, the patriarch, and the
prophet, and the evangelist, and the apostle, stroking his sleek hide, and
patting his rounded neck, and tenderly lifting his exquisitely-formed
hoof, and listening with a thrill to the champ of his bit, so all great
natures in all ages have spoken of him in encomiastic terms. Virgil in his
Georgics almost seems to plagiarise from this description in the text, so
much are the descriptions alike — the description of Virgil and the
description of Job. The Duke of Wellington would not allow anyone
irreverently to touch his old war horse Copenhagen, on whom he had
ridden fifteen hours without dismounting at Waterloo; and when old
Copenhagen died, his master ordered a military salute to be fired over
his grave. John Howard showed that he did not exhaust his sympathies
in pitying the human race, for when ill he writes home, "Has my old
chaise horse become sick or spoiled?" There is hardly any passage of

French literature more pathetic than the lamentation over the death of
the war charger Marchegay. Walter Scott had so much admiration for
this Divinely honoured creature of God, that, in St. Ronan's Well, he
orders the girth to be slackened and the blanket thrown over the
smoking flanks. Edmund Burke, walking in the park at Beaconsfield,
musing over the past, throws his arms around the worn-out horse of his
dead son Richard, and weeps upon the horse's neck, the horse seeming
to sympathise in the memories. Rowland Hill, the great English
preacher, was caricatured because in his family prayer he supplicated
for the recovery of a sick horse; but when the horse got well, contrary to
all the prophecies of the farriers, the prayer did not seem quite so much
of an absurdity.
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
Horses in battle
T. De Witt Talmage.
In time of war the cavalry service does the most execution; and as the
battles of the world are probably not all past, Christian patriotism
demands that we be interested in equinal velocity. We might as well
have poorer guns in our arsenals and clumsier ships in our navy than
other nations, as to have under our cavalry saddles and before our
parks of artillery slower horses. From the battle of Granicus, where the
Persian horses drove the Macedonian infantry into the river, clear down
to the horses on which Philip Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson rode into
the fray, this arm of the military service has been recognised. Hamilcar,
Hannibal, Gustavus Adolphus, Marshal Ney were cavalrymen. In this
arm of the service Charles Martel at the battle of Poictiers beat back the
Arab invasion. The Carthaginian cavalry, with the loss of only seven
hundred men, overthrew the Roman army with the loss of seven
thousand. In the same way the Spanish chivalry drove back the Moorish
hordes. Our Christian patriotism and our instruction from the Word of
God demand that first of all we kindly treat the horse, and then, after

that, that we develop his fleetness, and his grandeur, and his majesty,
and his strength.
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
He mocketh at fear - He laughs at that which is fitted to intimidate; that
is, he is not afraid.
Neither turneth he back from the sword - He rushes on it without fear.
Of the fact here stated, and the accuracy of the description, there can be
no doubt.
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted,.... At those things which cause
fear and fright to men; as arms, though ever so terrible, and armies,
though never so numerous;
neither turneth he back from the sword; the naked sword, when it is
drawn against him, and ready to be thrust into him; the horse being so
bold and courageous was with the Egyptians a symbol of courage and
boldnessF22.
Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he
back from the sword.
Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear, &c.] Heb. He laugheth, by an elegant
prosopopoeia, (a) such as this Book is full of. Non vanes horret strepitus.

He feareth no colours when once engaged in fight, but counts that a
sport and play whereof others are afraid.
Neither turneth he back from the sword] Or any other offensive
weapons; these cannot make him turn tail or recoil. He is never more
furious than when he sees himself covered with blood. - Vires animosque
a vulnere sumit; being wounded, he biteth and kicketh, and fighteth no
less stoutly than the rider himself doth.
At fear, i.e. at all instruments and objects of terror, as fear is oft used, as
Proverbs 1:26 10:21. He despiseth what other creatures dread.
From the sword; or, because of the sword; or, for fear of the sword, as
this phrase is used, Isaiah 21:15 31:8 Jeremiah 14:16 1:16.
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God Questions Job About Animal Behavior - Job Chapter Thrity Nine
Series
Contributed by Tom Shepard on Sep 19, 2008
based on 24 ratings
(rate this sermon)

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Scripture: Job 39:1-30
Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Summary: A study into Job chapter thrity nine.
1 2 3
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Job 39 could be outlined -
God Questions Job About Several Animals
The Wild Goats and Deer (Job 39:1-4)
The Wild Donkey (Job 39:5-8)
The Wild Ox (Unicorn) (Job 39:9-12)
The Ostrich (Job 39:13-18)
The Horse (Job 39:19-25)
The Hawk (Job 39:26)
The Eagle (Job 39:27-30)
In reality God has questioned Job already about some animals in
chapter thirty eight - the lion (Job 38:39) and the raven (Job 38:41).
Two questions that God asked about these animals were:
1. Can you provide the prey for the loin and satisfy its appetite?
2. Can you provide food for the raven and supply food for its young
when they call out?
Let us not forget that there were no chapter divisions when the book of

Job was written. Verses and chapter divisions were added later to make
it easier for us to locate a portion of the scripture. God now continues to
question Job concerning his understanding of animal science.
1 "Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or
can you mark when the deer gives birth? 2 Can you number the months
that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bear young? 3
They bow down, They bring forth their young, They deliver their
offspring. 4 Their young ones are healthy, They grow strong with grain;
They depart and do not return to them. Job 39:1-4 (NKJV)
THE WILD GOATS AND DEER
God asks Job questions about the wild goats and the deer:
1. Job do you know the day that mountain goats give birth to their
young?
2. Job can you write on the calendar the day that the deer will give
birth?
3. Job do you know the exact day and time these events will happen?
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God then explains the process.
They bow down.
They bring forth the young.
They deliver their offspring.

The young ones are healthy.
The young grow strong with the food they eat.
The young depart from their mothers – never to return again.
Job do you have control over any of these things? The answer of course
is, “No – of course not!”
5 "Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager, 6
Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the barren land his
dwelling? 7 He scorns the tumult of the city; He does not heed the
shouts of the driver. 8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, And he
searches after every green thing. Job 39:5-8 (NKJV)
THE WILD DONKEY
Again Job is asked a series of questions:
1. Job are you the one who set the wild donkey free?
2. Job did you untie the wild mule?
3. Job did you make the wilderness their natural habitat?
4. Job did you give them such a nature that they hate to be tamed?
In verse five some translations use the term “wild donkey” twice.
Verse eight says that all the mountains are their pasture as they search
of food.
9 "Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your
manger? 10 Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will
he plow the valleys behind you? 11 Will you trust him because his
strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him? 12 Will you trust
him to bring home your grain, And gather it to your threshing floor?
Job 39:9-12 (NKJV)
THE WILD OX (UNICORN)
When it comes to the animal found in these verses – there is much

debate. The New King James version of the Bible calls the animal a
“wild ox”. Other translations call it: a unicorn (KJV), a wild buffalo
(MSG), a rhinoceros (DRB)and the Young’s Literal Translation does not
interpret the word but calls it a “Reem” a Hebrew word for “wild bull”.
In any case the importance of whatever animal is used – the fact is that
it is strong and wild – it is not tame. God again asks Job a series of
questions about this animal.
1. Job can you make the wild ox your servant?
2. Job will you put it to bed each night in a stall?
3. Job can you tie a rope around its neck and lead it around?
4. Job will you put a yoke on it and have it plow your fields?
5. Job just because it is strong – can you trust it to be a beast of burden?
6. Job can you put your faith in the fact that it will do what you want it
do?
7. Job will you risk you livelihood on the character of the wild ox?
Some animals can not be tamed – even though they have been captured
and placed in cages does not mean that the wild instincts are under
control. Job is asked, “How much power do you have over the wild ox –
buffalo? Would you risk your life – livelihood – on such a wild beast?”
13 "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and
pinions like the kindly stork’s? 14 For she leaves her eggs on the

ground, And warms them in the dust; 15 She forgets that a foot may
crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. 16 She treats her
young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain,
without concern, 17 Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not
endow her with understanding. 18 When she lifts herself on high, She
scorns the horse and its rider. Job 39:13-18 (NKJV)
THE OSTRICH

Now God points to the ostrich to question Job. Job was not the creator
of the birds and now he is asked to consider the nature of the ostrich.
God asks:
1. Job are all birds alike – consider the stork and the ostrich – are
their wings the same?
2. Job doesn’t the ostrich lay its eggs on the ground?
3. Job aren’t the eggs in danger of being stepped on and broken?

4. Job does the ostrich treat her young like a hen with chick does?
5. Job doesn’t it seem to you that the ostrich lacks motherly instincts?
6. Job didn’t I (God) make her that way?
7. However Job – can’t she out run the horse?
Job has had no say in how a ostrich behave. He has no control over
the running ability of large bird. He was not its creator.

19 "Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck
with thunder? 20 Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic
snorting strikes terror. 21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his
strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. 22 He mocks at fear, and
is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword. 23 The
quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin. 24 He
devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a

halt because the trumpet has sounded. 25 At the blast of the trumpet
he says, ’Aha!’ He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains
and shouting. Job 39:19-25 (NKJV)
THE HORSE
One of the most important animals every use for warfare is the horse.
For centuries the horse was the “tank” of the battlefield. This is the
image that this passage of scripture gives of the horse. Job is now ask

question about the horse:
1. Job did you give the horse it’s strength?
2. Job did you clothe the horse with its mane?
3. Job can you squash it like a grasshopper?
4. Job doesn’t the snorting of the horse frighten you?
5. Job doesn’t the stomping of its hooves make you stand

back?
6. Job aren’t you impressed that it has no fear of the
battlefield?
7. Job aren’t you impressed that he charges into battle
swiftly?
8. Job aren’t you impressed that the blast of the trumpet
calls him into action?

(9. Job did you have anything to do with that? {Implied})
26 "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, And spread its wings
toward the south? Job 39:26 (NKJV)
THE EAGLE
Now God questions Job about the eagle.
1. Job does the eagle fly at your command?

2. Job have you instructed the eagle where it’s to make its
nest?
3. Job have you told the eagle where to sit when it looks for
its prey?
4. Job have you given the eagle its keen eyesight?
THE EAGLE

nest?
its prey?

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5. Job did you decide what the eagle will eat and how it will

survive?
As we think about the world around us – God has a plan and
a purpose for all things. The behavior of animals – their
natural instincts are ordained by God for a purpose. Nothing
in God’s creation was made without a purpose. But we – as
Job – did not give animals their instincts. God alone has had
the power to do that.

THE HAWK
In one verse God asks Job two questions about the hawk.
1. Job did you give the hawk its wisdom on how to fly?
2. Job did you prepare the flight plan for the hawk?
Of course the answer is “No” to both questions.
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command, And make its

nest on high? 28 On the rocks it dwells and resides, On the
crag of the rock and the stronghold. 29 From there it spies
out the prey; Its eyes observe from afar. 30 Its young ones
suck up blood; And where the slain are, there it is." Job
39:27-30 (NKJV)
THE EAGLE

nest?
its prey?

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5. Job did you decide what the eagle will eat and how it will
survive?

As we think about the world around us – God has a plan and
a purpose for all things. The behavior of animals – their
natural instincts are ordained by God for a purpose. Nothing
in God’s creation was made without a purpose. But we – as
Job – did not give animals their instincts. God alone has had
the power to do that.

CONSIDER THE CROCODILE, "Job 41:29 29A club seems to it but a
piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
New Living Translation
Clubs are like a blade of grass, and it laughs at the swish of javelins.
English Standard Version
Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
Behemoth and Leviathan
Homilist
Job 41:1-34
Can you draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord
which you let down?…
The description of the "behemoth" in the preceding chapter and the
"leviathan" here suggests a few moral reflections.
I. THE PRODIGALITY OF CREATED MIGHT. With what amazing
force are these creatures endowed! How huge their proportions! How
exuberant their vital energy!
II. THE RESTRAINING POWER OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT.
What keeps those creatures in cheek? They are under the spell of the

Almighty. To all creatures the Creator has set a boundary beyond which
they cannot pass.
III. THE ABSURDITY OF MAN PRIDING HIMSELF IN HIS
STRENGTH. "Let not the mighty man glory in his might," etc.
IV. THE PROBABILITY OF MENTAL GIANTS IN THE UNIVERSE.
May there not be in the spiritual domain as great a difference in the
power of its tenants as there is in the physical?
V. THE DIVINE MODE OF SOLVING MAN'S MORAL
DIFFICULTIES. Great were the difficulties of Job in relation to God's
government. God does not reason with Job, but shows Himself to him,
and this settles all dispute, and will ever do so.
VI. GOD'S WORK IN NATURE SHOULD BE STUDIED, IN ORDER
TO IMPRESS US WITH HIS MAJESTY. We must remember the
profoundly religions and serious character of the Eastern patriarch.
(Homilist.)
Description of the Leviathan, or Crocodile
E. Johnson
Job 41:1-34

The description is in two parts.
I. The first part shows THE DIFFICULTY OR WELL-NIGH
IMPOSSIBILITY OF CIRCUMVENTING AND CAPTURING THIS
HUGE AND SLIPPERY CREATURE. (Vers, 1-7.) In language of irony
and almost of taunt this fact is set forth. Here, then, is a mere creature
of God before which man must feel his helplessness. If man cannot
overcome the creature, how much less shall he pretend to vie with the
Creator, make his imperfect will the rule of the world, and bend the
pride of the wicked beneath him?
II. The second part (vers. 8-34) is A DESCRIPTION IN DETAIL OF
THE PARTS, THE ORGANS, THE TERRIBLE ASPECT, THE FURY,
THE OBSTINATE POWER OF DEFENCE, AND THE PROUD
DOMINION OF THIS TERRIBLE CREATURE OVER ALL OTHERS
IN HIS RIVER-HAUNTS. Without at all straining the language or the
sense, the crocodile may be regarded as the type or allegory of the
wicked - in his destructive fierceness and passion, his callousness, his
place of pride and worldly defences - the alarm and confusion which he
spreads around him. So fearful and so real does wickedness seem in the
high places of the earth. Inwardly, the good man may escape from its
power and influence; outwardly, he seems exposed to its baneful sway,
and seeks in vain for dominion over it. The leviathan is the symbol of
those "kings of the children of pride." The conquest over the kingdoms
of force and fraud is reserved for the Divine might of righteousness
alone. The great lesson of this chapter is, then, that almighty power and
justice are inseparable. Separate in thought for a moment these
principles, and imagine either without the other to be associated with
the nature of God, and we have a world that is horrible to contemplate -
a world where force without right is the only law, or a world where right
is ever vainly struggling against force. Put these cases before the mind,

and we at once see that they are not only dreadful but impossible
alternatives, Neither is that human world, in which, with all its
mysteries and seeming inconsequences, pious and dutiful souls are
thankful and content to live, the world that is firmly and broadly based
upon the eternal will of absolute power and justice. Thus, too, we are
taught the truth concerning ourselves. Till we know both our weakness
and our moral frailty, we know nothing truly about ourselves. To be
conscious of impotence in presence of evil is to confess that we are
unrighteous. And this leads to that humble conviction of dependence in
which is the great root of piety. Dependence, in the natural and in the
moral life, is the law of our being. In the recognition of it, in the
acceptance of those relations and the fulfilment of those duties which the
gospel builds upon this foundation, consists man's health and peace. The
thought of a God who is mere arbitrary power, as the gods and fates of
the heathen, can never inspire loving trust or holiness. The thought of a
God who is just, but not all-powerful, so that he cannot carry out his
righteous purposes (as in ancient Manichaeism and in the strange
theory, e.g., of J. S. Mill), can never support the feeble soul in the midst
of the temptations of the world, in its struggle against evil. The
foundation laid in Zion is built of no such crumbling material; it is
raised upon a truth on which to rest is to be secure from disturbance,
for upon it all the history of time and the life of mankind are built.
"Praise, everlasting praise, be paid
To him that earth's foundations laid;
Praise to the Lord whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as he please." J.
Leviathan the Terrible
W.F. Adeney

Job 41:1-34
This terrible monster has a whole chapter to himself. His portrait is
painted on a broad canvas, and it is as full of life and movement as it is
of form and colour. Representing the crocodile, though enlarged and
idealized, leviathan is a picture of the most terrible of the works of
nature.
I. THERE ARE TERRIBLE THINGS IN NATURE. When we look at
the cruel jaws of the crocodile, gaping in readiness for its prey, and the
little snake-like eyes watching intently, in spite of an inert attitude of
body that tempts us to despise the creature as no better than a log of
wood, we have before us the mystery of natural terror. Could God have
made this horrible monster? Is there something in the animal world like
the tares in the field, that an enemy sowed in the night? The unity and
harmony of nature forbid such a thought. Moreover, the crocodile has
as much right to live as the fish or the calf that it feeds on. Even when it
snaps at an innocent and beautiful young creature, it is but fulfilling
that great natural instinct of hunger, without which the world would
perish. Far more terrible than the crocodile is the old serpent, who
brought into the world not natural death, but sin and the death of the
soul.
II. NATURE IS ADVANCING IN BEAUTY AND JOY. Both behemoth
and leviathan - the idealized hippopotamus and the idealized crocodile -
are survivals of a more ancient order of creatures than those which now
inhabit our globe. Geology teaches us that once such creatures, and
greater ones, were the chief if not the sole inhabitants of the earth. They

are really akin to the huge mastodon, a monster that would dwarf an
elephant; and the dinosaurus and ichthyosaurus, in comparison with
which the most tremendous reptile of our own day is an insignificant
animal. While these monsters crashed through the forests or plunged in
the rivers the world was no fit place for man. But since their time God
has peopled the earth with a fairer and more docile fauna. At all events,
with such animals as now inhabit it, he has made it possible for so weak
a being as man to rule the world. The older ugly and fearful creatures
remain to bear witness to the past. But by their contrast with the
general life of the present they show how God is improving the earth.
III. THE MOST FEARFUL CREATURES HAVE THEIR LIVES
ADJUSTED BY GOD. There is poetry in the magnificent description of
leviathan, especially because the whole hangs together in harmony.
There are no real "freaks of nature." The most eccentric creatures have
their spheres. The terror and fury of the lower life of nature is all calmly
provided for by God. We may, perhaps, think that something must have
been wrong,
"When dragons in their prime
Tare each other in their slime." To us this fury, this agony of nature, is
fearful and mysterious. But in the sight of God it is innocence itself
compared with fury of sin and the agony of remorse. The terrible things
of nature may possibly prove to have come from some perversion of
God's original plan by the influence of evil beings; this, however, is but a
will conjecture. But the terrible sin of man is a certain fact, and the evil
of the heart from which it springs is worse than the cruel rage of
leviathan, just because the human evil is quite out of harmony with the
will of God and in direct antagonism to his law. - W.F.A.

Adam Clarke Commentary
Darts are counted as stubble - All these verses state that he cannot be
wounded by any kind of weapon, and that he cannot be resisted by any
human strength. A young crocodile, seen by M. Maillet, twelve feet long,
and which had not eaten a morsel for thirty-five days, its mouth having
been tied all that time, was nevertheless so strong, that with a blow of its
tail it overturned a bale of coffee, and five or six men, with the utmost
imaginable ease! What power then must lodge in one twenty feet long,
well fed, and in health!
Darts are counted as stubble - The word rendered “darts” ( res. It is
from , obsolete root, “to beat with a club.” The word here probably
means clubs. Darts and spears are mentioned before, and the object
seems to be to enumerate all the usual, instruments of attack. The
singular is used here with a plural verb in a collective sense.
Darts are counted as stubble,.... Darts being mentioned before, perhaps
something else is meant here, and, according to Ben Gersom, the word
signifies an engine out of which stones are cast to batter down walls; but
these are of no avail against the leviathan;
he laugheth at the shaking of a spear; at him, knowing it cannot hurt
him; the crocodile, as Thevenot saysF7, is proof against the halberd. The
Septuagint version is, "the shaking of the pyrophorus", or torch bearer;
one that carried a torch before the army, who, when shook, it was a
token to begin the battle; which the leviathan being fearless of laughs at
it; See Gill on Obadiah 1:18.

Darts — rather, “clubs”; darts have been already mentioned (Job
41:26).
Job 41:29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a
spear.
Ver. 29. Darts are counted as stubble] When any thing in the decrees or
decretals likes not the pope, he sets pales, that is, stubble, upon it; or
Hoc non credo: so doth this leviathan upon all kinds of weapons; he
slights them. The word here rendered darts is as strange as the weapon
it signifieth is to us unknown, lapides ballistic, an engine whereby great
stones were thrown against walls or towers (as now cannon balls), to
make a breach in them. Catapulta, aries vel simile aliquod tormentum.
Be they what they will, the whale fears them not, no, though they were
as terrible to others as those two great pieces of ordinance cast by
Alphonsus, duke of Ferrara; the one whereof he called the earthquake,
the other grandiabolo, the great devil.
So far is he from fearing it, and fleeing from it, that he scorns and defies
it.
Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on Job 41:29". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/job-41.html. 1685.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

29. Darts — Thothahh. Either clubs, battle axe, or bludgeon. (Furst.)
The like meaning of the same word in the Arabic favours the first of
these definitions. The boomerang, or club-stick, (now called lissan,
tongue,) was much in use among the ancient Egyptian soldiers, and, in
close combat, was really a formidable weapon, as the experience of
modern times sufficiently testifies. It was about two and a half feet long,
and made of hard acacia wood. See Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, (P.A., i,
p. 365.)
The spear — The kidhon (javelin) or spear was borne upon the
shoulder, as in the case of Goliath, (1 Samuel 17:6-7,) and was in
common use among the Babylonians and Persians. Jeremiah 6:23;
Jeremiah 50:42.
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The Spirit Of Leviathan
Contributed by Dr. William D. Poovey on Apr 25, 2015
(rate this sermon)
| 3,658 views
Scripture: Job 41:1-34
Denomination: Foursquare
Summary: The spirit of leviathan is someone with a big mouth, carrying
a long “tale” and all the while, turning or spinning the “truth” until it

tears apart whoever they attack..
1 2 3
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The Spirit of Leviathan
What is and what does an alligator do ??? An alligator has a big mouth
and a long tail and when it bites into something it turns and spins and
tears apart whatever it attacks.
The spirit of leviathan is someone with a big mouth, carrying a long
“tale” and all the while, turning or spinning the “truth” until it tears
apart whoever they attack.
Leviathan is the name of a demon that is talked about throughout the
scriptures. His main demonic influence is with spiritual pride and
stopping Deliverance. The following scriptures describe Leviathan.
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Job 41 "Can you draw out the leviathan (the crocodile) with

a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? 2) Can
you put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with
a hook or a spike? 3) Will he make many supplications to
you [begging to be spared]? Will he speak soft words to you
[to coax you to treat him kindly]? 4) Will he make a
covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? 5)
Will you play with [the crocodile] as with a bird? Or will you

put him on a leash for your maidens? 6) will traders bargain
over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7)
Can you fill his skin with harpoons? Or his head with fishing
spears? 8) Lay your hand upon him! Remember your battle
with him; you will not do [such an ill-advised thing] again!
9) Behold, the hope of [his assailant] is disappointed; one is
cast down even at the sight of him! 10) No one is so fierce

[and foolhardy] that he dates to stir up [the crocodile]; who
then is he who can stand before Me [the beast's Creator, or
dares to contend with Me]? 11) who has first given to Me,
that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole
heavens is Mine. {Therefore, who can have a claim against
God, god Who made the unmastered crocodile?] [Romans
11:35.] 12) I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor

his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. 13) Who can strip
off [the crocodile's] outer garment? [who can penetrate his
double coat of mail?] Who shall come within his jaws? 14)
Who can open the doors of his [lipless] mouth? His
[extended jaws and bare] teeth are terrible round about. 15)
his scales are [the crocodile's ] pride, [for his back is made
of rows of shields] shut up together [as with] a tight seal;

16) One is so near to another that no air can come between
them. 17) they are joined one to another; they stick together
so that they cannot be separated. 18) His sneezings flash
forth light, and his eyes are like the [reddish] eyelids of the
dawn. 19) Out of his mouth go burning torches, [and] sparks
of fire leap out. 20) Out of his nostrils goes forth smoke, as
out of a seething pot over a fire of rushes. 21) His breath

kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth. 22) in
[the crocodile's] neck abides strength, and terror dances
before him. 23) the folds of his flesh cleave together; they
are firm upon him, and they cannot shake [when he moves].
24) His heart is as firm as a stone, indeed, as solid as a
nether millstone. 25) When [the crocodile] raises himself
up, the mighty are afraid; because of terror and the crashing

they are beside themselves. 26) Even if one strikes at him
with the sword, it cannot get any hold, nor does the spear,
the dart, or the javelin. 27) He counts iron as straw and
bronze as rotten wood. 28) The arrow cannot make [the
crocodile] flee; slingstones are treated by him as stubble.
29) Clubs [also] are counted as stubble; he laughs at the
rushing and the rattling of the javelin. 30) His underparts

are like sharp pieces of broken pottery; he spreads [grooves
like] a threshing sledge upon the mire. 31) He makes the
deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a [foaming] pot of
ointment. 32) [His swift darting] makes a shining track
behind him; one would think the deep to be hoary [with
foam]. 33) upon earth there is not [the crocodile's] equal, a
creature made without fear and he behaves fearlessly. 34)

He looks all mighty [beasts of prey] in the face [without
terror]; he is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now,
Job, who are you who dares not arouse the unmastered
crocodile, yet who dares resist Me, the beast's Creator, to
My face? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore,
who can have a claim against God?]
Psalm 74:14 "You crushed the heads of Leviathan [Egypt];

You did give him as food for the creatures inhabiting the
wilderness."
Isaiah 27:1 "In that day [the Lord will deliver Israel from
her enemies and also from the rebel powers of evil and
darkness] His sharp and unrelenting, and strong sword will
visit and punish leviathan the swiftly fleeing serpent,
leviathan the twisting and winding serpent; and He will slay

the monster that is in the sea."
Strong's Concordance (3882 and 3867) give this definition:
A wreathed animal or serpent. The constellation of the
dragon; also as a symbol of Bab. To join itself, to remain,
cleave. The constellation of the dragon is known as Orion
(3685) means to be fat, silly, foolish. Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos
5:8.

Job 41:34 says that Leviathan is monarch over all the sons of
pride. People - especially pastors - who do not accept the
truth about Deliverance has this demon. Leviathan stops
spiritual growth in people. They cannot pray, read their
bible, they go to sleep during services, mock or come against
Deliverance and/or Deliverance ministries.
Experienced Deliverance ministers who have encountered

Leviathan state that Leviathan is due to a family curse.
Children who have learning disabilities, especially reading,
is caused by this curse and the presence of Leviathan.
Painful stiffness in the neck and shoulders has been caused
by Leviathan.
In dealing with Orion, Pleaides and Articus are two of the
seven demons that are present with leviathan. Experienced

Deliverance ministers have stated that when these two
demons are dislodged Leviathan also comes out.
In Isaiah 27 Leviathan may also mean serpents that are
roused by snake charmers who are known to be able to
impose curses - so be sure to break curses. An example of
this as the Lord showed it to me is when there seems to be a
"great move of God" in a certain church and there seems to

be miracles, etc. going on it is a false move of God through
Leviathan and working with him is the "Queen of Heaven -
Jezebel." The Queen of Heaven gives power to Leviathan to
give false gifts, healings, miracles, etc. Leviathan in the
pastor, teacher, evangelist, etc. charms or hypnotizes the
people and they are deceived and seduced into believing
they are operating through the Holy Spirit. The reason the

pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc. accept this is because
they refuse to believe that they have demons and need
Deliverance from the demons. They teach the people that
"Christians cannot have demons."
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Job 40 indicates that Behemoth might be lodged in the will
of man.
Deception is a major role with Leviathan - the spirit of
deception works with him and a curse is placed upon you
and your blessings by God according to Malachi 2:1 " 2.
Some experienced Deliverance ministers have had success

dislodging Leviathan by calling out python - like the
physical python this demon digs its tail into the person and
wraps itself around its victim suffocating it. This is how it
stops spiritual growth and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is
also the cause for people not being able to speak in tongues.
The "true" Deliverance of God is casting out demons
according to mark 16:17. The Bible says that if we do not

love the truth - God will cause us to believe a lie. The only
way to get rid of the demonic influences of Leviathan is to
have them "cast out in the Name of Jesus."
Summary: The spirit of leviathan is someone with a big
mouth, carrying a long “tale” and all the while, turning or
spinning the “truth” until it tears apart whoever they
attack..

secular resources on animal laughter
Laughter across the Animal Kingdom, from Rats to Humans
By Stella Cao
November 4, 2012 03:42
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Have you ever heard a rat laugh? Jaak Panksepp has, and he finds
nothing unusual about it. Panksepp, Professor Emeritus of Psychology
at Bowling Green State University, tickles rats in his lab to elucidate the
fundamentals of laughter.
Scientists have long known that humans are not the only species capable
of laughing. In fact, most mammals, from chimpanzees to dogs, can
laugh as well. Similar to other abilities that are shared among many
species, some believe that there must be a reason the ability to laugh at a
good joke, from tickling, or some other source is shared among so many
different species. Given its prevalence and importance in social
interactions for all of these species, scientists seek to learn more about
the origins and purpose of laughter.
Panksepp is at the forefront of such research, and his work on rat
laughter has led to some interesting and unexpected observations. First,

Panksepp clarifies that rat laughter is slightly different from that of
humans. Rat laughter comes in the form of high frequency 50-kilohertz
ultrasonic calls, or “chirps,” that are distinct from other vocal emissions
in rats. In other words, one cannot hear rat laughter; they are actually
high-pitched chirps that must be measured using sensitive and
specialized equipment.
In addition to differences in frequency, rats also laugh in different
situations than most humans do. While rats laugh when tickled in
sensitive areas such as the nape of their neck, young rats also laugh
when they anticipate rewards or enter new environments. Rats also
laugh when they are nervous and when trying to diffuse aggressive
situations. These observations have led Panksepp to hypothesize that by
laughing, rats display emotional health and engage in social bonding
with other fellow rats. Therefore, rats that laugh more frequently might
have a higher social standing within a group because they attract other
rat, somewhat like the class clown in elementary school.
Rats laugh when tickled in sensitive areas, such as the nape of their
neck. Courtesy of BBC.
Laughter among children during boisterous play is similar to young rats
laughing when they are tumbling together. According to Panksepp,
laughter among human children and young rats is actually quite similar.
The main difference in humans, he notes, is that humans activate
“higher order structures” like the frontal cortex when laughing at jokes,
leading to laughter in response to multiple kinds of stimuli. On the other
hand, adult rats do not necessarily have the cognitive mechanisms to
understand verbal jokes and sarcasm. “The use of language-based jokes
is clearly unique to humans,” says Robin Dunbar, a professor of
evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford. Dunbar also
claims “laughter predates the appearance of language in human
evolution and was used as a mechanism to allow bonding between a
large number of individuals.”

Laughter in humans releases endorphins, which produce the feeling of
well-being in the brain. Releasing endorphins allows for bonding among
individuals in a group, which is beneficial to the hyper-social societies
humans live in. Sharing of laughter is likely to help people bond and
facilitate closer connections. Beyond this, however, behavioral
neuroscience has yet to clearly link how these tiny chemical changes add
up to cause something to seem funny to us — or rats.
http://www.yalescientific.org/2012/11/laughter-across-the-animal-
kingdom-from-rats-to-humans/
Laughter in the animal kingdom
Studies by various groups suggest monkeys, dogs and even rats love a
good laugh. “Neural circuits for laughter exist in very ancient regions of
the brain, and ancestral forms of play and laughter existed in other
animals eons before we humans came along with our ‘ha-ha-has’ and
verbal repartee,” says Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Bowling
Green State University.
Read this article that explains how animals don’t just laugh, there’s
evidence they can crack their own jokes.
Completely unrelated, but interesting anyway: Have you heard the call
of the Australian Kookaburra?
About the Author: Sebastian Gendry
Sebastian Gendry is a change-maker, coach and consultant with a
passion for laughter. He has been a full time Laughter Professional since
2005 and played a major role in introducing Laughter Therapy in North
America, Russia, and other countries. He is a master Laughter Yoga
trainer, creator of the Laughter Wellness method, head of faculty of the
Laughter Online University, and has appeared in 100+ newspapers and

magazines and two TEDx talks, as well as major TV shows, including
the Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 minutes and ABC Good Morning America.
He encapsulates and shares the power of positive and playful energy
and creativity. His life mission is to help people live a happier, healthier
and more connected life at a higher level of vibration.
https://www.laughteronlineuniversity.com/laughter-animal-kingdom/
Can Animals Laugh?
By Josie F. Turner, Journalist specialized in Animal Welfare. Updated:
May 13, 2018
No matter whether we are animal experts or not, just being in the
presence of an animal makes us feel better and happier. This is because
animals have a very special energy and - in most cases - they are tender
and easy-going.
Animals always make us laugh and smile, but many of us ask ourselves
if it is reciprocal, that is, if they also experience happiness and show it
by laughing and smiling. Can animals laugh? Do animals smile when
they are happy?
In order to solve this mystery, we at AnimalWised went to work. If you
want to know whether our wild friends can laugh, read this article to
find out!
You may also be interested in: Can Animals Have Down Syndrome?
Life can be fun...

... And not just for humans, animals can have a sense of humor too.
There are studies that state that many animals such as dogs,
chimpanzees, gorillas, rats and even birds can laugh. Perhaps they
cannot do it the same way as we do, but there is evidence to suggest that
they emit sounds similar to squeals or pants, somewhat like our
laughter, but at the same time different. This is so that they can express
when they are in a positive emotional state. In fact, it has been proven
that some animals enjoy being tickled.
The work carried out by experts for many years has the goal to identify
and recognize every laugh in the wild. The ape family can laugh, but
they do so by emitting sounds such as panting, grunts, squeaks and even
purrs.
When you notice your dog breathing quickly and intensely, it is not
always because they are tired or are rapidly breathing. A long sound like
this could well be a laugh; it is worth noting that this can calm the stress
of other dogs.
Rodents love laughing too. Experts have conducted tests by tickling
their neck area or inviting them to play. When they do this, rats make
ultrasonic noises which scientists have deduced is the equivalent of
human laughter.
What else do scientists say?
According to a study published in a well-known American scientific
journal, the neurological circuits that produce laughter are located in
the oldest areas of the brain. Therefore animals may be able to perfectly
express happiness through the sound of laughter, but that doesn't mean
they vocalize laughter in the same way humans do.
In conclusion, humans are not the only animals capable of laughing and
feeling happy. Everybody knows that all mammals and birds experience

positive emotions. They may not show it with a smile - their skeleton and
muscles just don't allow it - but animals do show their happiness
through other behaviors that have the same result.
All in all, animals have their own way of letting us know when they are
happy. For example, dolphins jump out of the water, elephants trumpet
and cats purr. All these are forms of emotional expression similar to our
smiles. Animals surprise us every day; scientists keep proving that they
are more emotionally complex than we ever thought.
Do Dogs smile? - Canine Laughter and Happiness
By Eduarda Piamore, Expert in canine and feline psychology, education
and training.. Updated: May 27, 2019
Dogs are capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions. Among
them is joy. Those of us who have the gift of sharing our lives with a dog
will know how happy they can be. While a healthy dog without stress
should be happy on a daily basis, there are some occasions when they
are particularly ecstatic. This could be going for a big walk,
encountering certain other animals or even being tickled in their
favorite spot. The dog's responses are myriad and knowing what they
mean requires understanding their body language.
This leads us to our question, do dogs smile? AnimalWised reveals that
dogs do indeed smile. However, the way in which they do it is not the
exact same as we humans. We'll also answer some common questions
about dogs, happiness and laughter.
Can Animals Laugh?

By Josie F. Turner, Journalist specialized in Animal Welfare. Updated:
May 13, 2018
No matter whether we are animal experts or not, just being in the
presence of an animal makes us feel better and happier. This is because
animals have a very special energy and - in most cases - they are tender
and easy-going.
Animals always make us laugh and smile, but many of us ask ourselves
if it is reciprocal, that is, if they also experience happiness and show it
by laughing and smiling. Can animals laugh? Do animals smile when
they are happy?
In order to solve this mystery, we at AnimalWised went to work. If you
want to know whether our wild friends can laugh, read this article to
find out!
Life can be fun...
... And not just for humans, animals can have a sense of humor too.
There are studies that state that many animals such as dogs,
chimpanzees, gorillas, rats and even birds can laugh. Perhaps they
cannot do it the same way as we do, but there is evidence to suggest that
they emit sounds similar to squeals or pants, somewhat like our
laughter, but at the same time different. This is so that they can express
when they are in a positive emotional state. In fact, it has been proven
that some animals enjoy being tickled.
The work carried out by experts for many years has the goal to identify
and recognize every laugh in the wild. The ape family can laugh, but
they do so by emitting sounds such as panting, grunts, squeaks and even
purrs.
When you notice your dog breathing quickly and intensely, it is not
always because they are tired or are rapidly breathing. A long sound like

this could well be a laugh; it is worth noting that this can calm the stress
of other dogs.
Rodents love laughing too. Experts have conducted tests by tickling
their neck area or inviting them to play. When they do this, rats make
ultrasonic noises which scientists have deduced is the equivalent of
human laughter.
What else do scientists say?
According to a study published in a well-known American scientific
journal, the neurological circuits that produce laughter are located in
the oldest areas of the brain. Therefore animals may be able to perfectly
express happiness through the sound of laughter, but that doesn't mean
they vocalize laughter in the same way humans do.
In conclusion, humans are not the only animals capable of laughing and
feeling happy. Everybody knows that all mammals and birds experience
positive emotions. They may not show it with a smile - their skeleton and
muscles just don't allow it - but animals do show their happiness
through other behaviors that have the same result.
All in all, animals have their own way of letting us know when they are
happy. For example, dolphins jump out of the water, elephants trumpet
and cats purr. All these are forms of emotional expression similar to our
smiles. Animals surprise us every day; scientists keep proving that they
are more emotionally complex than we ever thought.
https://www.animalwised.com/can-animals-laugh-582.html
Laughter in animals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation
Jump to search
An orangutan "laughing"
Laughter in animals other than humans describes animal behavior
which resembles human laughter.
Several non-human species demonstrate vocalizations that sound
similar to human laughter. A significant proportion of these species are
mammals, which suggests that the neurological functions occurred early
in the process of mammalian evolution.[1]
Contents
1
Apes
2
Rats
3
Dogs
4
Dolphins
5
References

6
External links
Apes[edit]
Chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans show laughter-like
vocalizations in response to physical contact such as wrestling, play
chasing or tickling. This behavior is documented in wild and captive
chimpanzees. Chimpanzee laughter is not readily recognizable to
humans as such, because it is generated by alternating inhalations and
exhalations that sound more like breathing and panting[2]. It sounds
similar to screeching. The differences between chimpanzee and human
laughter may be the result of adaptations that have evolved to enable
human speech. One study[citation needed] analyzed sounds made by
human babies and bonobos when tickled. It found that although the
bonobo’s laugh was a higher frequency, the laugh followed the same
sonographic pattern of human babies to include as similar facial
expressions. Humans and chimpanzees share similar ticklish areas of
the body such as the armpits and belly.
Research has noted the similarity in forms of laughter among humans
and apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans) when tickled,
suggesting that laughter derived from a common origin among primate
species, and therefore evolved prior to the origin of humans.[3][4]
Rats[edit]
Brown rats emit 50-kHz calls during rough and tumble play, and when
tickled.
Rats emit long, 50-kHz ultrasonic calls that are induced during rough
and tumble play, and when tickled by humans. The vocalization is
described as distinct "chirping". Like humans, rats have "tickle skin",
areas of the body that generate greater laughter responses than others.

Rats that laugh the most also play the most and prefer to spend more
time with other laughing rats. It has been reported that there is no
decline in the tendency to laugh and respond to tickle skin as rats age,
however, it has also been reported that in females, brain maturation
after puberty appears to redefine tickling as aversive, leading to
avoidance rather than appetitive responses.[5] Further studies show
that rats chirp when wrestling one another, before receiving morphine,
or when mating. The sound has been interpreted as an expectation of
something rewarding.[6] High frequency ultrasonic vocalizations are
important in rat communication and function to elicit approach
behavior in the recipient.[7]
The initial goal of research by Jaak Panksepp and Jeff Burgdorf was to
track the biological origins of how the brain processes emotions and
social behavior. They compared rat vocalizations during social
interactions to the joy and laughter commonly experienced by children
in social play. They concluded that the 50-kHz rat vocalizations might
reflect positive affective states (feelings or emotions), analogous to those
experienced by children laughing during social play.[8]
More recent studies have investigated the emotional states of rats after
being tickled. An animal's optimism or pessimism can be assessed by
cognitive bias studies. After being tickled, rats are more optimistic,
indicating the interaction invokes a positive affective state.[9]
Furthermore, rats self-administer playback of the 50-kHz trill calls and
avoid playback of 22-kHz calls.[10]
When rats are given naloxone (an opioid antagonist), tickling no longer
evokes the 50-kHz vocalisation which indicates that the rewarding
properties of tickling are modulated by endogenous opioids.
Dogs[edit]
Dogs sometimes pant in a manner that sounds like a human laugh. By
analyzing the pant using a sonograph, this pant varies with bursts of
frequencies. When this vocalization is played to dogs in a shelter setting,
it can initiate play, promote pro-social behavior, and decrease stress

levels. One study compared the behaviour of 120 dogs with and without
exposure to a recorded "dog-laugh". Playback reduced stress-related
behaviors, increased tail wagging, the display of a "play-face" when
playing was initiated, and pro-social behavior such as approaching and
lip licking.[11]
Dolphins[edit]
In 2004, researchers who were studying dolphins in Sweden noticed a
particular set of sounds that they hadn't heard before.[12] These sounds
consisted of a short burst of pulses, followed by a whistle. After further
observations the researchers discovered that these signals were only
being made by dolphins during play-fighting, and never during
aggressive confrontations. Their conclusion was that these sounds were
being made by the dolphins to indicate that the situation was pleasant
and/or non-threatening, and to help prevent it escalating into something
like a real fight. This, according to psychologists, is the reason why
laughter exists in the first place, suggesting these noises were the
dolphin equivalent of a human laugh.

Laughter in the animal kingdom

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