Job 39:3

They bow themselves,.... That they may bring forth their young with greater ease and more safety: for it seems the hinds bring forth their young with great difficulty; and there are provisions in

They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows. Bow themselves - in parturition: bend on their knees (1 Samuel 4:19).

They bow themselves; being taught by a Divine instinct to dispose themselves in such a posture as may be fittest for their safe and easy bringing forth. They bring forth their young ones, to wit, with great pain, being almost torn or rent asunder with the birth, as the word signifies; or, without any of that help which tame beasts oft have. Their sorrows, i.e. their young ones, and their sorrows together. Or, though (which particle is oft understood) they remit or put away their sorrows, i.e. though instead of cherishing and furthering their sorrows, which for their own ease and safety they should do, they foolishly hinder them, and so increase their own danger; yet by God’ s good providence to them they are enabled to bring forth, as was now said.

Job 39:3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.Ver. 3. They bow themselves] sc. By an instinct of nature, whether it be the pain they suffer, which compelleth them to it, or the fear of hurting their calves, which obligeth them to it. They bring forth their young] Diffindunt: fissa sc. et aperta tandem matrice; they bring forth with a great deal of difficulty, to the crushing of their young, which yet escape and grow up. Let good women learn, sperare a Deo faciles et faelices partus, to trust in God for a happy delivery, though it go hard with them, sometimes to the making of some Medea say, Millies in acie mori mallem quam semel parere, I had rather a thousand times die in battle than bring forth one child (Eurip.). They cast out their sorrows] Tormina, their throes, and therewith their young, by the benefit of the herbs Arus and Seselis, which they feed upon, for the better bringing away of their gleanings, as they call the involucrum, that wrappeth the young in the matrix (Arist. Hist. Anim. lib. 8, cap. 5; Plin. lib. 8, cap. 31). The Vulgate hath it, They utter roarings; they cast forth cries which are as terrible as the roarings of lionesses. Stato partus tempore valvae dehiscunt quae a partu mox occluduntur; id quod fieri videmus, inquit Galenus, sed quomodo fiat, admirari tantum possumus. Avicenna vocat opus supra mirabilia omnia, mirabile. Sed miracula assiduitate vilescunt. If a man should be born but once in a hundred years, all the world would stand amazed at such a miracle.

Verse 3. They bow themselves] In order to bring forth their young ones. They cast out their sorrows.] חבליהם chebleyhem; the placenta, afterbirth, or umbilical cord. So this word has been understood.

3. cast out their sorrows] That is, their pains; with the birth of their young they are rid of their pains also. Or “their pains” may mean “their young,” by a figure common in all poetry.

They bow themselves - literally, they curve or bend themselves; that is, they draw their limbs together. They cast out their sorrows - That is, they cast forth the offspring of their pains, or the young which cause their pains.

3. Their sorrows — Used figuratively for the foetus. In like manner Arab poets call the human foetus “pangs.” Euripides uses exactly the same expression as that of the text, ριψαιωδινα.