15 This whole section on the ostrich is not included in the . Many feel it is an interpolation and should therefore be deleted. The pattern of the chapter changes from the questions being asked to observations being made.
16 The word occurs only here and means “shrill cries.” If the is correct, this is a poetic name for the ostrich (see Lam 4:3).
17 Many proposals have been made here. The has a verb, “exult.” Strahan had “flap joyously,” a rendering followed by the . The uses “wave proudly.”
18 The point of this statement would be that the ostrich cannot compare to the stork. But there are many other proposals for this line—just about every commentator has a different explanation for it. Of the three words here, the first means “pinion,” the third “plumage,” and the second probably “stork,” although the has “heron.” The point of this whole section is that the ostrich is totally lacking in parental care, whereas the stork is characterized by it. The Hebrew word for “stork” is the same word for “love”: חֲסִידָה (khasidah), an interpretation followed by the . The most likely reading is “or are they the pinions and plumage of the stork?” The ostrich may flap about, but cannot fly and does not care for its young.
19 The meaning may have the connotation of “lays; places,” rather than simply abandoning (see M. Dahood, “The Root ’zb II in Job,” 78 [1959]: 307f.).
20 Heb “an animal of the field.”
21 This verb, “to deal harshly; to harden; to treat cruelly,” is used for hardening the heart elsewhere (see Isa 63:17).
22 The colon poses a slight problem here. The literal meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “springs up” (i.e., “lifts herself on high”) might suggest flight. But some of the proposals involve a reading about readying herself to run.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

but are they the pinions and plumage of love?

For she leaves her eggs to the earth

and lets them be warmed on the ground,

forgetting that a foot may crush them

and that the wild beast may trample them.

She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,

because God has made her forget wisdom

and given her no share in understanding.

When she rouses herself to flee,

she laughs at the horse and his rider.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

though they cannot compare

with the wings and feathers of the stork.

She lays her eggs on the ground

and lets them warm in the sand,

unmindful that a foot may crush them,

that some wild animal may trample them.

She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;

she cares not that her labor was in vain,

for God did not endow her with wisdom

or give her a share of good sense.

Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,

she laughs at horse and rider.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

but are her feathers and plumage like the stork’s?

She abandons her eggs on the ground

and lets them be warmed in the sand.

She forgets that a foot may crush them

or that some wild animal may trample them.

She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,

with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.

For God has deprived her of wisdom;

he has not endowed her with understanding.

When she proudly spreads her wings,

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

NLTNew Living Translation

“The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,

but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.

She lays her eggs on top of the earth,

letting them be warmed in the dust.

She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them

or a wild animal might destroy them.

She is harsh toward her young,

as if they were not her own.

She doesn’t care if they die.

For God has deprived her of wisdom.

He has given her no understanding.

But whenever she jumps up to run,

she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“The wings of the female ostrich flap—

are they the pinions of the stork or the falcon?

Indeed, it leaves its eggs to the earth,

and it lets them be warmed on the ground,

and it forgets that a foot might crush an egg,

and a wild animal might trample it.

It deals cruelly with its young ones, as if they were not its own,

as if without fear that its labor were in vain,

because God made it forget wisdom,

and he did not give it a share in understanding.

When it spreads its wings aloft,

it laughs at the horse and its rider.

KJV 1900King James Version

Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks?

Or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

Which leaveth her eggs in the earth,

And warmeth them in dust,

And forgetteth that the foot may crush them,

Or that the wild beast may break them.

She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers:

Her labour is in vain without fear;

Because God hath deprived her of wisdom,

Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

What time she lifteth up herself on high,

She scorneth the horse and his rider.

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