If one brings up the subject of the unicorn, most folks think of the myth that involves a horse-like creature with a horn in the center of its forehead, some variations show the same creature having wings. Of course, there is no evidence that such creatures ever existed. However, there is evidence of a large rhino/ox like creature that existed long ago, and is now extinct. Nevertheless, I don’t believe this creature is the one that we find recorded in the Book of Job. Job’s unicorn is supposed to have had unequaled strength (Numbers 23:22), had two horns (Deuteronomy 33:17), and seems to be classified with bulls and bullocks or oxen (Deuteronomy 33:17; Isaiah 34:7). Therefore, I’m inclined to agree with how most translators seem to have rendered the Hebrew into English, namely the wild ox or bull.[1]
Some Biblical scholars claim this animal is probably the same as the Romans’ urus, which Julius Caesar saw in Gaul, during the first century BC. Concerning this beast, he claimed:
“These uri are scarcely less than elephants in size, but in their nature, color, and form are bulls. Great is their strength, and great their speed; nor do they spare man nor beast, when once they have caught sight of him. … Even when they are young, they cannot be habituated to man and made tractable. The size and shape of their horns are very different from those of our own oxen” (‘De Bellium Gallicum,’ 6.28).
In Job 39:9 God asks Job if he thought this creature (the wild ox), would be willing to serve him, and spend the night in his crib or stall. The expected reply would, of course, be no, or, in other words, the wild ox is untameable, like the wild ass in the Lord’s previous illustration.
The Lord asks Job, “Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?” (Job 39:10). In other words, are you able to do to this animal as you do a tame ox? Will the wild ox submit to the plow, and will he be so tame as to follow you across your fields, as he effortlessly plows the land behind him (verse-10)? Will you rely upon him to do your labor, as you do your domesticated animals? Truly, men use the ox, the camel, the horse and the elephant, because of their great strength and speed. However, are you able to harness the strength of the wild ox in the same manner that you would these other creatures? Job, will you risk the fruits of your labor on the chance that you could tame this beast to do as you command (Job 39:11)?
It is a necessity to rely on domesticated animals to harvest one’s fields and bring the fruits of one’s labor to the threshing floor to be winnowed. Would Job put his trust in the wild ox to do this for him? Would he risk everything on the whim that he could tame a will ox to use his great strength to harvest his fields quicker than his domesticated animals could do (Job 39:12). Of course, he wouldn’t. Such a thing would be idiocy!
Earlier, Job complained about young men who scorned him, whose fathers he considered so useless that he wouldn’t even trust them to care for his dogs, which he used to serve his flocks. The strength of those men meant nothing to Job, because they weren’t even worthy of the breath they breathed (Job 30:1-2). By Job’s own words, he couldn’t harness the strength of these men to serve him. How could he harness the strength of the wild ox?
I believe the point the Lord was making was, men are in rebellion against him. Men scorn him, like the young men scorned Job in chapter 30. Yet, it is implied here that the Lord is able to harness the strength of even those who have rebelled against him, the very same sort of men who destroyed Job’s wealth. The rebels will do the Lord’s will, despite their untameable nature. Hadn’t they done so in the first chapter of the Book of Job? Who is able to frustrate the will or the plans of the Almighty God? Did Job forget that God is in charge of even the untameable beasts of the earth? They are able to do nothing that the Lord doesn’t permit. Therefore, Job’s fate, yes, our fate, is safe in the hands of the Lord. Do we forget this?
____________________________________________________
[1] The KJV translates the Hebrew (H7214) into unicorn, and it has been variously translated: ox, wild ox, reym (a transliteration), buffalo, rhinoceros, and bull. Most translations that I’m familiar with translate it into wild ox, which is another name for a bull.
Smoodock's Blog 