Job 39:5

Who hath sent out the wild ass free? - פרא pere, which we translate wild ass, is the same as the ονος αγριος of the Greeks, and the onager of the Latins; which must not, says Buffon, be confounded with the zebra, for this is an animal of a different species from the ass. The wild ass is not striped like the zebra, nor so elegantly shaped. There are many of those animals in the deserts of Libya and Numidia: they are of a gray color; and run so swiftly that no horse but the Arab barbs can overtake them. Wild asses are found in considerable numbers in East and South Tartary, in Persia, Syria, the islands of the Archipelago, and throughout Mauritania. They differ from tame asses only in their independence and liberty, and in their being stronger and more nimble: but in their shape they are the same. See on Job 6:5 (note).

The bands of the wild ass? - ערוד arod, the brayer, the same animal, but called thus because of the frequent and peculiar noise he makes. But Mr. Good supposes this to be a different animal from the wild ass, (the jichta or equus hemionus), which is distinguished by having solid hoofs, a uniform color, no cross on the back, and the tail hairy only at the tip. The ears and tail resemble those of the zebra; the hoofs and body, those of the ass; and the limbs, those of the horse. It inhabits Arabia, China, Siberia, and Tartary, in glassy saline plains or salt wastes, as mentioned in the following verse.

The dog:

But now they who are younger than I have me in derision,

Whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the

Dogs of my flock. Job 30:1.

The jackal:

I am become a brother to the jackal,

And a companion to the ostrich. Job 30:29.

The mountain-goat and the hind:

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?

Or canst thou observe the birth-throes of the hind?

Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?

Knowest thou the season when they bring forth?

They bow themselves; they give birth to their young;

They cast forth their sorrows.

continued...

39:5 Sent - Who hath given him this disposition that he loves freedom, and hates that subjection which other creatures quietly endure?Loosed - Who keeps him from receiving the bands, and submitting to the service of man.