John Trapp on Job 39:19

Verſe 19. Haſt thou given the horſe ſtrength?] Having mentioned the horſe, he comes next to ſhew his nature: and here we have a moſt elegant deſcription of a generous horſe, ſuch as Dubartas maketh Cain to manage, and as the Greeks call, [non-Latin text not transcribed], Fremebundum. Virg. Georg.—Quod ſiqua ſonum procul armadeàêre Stare loco neſcit, micat auribus, & tremit artus: Collectumque premens velvit ſub naribus ignem.

In this Creature therefore we have a clear inſtance of the wonderful Power and Wiſdome of God. If the hoaſe be ſo ſtrong and warlike, what is the Almighty, that man of war, Exod. 15.3. and Victor in Battle, as the Chaldee there calleth him? This is one way whereby we may conceive of God, ſcil. per viam eminemiae, for if there be ſuch and ſuch excellence in the Creature, what is there in the Creator, ſith all that is in us is but a ſpark of his flame, a drop of his Ocean? How then wilt thou, O Job, dare to contend with him, who art not able to ſtand before this Creature of his? Wonderful things are reported concerning Bucephalus, and the horſe of Julius Caeſar, of Nicom[illegible: 1 letter]des King of Bithynia, of the Sibarites War-horſes, Qui ad ſymphonia cantum ſaltatione quadam movebantur. Pauſan. The Perſians dedicated an horſe to the Sun, ſo did the Idolatrous Iſraelites, 2 Kings. 23.11. as the ſwifteſt Creature to the ſwifteſt God. Very ſerviceable he is for drawing and carrying, but eſpecially in battle, whereof only here, De equis militaribus & cataphractis; of War-horſes, the uſe whereof appeareth to be very ancient, even in Jobs dayes. The Iſraelites made little or no uſe of them in the Conqueſt of Canaan; [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Plut. in Numa but their enemies there did, and Pharaoh before them, Exod. 14. Let it be held that a horſe is a vaine thing for ſafety, neither ſhall he deliver any by his great ſtrength, Pſal. 33.17. The Jewes are ſharply reproved, and heavily threatned for truſting to the horſes of Egypt, Iſai. 31.1.

Haſt thou cloathed his neck with thunder?] That is, with neighing and ſnorting, anſwerable to his ſtrength, and which ſoundeth terribly from within his neck, till his very eyes ſparkle, as if he did both thunder and lighten. The Apoſtles, and other Miniſters of God are called Chriſts White horſes, Rev. 6.1, 2. upon which he rideth about the world conquering and to conquer: Horſes for their courage and conſtancy, and white for their purity of Doctrine, Diſcipline and Converſation: They thunder in their Doctrine, and lighten in their lives (as Nazianzen, ſaith Baſil, did) to the ſubduing of ſouls to the obedience of faith.