He scorneth the multitude of the city,.... Choosing rather to be alone in the wilderness and free than to be among a multitude of men in a city, and be a slave as the tame ass; or it despises and defies a multitude of men, that may come out of cities to take it, Leo Africanus says it yields to none for swiftness but Barbary horses: according to Xenophon , it exceeds the horse in swiftness; and when pursued by horsemen, it will outrun them, and stand still and rest till they come near it, and then start again; so that there is no taking it, unless many are employed.
Aristotle says it excels in swiftness; and, according to Bochart , it has its name in Hebrew from the Chaldee word adp, "to run". Or it may be rendered, "the noise of the city", so Cocceius; the stir and bustle in it, through a multiplicity of men in business;neither regardeth he the crying of the driver; or "hears" : he neither feels his blows, nor hears his words; urging him to move faster and make quicker dispatch, as the tame ass does; he being neither ridden nor driven, nor drawing in a cart or plough.
Ut supra. (Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.) Ut supra. (De Expedition. Cyril, l. 1.) Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 36. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 1. c. 9. col. 63.