Chapter Forty

The second discourse of the Lord. 1–9. God is righteous. 10–27. Description of Behemoth (10–19) and the crocodile (20–27).

Job 40:1. And the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: Job 40:2. Gird yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Cf. Job 38:1-3.

Job 40:3. Do you want to overthrow my justice, condemn me so that you might be justified? The preceding discourse about the wise and perfectly good providence of God implicitly contains the thought that God cannot be unjust. The second discourse of the Lord is devoted to the final clarification of this truth. Therefore it begins with a question full of wonder: “do you want to overthrow my justice?” By insisting on how undeserved his sufferings are, Job was thereby accusing God of injustice. But is he right in this? Can he really take on the role and position of a defender of justice higher than the divine?

Job 40:4. Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like his? He who criticizes and rejects the divine justice is not able to take on himself the task of protecting justice among people. To be just, one must possess the corresponding power to defend truth. And, of course, Job does not have it. He does not have an arm like God’s (cf. Job 22:8) and a voice like his (cf. Job 37:2 and following), that is, he is not all-powerful (cf. Ps 28). The contrast between Job’s weakness in the matter of protecting truth and God’s all-mightiness in this respect is an undeniable proof that God is righteous.

Job 40:5. Adorn yourself with splendor and glory, clothe yourself with brightness and majesty; Job 40:6. pour out your fierce anger, look on all the proud and humble them; Job 40:7. look on all the arrogant and bring them low, and crush the wicked where they stand; Job 40:8. bury them in the dust together, and bind their faces in the hidden place. Job 40:9. Then I myself will acknowledge that your own right hand can save you. A continuation of the thought about Job’s inability to protect justice and destroy evil. The ironical character of the discourse (v. 5; cf. Ps 103:1) contains, though not directly, yet quite clearly an indication that God governs the world according to the laws of the strictest justice. Job 40:10-27. The description of Behemoth and Leviathan – clear examples of infinite divine creative power, joined in the governance of the world with justice. Despite all their enormous physical strength, these animals are creatures of God’s hand, subject to the divine will, which humbles all pride seeking to rule with tyranny (Job 41:2-3).

Job 40:10. See, Behemoth, which I created as I created you; he eats grass like an ox; According to the opinion of Delitzsch, Lange and others, “Behemoth” is a Hebraized Coptic-Egyptian word “p-ehe-mau” (p = the definite article; ehe = ox; mau = water) – a water ox, hippopotamus. The Septuagint understood “Behemoth” as a plural form of the word “behema” – animal, hence their reading: θηρία – beasts. Ancient exegetes understood “Behemoth” to mean an elephant, but certain details in the description of this animal (v. 11) do not apply to the latter. Created just as well as man (“which I created as I created you”), Behemoth belongs to the class of herbivorous animals, but stands out sharply from their midst by its strength.

Job 40:11. See, his strength is in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly; The seat of the Behemoth’s strength is in the loins and belly, which does not apply to an elephant, which has tender skin on its belly (cf. 1 Macc 6:46).

Job 40:12. He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are twisted together; Job 40:13. His legs are like bronze tubes; his bones are like iron rods; Thick at the base and tapering at the end, the tail of the Behemoth is straight, firm and elastic, like a cedar; its body is covered with intertwining sinews; the massive body with bones hard as iron is supported by strong legs like bronze tubes (cf. Song 5:15).

Job 40:14. He is the first of the ways of God; only his Maker can bring near his sword; By reason of its strength and colossal nature, Behemoth is the archetypal creation, God’s creation. “Reshit” – “firstborn” (the Synodal text: “the first of the ways of God”) – first in rank, in position (Amos 6:1). Instead of the Synodal: “only his Maker can bring near his sword to him,” the correct reading of the second half of this verse should be: “his Creator gave him his sword.” According to the nature of the Behemoth’s food (v. 15) he has been given teeth sharp as a sword.

Job 40:15. The mountains bring him food, and all the beasts of the field play there; Using sharp teeth, Behemoth feeds on crops and vegetation of the lands adjacent to the Nile (the heights near the river – “mountains” in comparison with the lowlands of the river), but by appearing there does not cause confusion among the animals (“and all the beasts of the field play there”): he is not carnivorous.

Job 40:16. He lies down under the shadowy trees, under the cover of reeds and in the swamps; Job 40:17. The shadowy trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the streams surround him; Away from the river (v. 15) the hippopotamus appears only when he feels a lack of food. His usual place of residence is in the water, among the lotus (Hebrew “tzelim” – “shadowy trees”) and other vegetation.

Job 40:18. See, he drinks from the river and is not disturbed; he remains calm, even if the Jordan should rush into his mouth. Instead of the Synodal: “see, he drinks from the river and is not disturbed,” the literal translation should be: “let the river swallow him, he is not afraid.” Water is the native element of the Behemoth; he does not fear the flooding of the Nile or the current of so swift a river as the Jordan. The Jordan in the sense of a proper name is used only as an example of a swift river. A literal understanding: “the Behemoth does not fear the Jordan” is impossible because in Job’s time there were no hippopotamuses in it. Other exegetes understand “Yarden” as a common noun: “the flow of water,” and connect it with the word “Yor” – “channel,” which serves to designate the Nile.

Job 40:19. Can anyone capture him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a trap? A man cannot overcome Behemoth either by open force (“by his eyes”) or by means of cunning. Job 40– Job 41:26. Description of Leviathan.

Job 40:20. Can you pull out Leviathan with a hook, or pierce his tongue with a rope? By the name of Leviathan (Job 3:8; Ps 73:14) is meant, as scholars think, the crocodile. Hebrew expression in this verse gives support to such an understanding: “timsok” (“can you pull out”), which is an allusion to the Coptic name for the crocodile – “temsah” and the modern Arabic “timsah.” The Hebrew language has no special name for this animal, as it was not found in Palestine. A crocodile cannot be caught by the usual method employed in fishing – with a hook, nor can it be pulled from the water by grasping its tongue with a rope. The impossibility is explained by the fact that the crocodile’s tongue is attached by a membrane to the two edges of the lower jaw, by which means the animal cannot extend it or thrust it out. The ancients, following Herodotus (II, 68), believed that the crocodile had no tongue at all.

Job 40:21. Will you put a ring through his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? One cannot deal with it as with a caught fish. Fishermen would pass a ring through the gills of a caught fish, tie the ring to a rope fastened on shore, and lower the fish back into the water to keep it alive.

Job 40:22. Will he make a lot of pleas to you, or will he speak to you gently? The danger of being captured does not threaten the crocodile, and therefore on its part there cannot be pleas or requests for mercy for the return of lost freedom.

Job 40:23. Will he make a covenant with you, and will you take him forever as a slave? Job 40:24. Will you play with him as with a bird, and will you bind him for your daughters? Still less can one make from it an obedient instrument serving man (“will you take him forever as a slave?”) and, as from a caught bird, a plaything for children. “The crocodile often devours women and children drawing water from the Nile; who would think of turning into a toy such a terrible monster?”

Job 40:25. Will his companions sell him, will they divide him among the merchants? One man cannot overcome the crocodile; nor can “companions in hunting,” Hebrew “haverim” – “the united” – an entire party of fishermen do so. The attempt to catch it by united effort is useless, and the dream of dividing the catch among the participants, as the “Kena’anim” – Phoenicians did with large fish, is vain.

Job 40:26. Can you pierce his skin with spears, or his head with a fishing spear? Job 40:27. Lay your hand upon him, and remember the battle: never do it again. It is also useless to try to overcome the crocodile by another means – resorting to the help of a spear and a harpoon to pierce the skin and head (cf. Job 41:7-9, Job 41:18-21). For this it is necessary to engage in battle with the monster, but once having dared to make such an attempt, one will never repeat it.