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Job 40

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God Challenges Job's Self-Justification 1–5

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Moreover Jehovah answered Job, and said,
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Shall he that cavilleth contend with the Almighty? He that argueth with God, let him answer it. ​
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Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,
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Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand upon my mouth. ​
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Once have I spoken, and I will not answer; Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further. ​

The LORD Demands Job’s Answer 6–14

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Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ​
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Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. ​
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Wilt thou even annul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified? ​
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Or hast thou an arm like God? And canst thou thunder with a voice like him? ​
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Deck thyself now with excellency and dignity; And array thyself with honor and majesty.
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Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger; And look upon every one that is proud, and abase him.
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Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; And tread down the wicked where they stand. ​
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Hide them in the dust together; Bind their faces in the hiddenplace.
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Then will I also confess of thee That thine own right hand can save thee. ​

The Power of Behemoth 15–24

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Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee; He eateth grass as an ox. ​
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Lo now, his strength is in his loins, And his force is in the muscles of his belly. ​
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He moveth his tail like a cedar: The sinews of his thighs are knit together. ​
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His bones areastubes of brass; His limbs are like bars of iron.
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He is the chief of the ways of God: Heonlythat made him giveth him his sword. ​
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Surely the mountains bring him forth food, Where all the beasts of the field do play.
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He lieth under the lotus-trees, In the covert of the reed, and the fen.
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The lotus-trees cover him with their shade; The willows of the brook compass him about.
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Behold, if a river overflow, he trembleth not; He is confident, though a Jordan swell even to his mouth. ​
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Shall any take him when he is on the watch, Or pierce through his nose with a snare? ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 40

Verse 2

he that reproveth God, let him answer it — 'Contendeth' is rib, to bring a case, and 'reproveth' is yakach, to argue or correct, the verb of 5:17 and 33:19. 'Instruct' is yissor, a word found only here. 'Answer' is anah, the verb Job takes up in v.5. Paul asks the same of men: 'who hath been his counsellor?' (Rom 11:34).

Verse 4

I am vile — 'Vile' is qalal, to be light or small. 'Answer' here is shuv, to return a word; Job's 'I will not answer' in v.5 is anah, as in v.2. The gesture is one Job had named in 21:5, 'lay your hand upon your mouth', when he said it to his friends, and one he had seen in others: 'The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth' (29:9).

Verse 5

Once have I spoken — 'Once… twice' echoes 33:14 and Ps 62:11, 'God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this'. 'Proceed no further' is yasaph, to add. Job will speak again in 42:2–6, but he adds nothing to his case. Paul describes the same end of argument: 'that every mouth may be stopped' (Rom 3:19).

Verse 6

out of the whirlwind — Sa'ar, a storm wind, the same word as 38:1, 'Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind'. From chapter 3 to chapter 37 the divine name appears only once, in 12:9, so the LORD's speaking by name from 38:1 is the book's turn, and here he speaks again. 'Answered' is anah, the verb of Job's own 'I will not answer' (v.5).

Verse 7

Gird up thy loins now like a man — The words are those of 38:3, with azar, to belt, and chalats, the loins. 'Demand' is sha'al, to ask. Job takes the charge back in 42:4, 'I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me'. Peter uses the same figure: 'gird up the loins of your mind' (1 Pet 1:13).

Verse 8

Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? — 'Disannul' is parar, to break, the verb used of breaking the covenant (Gen 17:14; Lev 26:15). 'Judgment' is mishpat, justice. The charge is the one Elihu named in 32:2 and 35:2: that Job 'justified himself rather than God'. 'Condemn' (rasha) and 'righteous' (tsadaq) set the two against each other.

Verse 9

Hast thou an arm like God? — 'Arm' is zero'a, the sign of strength, as in 'thou hast a mighty arm' (Ps 89:13). 'Thunder' is ra'am, the root of the 'thunder' in 39:19 and 39:25. Elihu had said, 'God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend' (37:5).

Verse 12

tread down the wicked in their place — 'Look on' is ra'ah, 'bring him low' is kana, to bend the knee, and 'tread down' is hadak, to crush. The command repeats v.11, 'behold every one that is proud, and abase him', and puts the judging of the wicked beyond Job. Mal 4:3 says it will be done 'in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts'.

Verse 14

thine own right hand can save thee — 'Confess' is yadah, to acknowledge, and 'save' is yasha', to bring into safety. The LORD says he will admit it if Job can do vv.9–13. Israel's history gives the answer: they did not win the land 'by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand' (Ps 44:3).

Verse 15

behemoth, which I made with thee — Behemoth is the plural of behemah, beast, the word translated 'cattle' in Gen 1:24, the day the LORD also made man. 'Which I made with thee' places Job among the same creatures. 'Grass' is chatsir, as in Ps 104:14, 'He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle'.

Verse 16

his strength is in his loins — 'Strength' is koach and 'force' is on, power, set in the 'loins' (mothen, the waist) and in 'the navel of his belly'. 'Navel' is shariyr, a cord or sinew, found only here. The picture is of strength held in the body's centre, which the LORD points to as something he made.

Verse 17

like a cedar — 'Cedar' is erez, the tree used for height and strength, as of the Amorite 'whose height was like the height of the cedars' (Amos 2:9). 'Wrapped together' is sarag, to intertwine, and 'sinews' is gid, a tendon. The Hebrew for 'stones' is pachad, a word spelled like the one for 'fear'.

Verse 19

the chief of the ways of God — 'Chief' is re'shith, beginning or first, the word of Prov 8:22, 'The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way'. 'Ways' is derek, a trodden road. The creature is first in rank among the works of God, and 'he that made him' alone can bring his sword (chereb) near.

Verse 23

he drinketh up a river — The verb is 'ashaq, which usually means to press upon or oppress, and 'hasteth not' is chaphaz, to flee in alarm. 'Trusteth' is batach, the word of confidence. Jordan, the river of Israel, is named only here in Job; Gen 13:10 calls its plain 'well watered every where'.

Verse 24

his nose pierceth through snares — 'Snares' is moqesh, the word of 34:30; 'pierceth' is naqab, to bore through. The verse says no trap holds the creature. In the next chapter the same question is put of leviathan: 'Canst thou put an hook into his nose?' (41:2). Neither can be taken by men.