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JOB 40

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. The Hebrew text (MT) of Job 40 has 32 verses. Job 41:1-8, in English, is Job 40:25-31 in Hebrew.
   
   
2. YHWH's first response to Job runs from Job 38:1–40:2.
   
   
3. Job answers YHWH in Job 40:3-5.
   
   
4. YHWH continues His questioning of Job in Job 40:6-41:34.
   
   
5. My best guess is that both Behemoth and Leviathan are mythical animals that demonstrate YHWH's control of rebellious forces in physical creation (see notes). I do not think they refer to dinosaurs
   SPECIAL TOPIC: THE AGE OF THE EARTH

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 40:1-2
 ¹Then the Lord said to Job,
  ²"Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
 Let him who reproves God answer it."

40:1 The repeated introductory formula (i.e., the VERB "answer," BDB 772, KB 851, Qal IMPERFECT with waw, cf. Job 38:1; omitted in LXX) highlights this last question of YHWH, which characterizes Job as a "faultfinder" (BDB 416, KB 417), found only here in the OT.

Job is a "faultfinder" because of his accusations against God's character and justice throughout the dialogues.

▣ "the Almighty" See SPECIAL TOPIC: SHADDAI.

40:2 "Let him who reproves God" The VERB "reproves," a Hiphil PARTICIPLE of a legal term (BDB 406, KB 410), means "to decide," "to adjudge," or "to prove." This refers to Job's legal case against God's justice (esp. Job 9 and 16).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 40:3-5
 ³Then Job answered the Lord and said,
 ⁴"Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You?
 I lay my hand on my mouth.
 ⁵Once I have spoken, and I will not answer;
 Even twice, and I will add nothing more."

40:3-5 This is Job's brief reply to God's questions of Job 38:1-40:2. Job said he wanted to question God (Job 31:35-37), but now in His presence he has nothing to say!

Commentators take this strophe in different senses.

1. positive, Job is humbled
2. negative, Job refuses to let go of his legal case (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 787-788)

40:4a "I am insignificant" This is the VERB (BDB 886, KB 1103, Qal PERFECT) that denotes "smallness" or "lightness," which, in Hebrew thought, would be the opposite of "honorable" or "glorious" (i.e., that which is heavy).

40:4b "I lay my hand on my mouth" See note at Job 21:5.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 40:6-9
 ⁶Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said,
 ⁷"Now gird up your loins like a man;
 I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
 ⁸Will you really annul My judgment?
 Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?
 ⁹Or do you have an arm like God,
 And can you thunder with a voice like His?"

40:6-9 This strophe is similar to Job 38:3, and especially Job 40:7. Is Job so bold as to "instruct" (BDB 393, KB 390, Hiphil IMPERATIVE, like Job 38:3) YHWH? Job has overstepped the bounds of "creature." He has brought a legal charge against "The Judge" of the universe. He has been willing to make himself look righteous (cf. Job 13:18; 27:6) at YHWH's expense (cf. Job 10:3,7; 16:11; 19:6; 27:2)!

What shocks me is that Job is approved by YHWH (cf. Job 42:)! His charges against God are never answered.

40:8 "condemn" This VERB (BDB 957, KB 1294, Hiphil IMPERFECT) means "condemn as guilty." It is used often in Job (cf. Job 9:20; 10:2; 15:6; 32:3; 34:29; 40:8) because the issue of the book is "justice." Who is guilty—Job or God?

40:9 Again, these questions show Job's ignorance and powerlessness.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 40:10-14
 ¹⁰"Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,
 And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
 ¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
 And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.
 ¹²Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
 And tread down the wicked where they stand.
 ¹³Hide them in the dust together;
 Bind them in the hidden place.
 ¹⁴Then I will also confess to you,
 That your own right hand can save you."

40:10-14 God asks Job to act against wickedness (i.e., act in God's stead) and when he does, then he will be affirmed (lit. "confess" or "give thanks" in Hiphil). This is sarcasm (or satire)!

Notice the series of IMPERATIVES on how Job should act.

1. "adorn yourself," Job 40:10 – BDB 725, KB 798, Qal IMPERATIVE
   1. with eminence (BDB 144)
   2. with dignity (BDB 147)
   3. with honor (BDB 217 I)
   4. with majesty (BDB 214)
2. "pour out the overflowings of your anger," Job 40:11 – BDB 806, KB 918, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
3. "look on everyone who is proud," Job 40:11,12 (twice) – BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERATIVE
4. same as #3
5. "make him low," Job 40:11 – BDB 1050, KB 1631, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
6. "humble him," Job 40:12 – BDB 488, KB 484, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
7. "tread down the wicked," Job 40:12 – BDB 213, KB 239, Qal IMPERATIVE (found only here in the OT)
8. "hide them in the dust together," Job 40:13 – BDB 380, KB 377, Qal IMPERATIVE
9. "bind them in the hidden place," Job 40:14 – BDB 289, KB 289, Qal IMPERATIVE

40:13 "dust" This was a Hebrew idiom for death or the grave (cf. Gen. 3:19; Job 10:9; 34:15). Line a is parallel to line b, both referring to Sheol.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SHEOL, I. B.

40:14 "save" See SPECIAL TOPIC: SALVATION (OT).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 40:15-18
 ¹⁵"Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you;
 He eats grass like an ox.
 ¹⁶Behold now, his strength in his loins
 And his power in the muscles of his belly.
 ¹⁷He bends his tail like a cedar;
 The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
 ¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze;
 His limbs are like bars of iron."

40:15-24 These two strophes deal with "Behemoth" (BDB 97, KB 112; PLURAL form of the word for "beast"). There have been several ways to view this creation of God.

1. a reference to a large animal that lives in the marsh and river areas, usually associated with the hippopotamus (i.e., eats grass)
2. both Behemoth and Leviathan are the "great sea monsters" of Gen. 1:21 (cf. Ps. 104:25-26; II Bar. 29:4; Job 40:19 may be a hint for this option)
3. in some Jewish lore (i.e., IV Ezra 6:49-52) it is viewed as the water counterpart of the female Leviathan (i.e., thereby denoting a fertility couple)
4. a mythical creature (i.e., chaos monster) that opposes God, like Leviathan (i.e., Interbiblical Apocalyptic Writings); the rabbis say that after an end-time rebellion by them, God will barbeque them for the eschatological banquet (B.B. 75a)
5. possibly linked to Egyptian "water ox" that was seen as the enemy of immortality in Egyptian lore
6. the AB (pp. 268-271) also suggests a possible connection with
   1. Sumerian "bull of heaven," associated with the Gilgamesh Epic (i.e., had a large tail, Job 40:17, or possibly "penis"; other sexual terms found in Job 40:16)
   2. Ba'al buffalo associated with Ugarit poems

There is little in Job 40 suggesting that Behemoth is anything more than a large mammal (it is surprising it is separated from the earlier texts on YHWH's creation of animals). The mythological associations come from the biblical usages of "Leviathan." It is possible that Job 40:19-20 hints at a mythological association.

John H. Walton, The NIV Application Commentary, Job, p. 406, shows how God's mentioning forces of cosmic disorder fits into earlier comments by Job.

1. accuses God of treating him like a chaos monster (cf. Job 7:12)
2. Job's accusation that God is beating him like a chaos monster (Job 30)
3. here in Job 40:15-41:34, God mentions His creation (Job 40:19a) and control (Job 40:19b) of the watery chaos, with its mythological imagery (see Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 261-262)

SPECIAL TOPIC: LEVIATHAN

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 40:19-24
 ¹⁹"He is the first of the ways of God;
 Let his maker bring near his sword.
 ²⁰Surely the mountains bring him food,
 And all the beasts of the field play there.
 ²¹Under the lotus plants he lies down,
 In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
 ²²The lotus plants cover him with shade;
 The willows of the brook surround him.
 ²³If a river rages, he is not alarmed;
 He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.
 ²⁴Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
 With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?"

40:19a This same phrasing is used of "wisdom" in Prov. 8:22. It may imply that "Behemoth" was a special creation of God. This is stated in Enoch 60:7-9; Apoc. of Baruch 29:4; and IV Ezra 6:49-52.

40:19b This verse seems to allude to conflict between God the creator and the created. This verse introduces a "conflict" theme.

40:20 This is a difficult and unusual verse.

1. NJB translates it as "forbidding him the mountain regions and all the wild animals that play there"
2. REB has "for he takes the cattle of the hills for his prey and in his jaws he crushes all beasts of the wild."
3. The Peshitta has "He roams about the mountains and all the wild beasts of the field lie down under his protection."
4. LXX has "But when it went up on a steep mountain, it brought gladness to the quadrupeds in Tartarus."
5. NET has "For the hills bring its field, where all the wild animals play

40:21-24 Although Behemoth is often identified as a "land" animal, these verses show it is a fresh water animal. Therefore, both creatures of this last section could be seen as the water monsters of creation, one fresh water and one salt water (cf. Gen. 1:21).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Why does YHWH give a second speech?
2. Why is Job 40:8 so important?
3. Does Job 40:10-14 represent YHWH saying to Job, "Here, you run the universe"?
4. Are Behemoth and Leviathan animals or cosmic chaos monsters? Why or why not.
5. Why is Job 40:19 crucial in interpreting this chapter?

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