Job 40:15-24

2. Jehovah relates more marvels of his creation. (Job 40:15, Job 41:34)

TEXT 40:15-24

15 Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee;

He eateth grass as an ox.

16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins,

And his force is in the muscles of his belly.

17 He moveth his tail like a cedar:

The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18 His bones are as tubes of brass;

His limbs are like bars of iron.

19 He is the chief of the ways of God:

He only that made him giveth him his sword.

20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food,

Where all the beasts of the field do play.

21 He lieth under the lotus-trees,

In the covert of the reed, and the fen.

22 The lotus-trees cover him with their shade;

The willows of the brook compass him about.

23 Behold, if a river overflow, he trembleth not;

He is confident, though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.

24 Shall any take him when he is on the watch,

Or pierce through his nose with a snare?

COMMENT 40:15-24

Job 40:15All of the previous animals and birds which appeared in the first speech are Palestinian. Behemoth has been identified as the hippopotamus, whose habitat is the Nile Valley. Behemoth is probably a loan word from the Egyptian for water horse, but there is no example of this claim from either Coptic or Egyptian. The Hebrew plural form perhaps expresses the plural of majesty meaning large animal. The root of the word is the common noun for cattle or beastPsalms 8:8; Psalms 73:22; Joel 1:20; and Habakkuk 2:17.[392] The powerful giant is a creature like Job. In many ways he is more powerful than Job, but he does not criticize Yahweh for His unjust governing of the universe.

[392] These verses sustain no mythological interpretation, though it has long been claimed that both Behemoth and Leviathan have mythological implications, especially since H. Gunkel's Schopfung und Chaos, pp. 57, 61ff, and especially since the availability of the Ugaritic literature. In Intertestamental Literature the beasts appear in eschatological imageryEnoch Job 40:7-9; IV Ezra 6:49-52; and The Apocalypse of Baruch, XXIV, 4; see D. W. Thomas, Vetus Testamentum, 1953, pp. 209-224; P. Volz, Die Eschatologie der judischen Gemeinde im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter, 1934; and my New Testament Theology syllabus, The Theology of Promise on eschatology.

Job 40:16This description clearly stresses the sexual vigor of this enormous beast. For both man and beast, the loins were image of strength of potencyDeuteronomy 33:11; Psalms 69:23; Nahum 2:1. The dual form of thighs is a euphemism which is rendered as strength is in his loins in A. V.Proverbs 31:17. The muscles of the belly are particularly strong in the hippopotamus.

Job 40:17The A. V. rendering of part of the first line makes little sense, i.e., He moves his tail like a cedar. The tail of this animal is very small, hardly appropriate for the express purposes of this image. The verb translated as moveth in the A. V. means to make stiff. There is no reason to miss the point that this is a phallic symbol, with absolutely no necessary Freudian implications. The thighs (Heb. -esek) also have sexual connotation. The imagery projects the strong virility of the animal.

Job 40:18His bones or limbs are like tubes or bars. The parallelism contains the synonym bones which is Hebrew and limb which is AramaicJob 39:5.

Job 40:19Perhaps the first line refers to Genesis 1:24 where the first animal created is said to be the behemah, i.e., cattle or beast. The word rendered chief in the A. V. is rosh and also appears in Proverbs 8:22, with regard to wisdom. In the Intertestamental Literature, Enoch Job 40:7-9; Apocalypse of Baruch 24:4; and IV Ezra 6:49-52, Behemoth is a special creation of God, but not so in this Jobian passage. The last line of the verse makes little sense, either in Hebrew or as rendered in the A. V. Perhaps the sword refers to his chiseledged tusks which the hippopotamus uses to attack its enemies.

Job 40:20But the habitat of the Behemoth is marshland and water, not the mountains. Perhaps the reference is to the vegetables produced in the mountainous areas, which is the understanding of the R. S. V. In the upper valley of the Nile, vegetation is abundant on the hillsides.

Job 40:21The animal rests under the water lily. The Egyptian specie is stronger and taller than the one found in Syria. Perhaps this is the thorny shrub which flourishes from Syria to North Africa in the damp hot areas. The word rendered lotus tree is used only here and Job 40:22.[393] The imagery might suggest an Egyptian habitatPsalms 68:31 and Isaiah 19:6.

[393] For discussion of this specie, see P. Humbert, Zeitschrift far alttestamentischen Wissenschaft. 1949-1950, p. 206.

Job 40:22The word wadi (nahal)[394] more strongly suggests Palestine than Egypt, but Behemoth has a wide range of movement Leviticus 23:40; Isaiah 15:7; Isaiah 44:4; and Psalms 137:2.

[394] G. Haas, Bulletin of the American Society of Oriental Research, 1953, pp. 30ff, offers evidence that the hippopotamus was found in certain coastal areas in Palestine during the Iron Age.

Job 40:23When the flash flood comes to the wadi, he is in complete controlhe trembleth not. Dhorme mentions the buffalo, though he accepts the hippopotamus, who can be observed on the banks of Lake Huleh with only his muzzle above the surface of the water. Some find difficulty in that this verse mentions the Jordan, some distance from Egypt, and attempts to amend to ye-'or, the Nile. This is as unnecessary as it is impossible. See footnote below for evidence of the presence of the hippopotamus in Palestine during the Iron Age.

Job 40:24Who can capture Behemoth when he is on the alert? Though there is no interrogative in the verse, this seems to be its meaning. Dhorme provides insight into the imagery from a reference in Herodotus, 11.70, who mentions a process of controlling crocodiles by covering their eyes with mud. The word (moqesim) rendered pierce in A. V. usually means snare or trap. But pierce is inappropriate for either one. Slight emendation yields barbs or thorns, which is followed by both Pope and Dhorme.