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Job 40

Chapter 40 in 30 seconds

God asks, Will the faultfinder argue with the Almighty? Job says, I am small; I will put my hand over my mouth. Then God shows him Behemoth, the giant beast with a tail like a cedar.

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In this chapterThe Big QuestionBehemoth and Leviathan · after verse 24

Job Humbles Himself before Yahweh

¹And Yahweh said to Job:

²“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

³Then Job answered Yahweh:

⁴“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You?

I place my hand over my mouth.

JOB 40:4[NOTE]HAND OVER MY MOUTH. Job wanted a day in court. Now that God is here, he has nothing to say.

⁵I have spoken once, but I have no answer—

twice, but I have nothing to add.”

Yahweh Challenges Job Again

⁶Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

⁷“Now brace yourself like a man;

I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

⁸Would you really annul My justice?

Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

⁹Do you have an arm like God’s?

Can you thunder with a voice like His?

¹⁰Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,

and clothe yourself with honor and glory.

¹¹Unleash the fury of your wrath;

look on every proud man and bring him low.

¹²Look on every proud man and humble him;

trample the wicked where they stand.

¹³Bury them together in the dust;

imprison them in the grave.

¹⁴Then I will confess to you

that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you.

He feeds on grass like an ox.

JOB 40:15[NOTE]BEHEMOTH. The Hebrew word means beasts, a way of saying the beast of all beasts. See the Big Question Behemoth and Leviathan.

¹⁶See the strength of his loins

and the power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷His tail sways like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze;

his limbs are rods of iron.

¹⁹He is the foremost of God’s works;

only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

²⁰The hills yield him their produce,

while all the beasts of the field play nearby.

²¹He lies under the lotus plants,

hidden among the reeds of the marsh.

²²The lotus plants conceal him in their shade;

the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;

he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth.

²⁴Can anyone capture him as he looks on,

or pierce his nose with a snare?

The Big Question

Behemoth and Leviathan

Two Monsters

Job 40:15 to 24 · 41:1 to 34 · 3:8

BEHEMOTH: Its name means beasts, a way of saying the greatest beast. It eats grass like an ox, has a tail like a cedar and bones like bronze, and lies in the reeds and the marsh. A raging river does not scare it, 40:15 to 24.
LEVIATHAN: No hook can catch it and no spear can pierce its scales. Smoke comes out of its nose and flames from its mouth, 41:19 to 21. It is also named in 3:8, Psalm 74:14, Psalm 104:26 and Isaiah 27:1.
WHY GOD BRINGS THEM UP: If no man dares to wake Leviathan, who can stand against the God who made him? 41:10. God made Behemoth too, just as He made Job, 40:15.

Behemoth and Leviathan · Every View

Psalm 74:14 · Psalm 104:26 · Isaiah 27:1 · Genesis 1:21

VIEW 1: DINOSAURS: Many Bible believing Christians today, like Answers in Genesis, think Behemoth was a big plant eating dinosaur, because a tail like a cedar sounds like a giant tail, not a hippo's little one. Some think Leviathan was a huge sea reptile, and that people and dinosaurs once lived at the same time.
VIEW 2: ANIMALS WE KNOW: Many scholars today say Behemoth is the hippopotamus, which lives in the reeds, and Leviathan is the crocodile, with its armored scales. This view became popular through the scholar Samuel Bochart in 1663. Older readers guessed an elephant, and some, like Thomas Aquinas, said Leviathan was a whale.
VIEW 3: POETRY, LARGER THAN LIFE: Some think these are real creatures painted in poetry, bigger than life, or the monsters of old stories. Leviathan's name is in tablets from Ugarit, where it is a seven headed sea serpent. God shows He rules even the scariest thing people could imagine.
VIEW 4: A PICTURE OF THE DEVIL: Many early Christian writers saw Leviathan as a picture of Satan, the coiling serpent God will one day punish, Isaiah 27:1.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: God made them, and He alone controls them. Everything under heaven is His, 41:11.

Job 40

Job Humbles Himself before Yahweh

Yahweh Challenges Job Again

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