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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Job 40

Job 40: Job lays his hand on his mouth, and the Lord shows him behemoth

General context

The Lord asks whether he who contends with the Almighty will instruct him; let the one who reproves God answer. Job answers the Lord: he is vile, and what can he answer? He will lay his hand upon his mouth; he has spoken once and twice, but will proceed no further. The Lord answers again out of the whirlwind, telling Job to gird up his loins, for he will demand and Job will declare. Will Job disannul God's judgment and condemn him so that Job may be righteous? Has Job an arm like God, or can he thunder with such a voice? Let him deck himself with majesty and glory, cast abroad his wrath, look on every proud one and bring him low, tread down the wicked and hide them in the dust; then God will confess that Job's own right hand can save him. Then the Lord tells Job to behold behemoth, which he made with Job. He eats grass like an ox; his strength is in his loins and his force in his belly; he moves his tail like a cedar; his bones are like brass and iron. He is the chief of the ways of God, and only his maker can bring a sword near him. The mountains bring him food where the beasts play; he lies under the shady trees among reeds and fens, shaded by the willows of the brook. He drinks up a river without haste and trusts he can draw Jordan into his mouth; he takes it with his eyes, and his nose pierces through snares.

Cited passages: Job 40:1, Job 40:2, Job 40:3, Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Job 40:6, Job 40:7, Job 40:8, Job 40:9, Job 40:10, Job 40:11, Job 40:12, Job 40:13, Job 40:14, Job 40:15, Job 40:16, Job 40:17, Job 40:18, Job 40:19, Job 40:20, Job 40:21, Job 40:22, Job 40:23, Job 40:24

Job 40 (KJV)

1Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said,

2Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

3Then Job answered the Lord, and said,

4Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

5Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

6Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

7Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

8Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

9Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

10Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.

11Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.

12Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.

13Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.

14Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

15Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

16Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

17He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

18His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.

19He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

20Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.

21He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.

22The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.

23Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

24He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

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Historical context

The chapter carries three headings: the Lord answers Job, Job answers the Lord, and the Lord answers again out of the whirlwind. Job's reply is his first speech since the narrator closed his words at the end of chapter 31; it is two verses long. Neither the Lord nor Job mentions Elihu or his speeches. The question "wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?" is the Lord's own framing of the issue; the narrator had earlier reported Elihu's anger that Job "justified himself rather than God." "Behemoth" is the KJV's untranslated name; the text says the Lord made him "with thee," that he eats grass like an ox, and that he lives among reeds, fens and willows, and offers no further identification. "Jordan" is the one place name in the Lord's speeches, used as a river behemoth could draw into his mouth. The dare to abase the proud and tread down the wicked is put as a condition the Lord sets, not as something Job does. The chapter contains no narration beyond the headings.

Cited passages: Job 40:1, Job 40:3, Job 40:6, Job 31:40, Job 40:8, Job 32:2, Job 40:15, Job 40:23, Job 40:14

Literary context

The chapter breaks the run of questions with the one exchange inside the Lord's speeches. The Lord's challenge, Job's two-verse reply, and the renewed "Gird up thy loins now like a man," nearly repeating the opening of chapter 38, mark a second round. Job's reply reverses his earlier wish. He had wanted to "fill my mouth with arguments"; now he lays his hand on his mouth, the gesture the princes once made in silence before him. His "once ... twice" matches the shape of Elihu's line that God speaks once, yea twice. The Lord's dare, to deck himself in majesty and abase the proud, answers Job's complaint in chapter 24 that oppressors go unpunished by inviting Job to do the punishing himself, with the condition that only then will God confess Job's right hand can save him. Behemoth follows as the first of two creatures. Unlike the war horse, he is shown at rest: grass, shade, reeds, willows, a river drunk without haste. The one threat named is his maker's sword. The chapter ends mid-speech, with leviathan still to come.

Cited passages: Job 40:7, Job 38:3, Job 23:4, Job 40:4, Job 29:9, Job 40:5, Job 33:14, Job 40:11, Job 24:12, Job 40:14, Job 40:21, Job 40:19

Key moments

  1. Shall the reprover answer? (Job 40:2). The Lord asks whether the one who contends with the Almighty will instruct him.
  2. Hand upon the mouth (Job 40:4). Job calls himself vile and says he will lay his hand on his mouth.
  3. No further (Job 40:5). Job says he has spoken once and twice and will proceed no further.
  4. Condemn me to be righteous? (Job 40:8). The Lord asks whether Job will disannul his judgment to justify himself.
  5. Abase the proud (Job 40:11). The Lord dares Job to bring low every proud one himself.
  6. Behold behemoth (Job 40:15). The Lord points Job to behemoth, made with him, eating grass like an ox.
  7. Drinking up Jordan (Job 40:23). Behemoth drinks a river without haste and trusts he can draw up Jordan.

For reflection

Job says, "I will proceed no further," and the Lord answers by demanding more of him. What is the difference between Job's silence here and the answer the Lord seems to want?

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