Job 40:1-24 NIV
1The Lord Said
to Job:
2“Will the one who contends with The ALMIGHTY
correct Him?
Let him who accuses GOD answer Him!”
3Then Job answered The Lord:
4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to YOU?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6Then The Lord Spoke
to Job out of the storm:
7“Brace yourself like a man;
I Will Question you,
and you shall answer ME.
Would you condemn ME to justify yourself?
9Do you have an arm like GOD’s,
and can your voice thunder like His?
10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14Then I Myself Will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15“Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
17Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19It ranks first among the Works of GOD,
yet its Maker can approach it with His Sword.
20The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
21Under the lotus plants it lies,
22The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
23A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge
against its mouth.
24Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?
Chapter 40
Many humbling confounding questions GOD Had Put to Job, in the foregoing chapter; now, in this chapter,
I. HE Demands an answer to them (v. 1,
2).
II. Job submits in a humble silence (v.
3-5).
III. GOD Proceeds to reason with Job,
for his conviction, concerning the infinite distance and disproportion between
him and GOD, Showing that he was by no means an equal match for GOD. HE Challenges Job (v. 6, 7) to compete with Him, for Justice (v. 8), Power (v. 9), Majesty (v. 10), and Dominion over the proud (v. 11-14), and HE Gives an
instance of His Power in one particular animal, here called
"Behemoth," (v. 15-24).
The word בהמות behemoth is the plural of בהמה
behemah, which signifies cattle in general, or graminivorous(grass eating) animals, as
distinguished from חיתו chayetho, all wild or carnivorous(meat eating) animals. See Genesis 1:24.
The former seems to mean horses, asses,
sheep, etc., and all employed in domestic or agricultural matters; the latter,
all wild and savage beasts, such as lions, bears, tigers, etc.