= Job 40
* Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information.
* [ [[Job_39|Previous]] | [[Job_41|Next]] ]
== Job 40
1 Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said,
2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
6 Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
== Notes
== Cross Reference
== Concordance
== Commentary
== Rashi
==== Verse 2
Will one who contends with the Almighty make himself master? May a man make himself master to contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it He who comes to argue, let him answer his words.
==== Verse 5
I said one [thing i.e., I have spoken little and I will add no more. Others explain: I said one What I said (above 9:22), “[It is all one; therefore I said,] ‘He destroys both the innocent and the wicked,’” I will no longer answer.
and two What I said (above 13:20), “Do not do two things to me,” I will not add.
==== Verse 8
(God’s answer from the tempest)
Will you even make void My judgment Will you even prove with your words to make My judgment void and to show that it is perverted?
==== Verse 10
Bedeck yourself Heb. עדה, an expression of an ornament (עדי) and decoration.
==== Verse 12
and crush Heb. והדך, an expression of (Num. 11:8), “or crushed (דכו) it in mortars.”
==== Verse 15
behemoth Prepared for the future.
==== Verse 16
his strength is in his loins His testicles are squashed and concealed, and have not been completely torn off.
in the navel Heb. בשרירי, like (Song 7:3), “Your navel (שררך).”
==== Verse 17
hardens Heb. יחפץ like יַחְפּוֹז, hardens. Similarly, in the language of the Sages: דַחַפִּיזָא כִּי אוּפְתָּא (Hullin 47b), hard as wood.
his testicles Heb. פַחֲדָיו.
are knit together Heb. ישרגו, twisted cords, like (Lam. 1:14), “they are knit together (ישתרגו),” or the webbing (שריגי) of a bed in the language of the Mishnah, (Moed Katan 1:8), and it is an expression of twisted cords.
==== Verse 18
as a load Heb. כִּמְטִיל, as a burden of iron.
==== Verse 19
He is the first of God’s ways He was created at the beginning to be the chief of all animals.
his Maker The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself will slaughter him.
==== Verse 20
For the mountains bear food for him And it is written in the Book of Psalms (50:10): “Behemoth upon a thousand mountains.” A thousand mountains bear food for him. He feeds on all of them every day, [and they are grown again the next day].
==== Verse 21
the shadows the shades of trees.
==== Verse 22
Do the shadows cover him as his shadow [Does] the shadow of the covert of the reeds and the swamp, which is entangled [or surrounded—Berechiah] and hedged around with [many] trees.
==== Verse 23
Behold, he plunders the river, and [he] does not harden The Euphrates, which is a large river whose waters increase, he oppresses and plunders from the creatures by his drinking.
and [he] does not harden [His belly does not harden from his drinking, like (verse 17), “His tail hardens.”
he trusts that he will draw the Jordan He is confident [of his ability] to draw the whole Jordan into his mouth were he to drink there: like (Ps. 22: 10), “Who drew me (גחי) from the womb.”
==== Verse 24
With His eyes He will take him The Omnipresent will take him by looking at him, and he quakes from fear of Him.
with snares Fishermen’s tools, with which they catch fish.
==== Verse 25
Can you pull the leviathan etc. When you pull him with a harpoon and insert a fishhook into his nose, will he offer much supplication to you? It means that you are unable to approach him with fishing implements.
or press down his tongue Let the rope down (on his tongue) to draw him out of his place.
==== Verse 26
a fishhook Heb. התשים. It is bent, like (Isa. 9:13), “a large arch and a small arch (אגמן), and it is made of iron to catch fish with it.
Can you insert Will you insert a fishhook into his nose to take him out of the sea?
or...with a barb A fishermen’s implement.
or pierce Heb. תִּקּב, like תִּנְקֹב.
==== Verse 27
Will he offer much supplication to you Will he offer much supplication to you and beseech you to spare his life?
or will he speak This is a repetitious word.
soft words Words of supplication.
==== Verse 28
Will he make a covenant with you Will he make a covenant to serve you, that you will take him as a lifelong slave?
==== Verse 29
Will you play Will you play and stroll with him as though he were a small bird,
and will you tie him to the necks of (other editions: for the sake of) your young lads, that they should stroll with him as with small birds that they give children to stroll and to placate him?
==== Verse 30
Will charmers dig pits for him Will charmers and sorcerers dig pits to hunt him? To take him out of the sea by means of sorcery [so] that they can divide him and share him among the merchants, as the sea fishermen do? That is, they catch large fish with their cunning, and the merchants come and purchase from them.
dig pits Heb. יכרו, an expression of (Jer. 18:22), digging a pit (כורה שוחה).
charmers Heb. חַבָרִים, an expression of (Deut. 18:11), “a charmer (וְחבֵר חָבֶר).”
==== Verse 31
Will you fulfill Will you fulfill your desire and make tents of his skin?
or a shade of fishes of his head Will you make from his head a shade of fish? This is a repetitious expression.
a shade Heb. צִלְצַל, a tent of fish. A tent made from his head is called a shade of fish because it is made from him.
h.צִלְצַל is ombre in French. It is an expression of shadow, and that is one of the double words, like: green (ירקרק), red (אדמדם) [both in Lev. 13:49], twisted (פתלתל) [Deut. 32:5], tattoo (קעקע) [Lev. 19:28].
==== Verse 32
Put your hand over him Strengthen yourself to wage battle against him, that you will put your hand over him to strike him.
remember the battle, do not stop And do not stop. Remember your might to wage war against him.
and do not [rest] תּוֹסַף is derived from יסף, like (Gen.38:26), “and he did not cease (יָסַף) being intimate with her” (regrettera in French), will regret. [In the expression] אַל-תּוֹסַף, the “sammech” is vowelized with a “pattah” because of the pause accent, as in (Gen. 49:4), “You shall not gain superiority (תּוֹתַר) “; (Ruth 2:14), “and she left over (וַתּתַר),” and many like it.