Deeper Commentary

Job 40:1 Moreover Yahweh answered Job- We perhaps are to imagine a pause of silence in the drama at the end of Job 39. We enquire what is the function of "Moreover Yahweh answered Job and said", when it preface just one verse. I suggest we are to infer that Yahweh paused in the hope of Job's response. But he is stubbornly silent. God orders Job to answer in :2. He does but then puts his hand on his mouth to show that he will not further answer. This is arrogant rebellion against God, just as Elihu accused him of.

Job 40:2 Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it-

“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer for it”. This is God's response to a righteous, good living man whose ten kids were killed. 'Can't I even ask about it?'. 'No, you may not. How dare you. How dare you complain or challenge Me'. We all struggle with this. But that is the point. We see just the outskirts of God's ways. It is for us to trust in the words of James 5, that we see in Job the end of the Lord, God taken to the final term of the equation. And He is very pitiful, and of tender, saving mercy. What we are asked for is total, white flag, abject surrender, total capitulation, intellectually and morally. And who ever is man to be offended at God, the God of all love, grace and salvation. Your stamping of your foot and stomping off from the God you don't like takes nothing away from His existence. These indeed are deep things out of darkness. In the end, faith / trust and humility go together, and they are what God wants.

"Argues" is the word used for "umpire" in Job 9:30. The word for "umpire" suggests 'one who is right', a reasoner, an advocate, one who pleads (s.w. Job 16:21), a reprover (Job 40:2 AV, s.w.). Job's request was not simply for a mediator; he would have used a different word if so. He seems to have wanted to put God in the dock, but knew this was not appropriate; he wants someone else to do this who can legitimately do it. And he is rebuked for this here in Job 40:2. This is all legal language. Job appeals for ‘witnesses’ (Job 9:33–35; 16:18–22; 19:20–27), an advocate in Heaven (Job 9:33), denies his guilt and demands a legal list of his sins (Job 13:19), he wishes for God to come to trial (Job 9:3), and thus Job is described as a man who has taken out a ‘case’ with God (Job 23:4; 40:2). Job 29–31 is effectively Job’s declaration of legal innocence and an appeal to God to hear his case more sympathetically (Job 31:35). And of course God pronounces a final legal verdict at the very end (Job 42:7), in response to Job’s earlier plea: “Sleeplessly I wait for His reply” (Job 16:22). It’s as if the whole experience of Job was [at least partly] in order to test out the Canaanite theories of ‘Satan’, suffering and evil in the court of Heaven; and also the various theories which arose to explain Judah's captivity in Babylon. The friends represent the traditional views of evil, and often make reference to the myths of their day about ‘Satan’ figures. They speak as if they are the final court – Eliphaz speaks of how the judges and elders of their day, the “holy ones”, had concluded Job was guilty, and that they, the friends, were right: “To which of the holy ones will you appeal [legal language]?... we have [legally] examined this, and it [Job’s guilt] is true” (Job 5:1,27). This is of great comfort to those who feel misjudged by man – above them in Heaven the ultimate Heavenly court is considering our case, and that is all that matters.


Job 40:3 Then Job answered Yahweh- The paradox is that he answered Yahweh by saying that he cannot answer Him (:3). And that indeed is man's only possible answer to God.

 
Job 40:4 Behold, I am of small account- The word for "cursed" (Job 3:1; 24:18). The one who felt cursed was to be blessed, just as the Israel whom he unknowingly represented.

 

What shall I answer you?- Earlier, Job in Job 31:14 had confidently boated that only if he had committed adultery would be feel before God that he was unable to speak; "What shall I answer Him?".  Job's point was that as he had not despised the cause of his servants (:13), therefore he did not have anything to fear before God's judgment. God's final appearance was proof enough that he of himself had no right to answer back to God. "What shall I answer You?" (Job 40:4) was his final word. But here, Job insists he could only be speechless before God if he had committed sins like adultery- which he was insistent he hadn't. Job is led to realize that he has sinned and fallen short of God's glory, although he had avoided the sins like adultery which counted as major sins in the view of his society.

The epilogue and prologue to Job are evidently related. Job begins sitting in dust and ashes and ends repenting in dust and ashes (Job 2:8; 42:6). The silence of the friends at the opening of the book is matched by the silence after God has finally spoken (Job 40:4). Job intercedes for his children (Job 1:5) and ends up interceding for his friends. Job begins with the description of being the Lord’s servant; and the book concludes on the same note (Job 42:7,8). The question of course is: ‘So what’s the equivalent of the ‘Satan’ figure in the epilogue?’. The omission is intended and obvious. Ultimately the answer is the essence of the whole book: the ‘Satan’, the adversary, is none other than God Himself, in His love, however and through whomsoever He was manifested.

 

I lay my hand on my mouth- When Job finally lays his hand upon his mouth, he is only doing what he had earlier told the friends to do in recognition of their folly (Job 13:5; 21:5). Through the pain and irritation of their speeches, Job came to value and appreciate the need for silence before God. But it was only when personally confronted by God at the end that he realizes that he too had spoken too much and he repents of that in silence. In Job 24:25 he has boasted of the strength of his own speeches: "If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?". Job has argued himself into an invincible position, in his own eyes. Indeed, all he says is true; but like the friends, truths are expressed but within a wrong context. Finally Job is to lay his hand upon his mouth in repentance (Prov. 30:32; Mic. 7:16) and recognize he has not spoken rightly, although he earlier demanded the friends lay their hands upon their mouths before the power of his arguments (Job 21:5). God confirms this by remarking that whoever has hope of overcoming Leviathan, His great beast (perhaps representing death and human mortality) is a liar to think he has such hope (Job 41:9 s.w. "liar"). Job has forgotten his humanity, despite being 'right' in his arguments. This is the problem with possessing truth; it can lead us to wrongly forget our humanity and consider ourselves invincible. 

Earlier, Job had confidently challenged: "Who is he who will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and give up the spirit" (Job 13:19). Job is challenging anyone to come forward and contend with him in court by proving him wrong. If they did, then he would be silent ["hold my peace"] and willingly die. This of course is exactly what happens at the end. God does contend with Job, and he is proven guilty. He lays his hand upon mouth, and we can deduce from his challenge here that he wanted to die. He was then saved from that position by grace alone. The connection with the exiles is in Is. 50:8, where a similarly convicted Israel would be justified by Divine grace to the point they could again challenge any to convict them of sin, seeing that "He is near that justifies me".

Job fell into the trap of thinking that his terrible situation somehow allowed him to speak whatever words came into his head. Job felt he hadn’t been ‘fed’ and so he was entitled to “bray” and “low” over his misfortune (Job 6:5). Because of the weight of his sufferings, he thereby justified the fact that "Therefore have my words been rash (Job 6:3). Likewise “Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit” (Job 7:11). “I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 10:1 RV). Zophar criticizes Job being “full of talk” and speaking “the multitude of words”, “for thou sayest, my doctrine is pure” (Job 11:1-4)- as if Job felt that because he held true doctrine he was justified in pouring out words as he did. “Why should I not be impatient?” (Job 21:4 RV). “Today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning” (Job 23:2)- i.e. his complaining was due to his sufferings. “If I hold my peace, I shall give up the spirit” (Job 13:19 RVmg.). Job felt that the situation he was in forced him to use the words he did, and certainly justified it [we may well have used this reasoning ourselves when justifying the use of bad language]. But in the end, Elihu on God’s behalf rebuked him for his wrong words. And Job himself recognized: “I am vile. I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” in regret of his words (Job 40:4). “Wherefore I loathe my words and repent” (Job 42:6 RVmg.). He realized his mistake: he had thought that the situation justified his words. Now he hung his head and admitted that there was no justification for speaking in the way he had. Especially in the matter of the tongue, we can so easily justify ourselves; ‘I only said / did it [or didn’t do it] because…’. And it is all so child-like. Once we leave off all attempts at self-justification, we will face up to our sins.

LXX "Why do I yet plead? being rebuked even while reproving the Lord" sounds as if Job says there is no point making his legal plea against God, because God is now interrupting him and criticising him instead of answering the case. If this indeed was considered adequate repentance, why doesn't God rejoice in it as He does in Job 42 when Job repents? Why make a second speech? Why disagree immediately with Job's statement that He will not answer God? Why force Job to answer when Job has said he will not answer

Job 40:5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further- Perhaps he means 'I have spoken once in that I have just said that I have no answer. And now, I am speaking twice, I am saying this. But now I promise absolute silence'. He really appreciates that his many words have been inappropriate.

Because God sees and knows absolutely all, we must recognize that He realizes the unspoken implications of our words. Its possible that Job’s words about silence here are seen by God as Job effectively condemning God, because presumably they were said merely as a mask over Job’s inner feelings that God had been unjust with him (Job 40:8). But when Job uses effectively the same words in Job 42:6, God accepts them. God’s ability to see to the core should therefore not only affect our words but elicit in us an honesty of heart behind the words which we use.

However, it is possible to understand Job's laying of his hand upon his mouth as a refusal to speak; his words are but the muttered resignation of the helpless. He himself uses the term to mean 'cease to speak' (Job 13:5; 21:5). "I will not answer" could mean that he refuses to give an answer to the legal case God has raised against him. He spoke "once", to just admit that he is very small and therefore will not be answering God. But he has been asked by God to answer Him. Hence God's anger, and demand in :7 "You will answer Me". His repentance is altogether inadequate. He has simply said that he is very small compared to God, which is no real concession as he has said this before. What Job here says is little more than he says in Job 9, where he says he'd be unable to answer God in a court case because God would scare him by throwing about His powerful manifestations: "how can man be just with God? If man wishes to contend with Him, he can’t answer Him... If I had called, and He had answered me, yet I wouldn’t believe that He listened to my voice. For He would bruise me with a storm... He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him" (Job 9:2,3,16,17,32). And the storm has indeed come. He has predicted that even if God were to 'pass by' him, to reveal Himself as He did when He 'passed by' Moses in a theophany- Job wouldn't pay attention: "If ever He should go by me, I shall not see him: if He should pass by me, neither would I know [recognize] it" (Job 9:11  LXX). Now God has appeared in the whirlwind, and the wind makes God pass by him, and so he stubbornly sticks to his promise that he will pay no attention. Not only in Job 9 but in Job 13 too, Job twice laid down conditions for his answering God. He insisted that he would only do so if God removed the sufferings from him and stopped terrifying him by His power (Job 9:35; 13:22). God does neither of these things; for the whirlwind terrified Elihu and surely it did Job too (Job 37:1). God's recounting of His awesome power was surely to similar effect. But God makes Job answer Him, after Job's stubborn silence.

And Job brazenly continues his position, that he will not answer God. "Answer" is being used in a legal, forensic sense. Job is declining to answer to the case laid against him. He is saying that he will now "answer" no more. This silence, although not to his credit, is a far cry from his claim that before God he would "fill my mouth with arguments", come before God "like a prince", and present a case that God can't answer (Job 31; 9:34; 13:20). By saying at this point that he is so small that he refuses to answer further... is typical of how guilty people will make a small concession. But making a concession, and a small, general and obvious one at that, is not repentance nor remorse. Any parent, judge or schoolteacher will have been through all this many times. Job has been silent before Elihu, now before God he is effectively the same, claiming some "right to silence" in court, standing mute, refusing to engage in the legal process. When he had earlier been so eager to do so, so full of words and in Job 31 he had as it were written out his case and statements and signed them. But this silence was really a contempt of court; for Job refuses to enter a plea before Elihu nor before God after God's first speech. He will not say guilty or not guilty. God rightly comments that this is an attempt to frustrate God's justice (40:8). Nor does Job withdraw his case against God, despite having mused about it and developed it in his thinking in about every one of his speeches in the dialogues. In fact, Job retracts nothing specific, despite being so full of words previously. That God should try yet again with him says so much for God's patient love. And we could argue that Job's final statement of repentance in Job 42 was not that great. Just as the repentance of Adam and Eve wasn't of high quality [and repentance does have quality and range to it]. But God is so eager to accept repentance; as soon as Job makes his brief statement of repentance, God dangles it before the friends, exalting that Job has spoken rightly about Him. His forgiveness and acceptance of Job's repentance is implicit, it isn't specifically stated; but Job suddenly has such high status before God that He says He is willing to accept Job as an intermediary to save the impenitent friends. We get the impression that God is relieved, that Job has finally repented and come through. He accepts a few words of repentance and then doubles Job's wealth and parades him as the saviour of the friends. We marvel that God Almighty should be so concerned about one man's faith in the land of Uz that He gets so anxious and then relieved when he comes through. This huge sense of Divine relief suggests to me that the words of the satan at the start were really the niggling thoughts and doubt within God Himself. All the drama, suffering, hurtness that has gone on... has tested the critical bond between God and man, the divine and the human, to the ultimate term. 

Job 40:6 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind- This is God's answer to Job's silence (:5). Perhaps the implication is that Job has not yet come to recognize his humanity and repent in the way he needs to. Hence God speaks again.

Job 40:7 Now brace yourself like a man- The idea is that Job is to answer as a human, to recognize his humanity and answer the questions as a man. Job is perhaps not so much asked to repent as to realize his humanity.

I will question you, and you will answer Me- His questions of God had been inappropriate, just as the friends had been wrong to seek wisdom by asking the sages, mere men (Job 8:8; 21:29 s.w.); it is for God to question us. For we and not God are in the dock. And Job's vow of silence in :5 was not in fact answering God's previous questions. 

Job 40:8 Will you even annul My judgment?- As noted on :5,6, this could be seen as a criticism that Job hadn't said more. He had simply accepted he was condemned and vowed silence. The phrase is used of how Israel had broken covenant with God through breaking His judgments in the sense of His commands (Lev. 26:15). Job at this point absolutely represents the exiles, who had broken covenant and needed to repent and accept the new covenant offered to them (s.w. Jer. 11:10; 31:32).

Will you condemn Me, that you may be justified?- The final speeches of God and Elihu brought home the point that the righteousness achieved by man was not comparable with God's righteousness (e.g. 40:7-10). Any attempt at self justification is to condemn God as a false accuser. We are left to draw the conclusion: that the only way for man to be just with God is through the imputation of God's righteousness to man, by absolute grace. We must give due weight to the words of the prologue, that God saw Job anyway as "perfect", as justified. The sense may be that God is saying 'You are justified, by My grace; you don't have to condemn Me by self-justification in order to be justified. You are justified by My grace without your effort'. God's justification of Job and Job's innocence are thereby reconciled.

LXX "Do not set aside my judgment: and dost thou think that I have dealt with thee in any other way, than that thou mightest appear to be righteous?". God convicted Job of sin so that he would repent and thus be counted righteous.

God seems to be saying that Job was condemning Him there and then. Job did so by his refusal to answer God in the previous verses. We can read :2,8 as God using legal terms to ask Job whether he really wants to continue his foolhardy demand to have a day in court with God: "Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let the one who argues with God answer!... Will you frustrate My justice, will you condemn Me so that you have right?". Job's silence is surely the worst defiance. He should have explicitly retracted all those times he had longed for and demanded a court case with God. Job is just a petty fault finder... wasting court time with frivolous complaints. Yet for man, God slaying all your ten kids, destroying your health, wealth and standing amongst men... is everything. God dismisses it as petty fault finding. This is not what we want to hear. We expect to be taken seriously. But such is the distance between God and man that such issues are treated as petty fault finding.

Job 40:9 Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like Him?- The reference is to the thunderstorm which was perhaps still ongoing. God's arm is often associated with His salvation. Man cannot save himself, as he has no saving arm like God's; and to attempt to do so is to justify ourselves, thereby condemning God (:8).

Verses 9-12 are effectively God asking Job whether Job can really dress up as a judge and judge Him. The whole claim is bizarre: "Do you have an arm like God and can you thunder with a voice like his? Deck yourself with pride and dignity, cloth yourself with majesty and splendour. Pour out the outbursts of your anger, and look on all the proud and abase them. Look on all the proud and humble them, tread down the wicked where they stand". It is God alone who is clothed with pride and dignity, majesty and splendour (Ps. 93:1; 104:1; Is. 5:16). We are disappointed that Job says very little in response to all this. He finally makes a brief statement agreeing that he doesn't understand and has spoken wrongly, but God responds with His second speech in order to elicit proper repentance. And even that is but a few words. Whilst God saw the sincerity behind those few words, we still wonder at the depth of Job's repentance. For he makes no specific withdrawal of all his blasphemous demands to judge God. But God accepts repentance even when it isn't as specific as it might have been, and we should do likewise.

The words of Job are perhaps easier to understand than those of God. Possibly because God's words and arguments to Job were tailored uniquely to him. He had a belief in Leviathan and Behemoth as the monsters of chaos and evil. And so God talks so much about them. He draws a powerful picture of them, just as they were in Job's mind, and says that if Job is to act as God, then he can tame them, play with them, lay his hand upon them etc. He cannot, he is trying to catch the sea monster with a flimsy fishing rod.  One big issue God has with Job is that he is playing God. And if he is God, he can deal with the monsters as God alone can. Gid alone can touch them because He alone created them. Job is being made to see the logical implications of his position in judging God and condemning Him. Job is saying he is greater than God. If you aren't going to condemn God, it is for you to accept His accusation and judgment of you as a sinner.

Job 40:10 Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity. Array yourself with honour and majesty- This alludes to the garments of the priests, for glory and beauty. Job had already been stripped of his glorious priestly robes, as we learn from Job 19:9: "He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head".  The stripping of Job recalls the stripping of the priest Aaron of his clothes and "crown" [mitre[ when his priesthood ended (Num. 20:26,28). The same word is used of the stripping of God's people of their glory (Ez. 16:39; 23:26; Mic. 3:3), which only happened because they themselves did not strip themselves of their clothing in repentance (s.w. Is. 32:11;  Ez. 26:16). Job's stripping and inability to reclothe himself was therefore to elicit repentance in him. And this is what is now finally achieved at the end of the book. God is of Himself "clothed with majesty and strength" (Ps. 93:1), "with glory and beauty" (Ps. 104:1). Job need not seek to play God by using legal rituals and religious clothing. This was not going to help Job.

Job 40:11 Pour out the fury of your anger- Heb. "the floods of wrath", preparing the way for Job to be taught that he need not fear such floods himself (:23).

Look at each one who is proud, and bring him low- This judgment of pride is God's work, and not Job's. If God alone is the judge and the One who can condemn, all Job's struggles over issues of justice ['judging'] were thereby inappropriate. And that is true today, in a world where judging issues of justice appears to be the passion of every man.

Job 40:12 Look at each one who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place- Job has observed that the wicked prosper, whilst he the righteous is suffering. God reminds Job that He has the power to condemn, and He will do so- looking at literally each one who is proud, throughout time and space. Job cannot do this. His unspoken desires that the wicked be judged by himself are addressed here. He obviously felt the injustice so deeply- that he suffered, whilst the wicked prospered. God's answer is that Job is incapable of judging them. But He will. Recognizing our inability to condemn and judge will help us in coping with the painful issues of injustice which surround us.

Job 40:13 Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place- The faces of the condemned were covered, as Haman's was. The judgment of the wicked was to be death in the dust (and not eternal conscious torment). The question is, can Job condemn men and turn them to dust? No he can't. So his struggles over issues of justice were misplaced, and were actually an implication that he thought that his arm could bring salvation.

Job 40:14 Then I will also admit to you that your own right hand can save you- The question is, can Job condemn men and turn them to dust (:13)? No he can't. So his struggles over issues of justice were misplaced, and were actually an implication that he thought that his arm could bring salvation.

Job 40:15 See now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass like an ox- "Behemoth" can be read as the intensive plural of behema, a beast. Whatever actual beast is in view, perhaps the hippopotamus, it is simply presented as a beast. The argument will develop, that Job is part of the same creation as Behemoth, the most awesome and terrifying things created by God. And if he is at peace with his place within that creation, he need not fear. See on :20,23. The Egyptians considered the hippopotamus [Behemoth] and crocodile [Leviathan] to be symbols of evil and chaos. Possibly that is also the case here. Evil in its wildest imaginable mythological form... is God's pet, created by Him, played with by Him, commanded by Him. And the chaos of Job's life... was likewise totally under God's control. Job 39 has described God's total control over the animate and inanimate in the creation that Job observed. Now God will move on to Behemoth and Leviathan- legendary, unseen evil monsters. God likewise created them and they are totally under His control. And it is the argument about them which apparently leads Job to the required repentance. Evil, however man imagines it, is under God's control- although how He uses it, and to what ends, are beyond human understanding.

"Which I made as well as you" could refer to the way that living creatures were made on the same sixth day as man: "living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind" were all created on the sixth day too (Gen. 1:24). Giving extensive description of the physiology of two monsters appears an irrelevant answer to the problem of suffering.  God isn't giving any specific answers to Job's 122 questions. And perhaps that is the point. Job's sufferings, on one hand, are utterly irrelevant considering the size of the cosmos and the vast scale of God's creation. But once Job utters words of repentance, God will as it were go crazy in blessing him and enthusing about him, making the richest man of the east twice as rich.The behemoth and leviathan are clearly presented in terms of apocalyptic, with a kaleidsocope of images and meanings associated with them. Job has earlier accused God of treating him with the same hatred He [as Job imagined] had towards the beasts of evil: "Am I the Sea, or the Dragon, that you set a guard over me" (Job 7:12). Job understood Leviathan as a beast that was cursed by all good people: "Let those curse [that night of Job's birth] who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan" (Job 3:8). God engages with this in showing that in fact He created these beasts, they are under His complete control; and fondly plays with them, even though He finds them incredibly dumb, blockheaded and stupid, just as a man may fondly play with his pet dog and call it "You silly thing!" as he does. It is the leviathan / behemoth speeches that lead Job from mere surface level regret to true repentance.

It is the speeches about Behemoth and Leviathan that lead Job to finally repent acceptably. But God introduces no new arguments. He simply repeats the arguments of Job 39 from the animal creation, just to a greater extent. So it was perhaps the passage of some more time, rather than new arguments, that lead Job to true repentance.

Behemoth and Leviathan don't and didn't actually exist. God draws a detailed and accurate picture of these beasts as Job believed in them, and then comforts Job that He created them and easily controls them. The final reality of Job is that God and not scary monsters brought the trials upon Job. The evil beasts were in Job's mind and had no real existence, although God knew in great detail how Job imagined them.

The talk about behemoth and leviathan is prefaced by God asking Job to dress up as God, as judge of all, and then deal with these beasts as God does. They were the symbols of evil and chaos- but God created them, just as He creates both good and evil, darkness and light (Is. 45:5-7). Job however is as it were just trying to catch leviathan with a fishing rod. No human weapon can be used to catch nor kill leviathan (Job 41:19-21), only the One who created these beats can capture, control or kill them. That is God, not Job. There is no hope for any man that he can do this- "the hope of him [such a man] is vain" that he can ever overcome, tame or destroy the beasts (Job 41:9).   

 

Perhaps we are to see in this a reference to Nebuchadnezzar being made to eat grass like an ox. The wild beasts of Judah's aggressors were all under God's control, even the most apparently mighty of them. Leviathan and Behemoth are monster figures appearing at the end of the book of Job, to form a kind of inclusio with the opening reference to Satan; and they are clearly part of God’s final answer to Job’s “case”. Behe–mot can be understood as a reference to Mot, the Canaanite god of death.


Job 40:16 Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly- These descriptions would be appropriate to a hippopotamus. "Look now" could suggest they were standing by a river, and the animal arose out of it at God's command. The theophany in a whirlwind by a river, with lightnings, is what Ezekiel experienced. The hope was that the exiles would likewise be moved to follow Job's path through repentance to restoration.

Job 40:17 He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together- The tail of a hippo is only about one foot long. So we conclude that this beast is portrayed as based upon a hippo, but all te same a mythical creature which Job believed in.

OMIT: Again these descriptions would be appropriate to a hippopotamus.

Job would have feared the beast as it moved its tail, for they arise out of rivers to feed on crops. But he need not fear, for the hippopotamus eats plants not men (:15). Again Job was being taught that in the face of apparently overwhelming opposition, his life would be preserved. And this was the lesson for the exiles too. See on :20.

Behemoth and Leviathan are based upon the hippo and crocodile, but are clearly the composite beasts of land and sea respectively whom Job believed were the sources of chaos and evil. And yet he also believed God was the source of the evil in his life. He is being challenged to trust that whatever the reality of these beasts, God was behind them, had created them and controlled them. And if he were God, he could do the same too. The presentations of these beasts leave Job with no choice but to either humble himself before God, or admit his powerlessness before them and be destroyed by them.

God created the monster of evil. The monster of evil is in fact the leading creature in the cosmos, chief of God’s ways. There is no dualism in the cosmos. The God who is so loving and providing to all is also the God who has created evil as His play thing. Job has to either be crushed by this, or believe it and repent.

Job 40:18 His bones are like tubes of brass. His limbs are like bars of iron- Babylon's defences of brass and iron would likewise be no barrier to the restoration of God's people, for all was under His control (Is. 45:2), and Israel could be made as strong (Mic. 4:13) seeing they were part of the same creation that had made this animal (:15).

Job 40:19 He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him His sword- The primary reference may be to the very sharp teeth of the hippopotamus. This would be a connection to how the sword of Babylon had been Yahweh's sword. Even the most awful wild beast in Israel's experience, Babylon, was under God's control and manipulated by Him. Hence LXX "This is the chief of the creation of the Lord; made to be played with by his angels". It is God who not only created Behemoth, but can effortlessly control him in accord with His purpose. That’s the comfort of the message. Indeed the descriptions of the natural world which lead up to the Leviathan / Behemoth passages are there to underline this point; and it’s interesting that those passages zoom in upon the cruelties and even brutalities within nature. Yet these are all of God’s ultimate design and creation, and under His providential control. Job had earlier perceived this; for he responds to the friends’ allusions to an evil ‘Satan’ figure as the source of his suffering by observing: “Ask the animals... The birds of the air... [they show that] the hand of the Lord [and not any supernatural ‘Satan’] has done this” (Job 12:7–9).

Job 40:20 Surely the mountains produce food for him, where all the animals of the field play- The animals of the field don't fear the hippopotamus, although Job did (:17). But he need not fear, for the hippopotamus eats plants not men (:15). Again Job was being taught that in the face of apparently overwhelming opposition, his life would be preserved. And this was the lesson for the exiles too. Job was to recognize that he too was part of the same creation that had brought forth the hippopotamus (:15), and if he did so, then he too could live at peace in the presence of such an awesome beast.

Job 40:21 He lies under the lotus trees, in the cover of the reed, and the marsh- LXX "by the papyrus", perhaps a reference to Babylon's mastery over Egypt. But the connection is to some words of Bildad in Job 8:11 "Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water?". Bildad's idea is that Job's prosperity was like a quick growing papyrus which would soon wither (Job 8:12) because it had not enough water or mud. Bildad's reasoning is wrong, but clearly the Lord quarried His parable of the sower from parts of these ideas. For He speaks of the man who has no "depth of earth" as the one who responds eagerly to the word sown, but falls away "when affliction of persecution arises for the word's sake" because he has 'no root in himself' (Mk. 4:5,17). Bildad was therefore not simply saying that Job's persecution was because he had sinned; but rather he implies that Job had lost his faith after the persecution arose, because he had no real root in faith. In this Bildad was also wrong, for Job continually seeks to God in his tribulations. Behemoth was quite at home in the "mire" or "marsh" (s.w. Job 40:21); and the connection is in order to demonstrate that even the "mire" was created by God and just as He saved Jeremiah out of the mire of the dungeon, so He could save Job and the exiles. And the only other usage of the word is in the description of the healing of the "miry places" (Ez. 47:11) if the exiles were responsive to the prophetic call to restore the temple and city made in Ez. 40-48. 

Job 40:22 The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him- Trees often represent nations, and here we have a picture of the nations being subservient to Babylon. LXX "And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and so do the bushes of the field".

Job 40:23 Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn’t tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth- As noted on :20, Job was to recognize that he too was part of the same creation that had brought forth the hippopotamus (:15), and if he did so, then he too could live at peace in the presence of overflowing, flooded rivers; which represent the invaders of God's people and His judgment of men (see on :11). Even if those rivers came up to his mouth, they would go no further. Just as Job had been promised in the prologue that his life would be preserved. And the swelling of the rivers of Israel's enemies would likewise not destroy Israel. They need not tremble as the faithless did in the times of Isaiah.

And yet God almost seems to be mocking these beasts, the hippopotamus, crocodile or whatever they were. One reading of :23 is that this animal is so stupid he faces a flooding river and thinks by opening his mouth he can just swallow it all up. He is proudly big and strong, in his own eyes, "king over all the children of pride" (Job 41:34), but totally dependent upon God. And also incredibly pigheaded, stubborn and foolish, played with by the Angels. And in a way, that was Job.

Job 40:24 Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?- The idea is as GNB "The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him". And indeed God would overthrow Babylon and allow the exiles to return.