Job 40

— array thyself with glory and beauty.] To understand those expressions in Scripture which speak of Jehovah being arrayed or clothed with majesty, strength, honour, or the like, we must recollect the glorious manner in which He vouchsafed to appear to His people in fire, light, and clouds. Parkhurst.

— he eateth grass as an ox.] That the river-horse, an aquatic animal, living for the most part at the bottom of the Nile, should eat grass as an ox, is a surprising and singular circumstance, and therefore not omitted by other authors. Bochart.

Job 40:12

12. — freed down (he wicked as their place.] In the very place of their exaltation. Scott. Permit no one of an infamous character to continue easy and undisturbed: put a stop as soon as possible to their vicious example. Chappelow.

Job 40:13

13. Hide them in the dust &c.] Cast them down from their splendid elevation into the obscure abodes of death, as condemned malefactors. “To bind the face” is a phrase for treating a person as a convict condemned to die. See the note on chap. ix. 24. “The dust” is the grave, chap. xvii. 16; and the “secret” place is another expression for the sepulchre; or else it means the secret abodes of Sheol, the receptacle of departed souls. Scott.

Job 40:14

14. — that thine own right hand can save thee.] That thou art self-sufficient, the author and preserver of thy own happiness; therefore a god, and a match for Me. This humiliating sarcasm makes way for another mortification: for the Almighty next sends him to two of His creatures, behemoth and leviathan; and bids him prove his high courage in an open encounter with either of them. Scott.

Job 40:15

15. Behold now behemoth.] The learned Bochart contends, that the behemoth is the hippopotamus; that is, the sea-horse, or, more properly speaking, the river-horse; which the ancient Greek writers, and the Prænestine pavement described in Shaw’s Travels, represent as an amphibious quadruped found in the Nile, and which is still sometimes to be met with in Upper Egypt. And he has supported his opinion with so much learning and plausibility, that I believe it has been generally embraced and acquiesced in by the learned since his time. It must be confessed, however, that most of the characters given of the behemoth correspond also to the elephant. Parkhurst.

— which I have made with thee;] Rather, “near thee;” that is, in thy neighbourhood. As if God had said, There is no need to seek for arguments of My power from a distance, since they lie close at hand. Among the beasts which I have made in the Nile, which borders on thy country, Arabia, how wonderful is the

which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

Job 40:16

16. — his strength is in his loins, &c.] It is well known that the loins are the seat of strength: compare Nahum ii. 1; Ps. lxix. 24. As to the latter part of the verse, the river-horse is protected all over his body, no less in his navel and his belly, than in other parts, by a skin of impenetrable solidity and thickness. This is not the case with the elephant, whose softest and most vulnerable part is the belly. Bochart.

Job 40:17

17. He moveth his tail like a cedar: ] “He moveth his tail, which is as a cedar.” The tail of the hippopotamus might be compared to a cedar, on account of its smoothness, roundness, thickness, and strength. Bochart. Buffon says, that “his tail is like a tortoise’s, only incomparably thicker:” and Scheuchzer, that “though short, yet it is thick, and may be compared to the cedar, for its tapering, yea conical shape, its smoothness, thickness, strength, and rigidity.” Parkhurst.

Job 40:18

18. — His bones &c.] “His (smaller) bones are compact bars of brass, his (larger, projecting) bones like a forged bar of iron.” No doubt these words are intended to express the extraordinary hardness of the behemoth’s bones: but it does not appear that the bones of the elephant are in this respect different from, or harder than, those of other animals: whereas, the bones of the hippopotamus are probably much harder than those of the elephant, if we may judge by the supernour hardness of his tusks: of which Buffon says, “they are very strong, and of a substance so hard as to strike fire with steel.” Parkhurst.

The meaning is, that the bones of the river-horse are not, as in most fishes, mere cartilages, but like brass and iron, very hard, firm, and strong. They are, in fact, extremely strong: the tooth of this animal surpassing in hardness, and in the difficulty with which it is carved, that of the elephant, whose tooth is as hard as any part about him. Bochart. No creature is known to have stronger limbs than the river-horse. Harmer.

Job 40:19

19. He is the chief of the ways of God: ] That is, one of the most remarkable quadrupeds He hath made. The word “way” denotes the manner of God’s acting or proceeding; also, as in this place, His works or actions themselves. See Prov. viii. 22. “Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of His way;” that is, of His work of creation. Parkhurst.

— he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.] That is, can put forth His power and destroy

God’s great power is seen in the behemoth. Before CHRIST about 1520.

Job 40:20

20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food.] This is the true reason why the behemoth, though a water animal, is armed with such teeth as have been just noticed; namely, because he feeds, not so much in the water, as on land, where grass as well as corn is cut down with a sickle, or instrument of the like shape. By “the mountains” may be understood the hills and eminences bordering on the Nile. And they are the rather specified, by reason of the strangeness and wonderfulness of an aquatic animal feeding, not only on land, but in such a situation with other beasts and cattle. Bochart.

— where all the beasts of the field play.] It appears to be the intention of this passage, to express the security of the inferior creatures from injury by this inoffensive animal, which permits even their frolicks and sportiveness without interruption. Fragments to Calmet.

Job 40:21

21. He lieth — in the covert of the reed, &c.] This is agreeable to the description which other writers give of the river horse. Bochart. In the Pomeretine pavement the river-horse is represented hiding and sheltering himself among the reeds of the Nile. He is properly an amphibious animal, living constantly in fens and rivers. Harmer.

Job 40:23

23. — he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not.] That is, he drinks at his leisure, without fear. Caryl.

Rather, “Behold, the stream may press upon him, he will not be terrified; he will be secure, though Jordan rush against his mouth.” So Bochart excellently renders this passage. Buffon, speaking of the hippopotamus, says, “He is pleased with being in the water, and stays there as willingly as upon the land. He remains a long time at the bottom of the water, and walks there as in the open air.” To the same purpose Mr. Watson, in his Animal World Displayed, “The hippopotamus spends part of its life under water; it comes out of the water in an evening to sleep; and

that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

Job 40:24

24. He taketh it with his eyes: &c.] This verse may be thus rendered: “Though one seize him in a trap by the eyes or visage, yet his nose forces itself through the snares;” which agrees very well with what is said above of his vast force, and the impenetrability of his skin by iron. Dr. Durell.

Chap. XLI. The irony is continued. Job is now addressed as a man of prowess, sufficient to combat and subdue another creature, much more formidable than the behemoth, in regard of the armour with which it is furnished, both for defending itself and attacking its enemy. This creature is named Leviathan. The crocodile has found so powerful an advocate in Bochart, that all other claimants are put to silence. The characters in the description perfectly correspond to that animal, allowance being made for poetical ornaments and heightenings. The description is not intended merely for the purpose of embellishment. It has a nobler design. That design is clearly explained, ver. 10, “None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before Me?” Hence Job is taught to tremble at his danger, in having provoked by his murmurs and litigation the displeasure of the Maker of this dreadful animal. His high spirit is now brought down, his conviction is completed, and his repentance and submission satisfy the Almighty. Scott.

Ver. 1. Canst thou drow out leviathan with an hook?] From this passage Hasselquist observes, that the leviathan “means a crocodile by that which happens daily, and without doubt happened in Job’s time, in the river Nile; to wit, that this voracious animal, far from being drawn up by an hook, bites off and destroys all fishing tackle of this kind which is thrown out in the river. I found,” adds he, “in one that I opened, two hooks which it had swallowed, one sticking in the stomach, and the other in a part of the thick membrane which covers the palate.” Parkhurst.

The taking of the crocodile is most difficult. Diodorus says, they are not to be taken but by iron nets. When Augustus conquered Egypt he struck a medal, the impress of which was a crocodile chained to a palm tree, with this inscription, “No one has bound me before.” Dr. Young.

The crocodile is of too great weight and magnitude