Job 40 is the 40th chapter of the Book of Job in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of God to

Job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

, which belongs to the "Verdicts" section of the book, comprising Job 32:1– 42:6.

Text

The original text is written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 24 verses in English Bibles, but counted to 32 verses in Hebrew Bible using a different verse numbering (see below).

Verse numbering

There are some differences in verse numbering of this chapter in English Bibles and Hebrew texts: This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century), and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows: *The Prologue (chapters 1–2) *The Dialogue (chapters 3–31) *The Verdicts (32:1–42:6) *The Epilogue (42:7–17) Within the structure, chapter 40 is grouped into the Verdict section with the following outline: *Elihu's Verdict (32:1–37:24) *God's Appearance (Yahweh Speeches) and Job's Responses (38:1–42:6) **God's First Speech (38:1–40:2) ***Theme Verse and Summons (38:1–3) ***The Physical World (38:4–38) ***The Physical Earth (38:4–7) ***The Sea (38:8–11) ***The Morning (38:12–15) ***The Outer Limits of the Earth (38:16–18) ***Light and Darkness (38:19–21) ***The Waters – Snow, Hail, Rain, Frost, Ice (38:22–30) ***The Heavenly Bodies (38:31–33) ***Storms (38:34–38) **The Animal World (38:39–40:2) ***God Provides for the Lions and Ravens (38:39–41) ***The Mountain Goats (39:1–4) ***The Wild Donkey (39:5–8) ***The Wild Ox (39:9–12) ***The Ostrich (39:13–18) ***The Warhorse (39:19–25) ****The Hawk and the Eagle (39:26–30) ***Brief Challenge to Answer (40:1–2) **Job's First Reply – An Insufficient Response (40:3–5) **God's Second Speech (40:6–41:34) ***Theme Verse and Summons (40:6–8) ***The Challenge Expanded (40:9–14) ***The Challenge of Controlling Behemoth (40:15–24) ***Leviathan (41:1–34) ****The Challenge to Contend with Leviathan (41:1–7) ****Some Conclusions (41:8–11) ****His Armor (41:12–17) ****His Breathing. of Fire (41:18–21) ****His Strength (41:22–25) ****Weapons Cannot Defeat Him (41:26–29) ****He Creates Turmoil (41:30–32) ****Conclusion (41:33–34) **Job's Second Reply (42:1–6) God's speeches in chapters 38–41 can be split in two parts, both starting with almost identical phrases and having a similar structure: The revelation of the Lord to Job is the culmination of the book of Job, that the Lord speaks directly to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering—without cursing God, holding his integrity, and nowhere regretted it – but he was unaware of the real reason for his suffering, so God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. Job was not punished for sin and Job’s suffering had not cut him off from God, now Job sees the end the point that he cannot have the knowledge to make the assessments he made, so it is wiser to bow in submission and adoration of God than to try to judge him.Note on Job 38:1 in

NET Bible The New English Translation (NET Bible) is a free, "completely new" online English translation of the Bible, "with 60,932 translators' notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press. History and text ...

Chapter 40 opens with a short dialogue between

YHWH The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

and

(verses 1–5) interposed between the first and second speeches of YHWH.Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
On "Job 40".
In: ''The Pulpit Commentary''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019. It is followed by God's second speech which focuses mainly on two figures: Behemoth (Job 40) and

Leviathan Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...

( Job 41). VAT749fol238

Dialogue between God and Job (40:1–5)

The inclusion of legal terms ("contend… argue… answer) from the litigation motif suggests that

does not intend to present evidence for the defense, but rather to show Job why the process is flawed, because Job wishes to see God in court based on the very narrow view of the retributive justice in the world. YHWH is not just a judge, but also the king who actively exercises his sovereign rule, with a complex governing of the universe. YHWH's summation (verse 2) shows Job the futility of his pursue and the implied way forward for Job to acknowledge it.

Verse 2

: HWH said:''"Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?'' ::''He who rebukes God, let him answer it."'' *"Contends": translated from the Hebrew word , ''rov'', the infinitive absolute from the verb , ''riv'' ("to contend”); the repoint of the word to be an active participle would render it as "the one who argues with the Almighty". *"Correct": translated from the Hebrew verb , ''yissor'' (found only here, but comes from a common root meaning “to correct; to reprove"), which has been suggested to be read as , ''yasur'' with the meaning of "to turn aside; to yield", but the MT could be read as "to correct; to instruct".

Verse 4

: ob said:''"Behold, I am vile;'' ::''What shall I answer You?'' :''I lay my hand over my mouth."'' *"Vile" translated from the Hebrew word , ''qalloti" ("to be light; to be of small account; to be unimportant"), from which comes the meaning "contemptible"; in the causative stem would mean "to treat with contempt; to curse". Job's acknowledgement that he is "small" ("vile"; rather than he has sinned) shows the turning point from arguing against YHWH into accepting what YHWH has done in Job's life. This answer of Job is still tentative, so YHWH proceeds with a second round of questions and observations (Job 40:6–41:34) to finally prompt Job to give his ultimate response (Job 42:1–6).

God speaks of Behemoth (40:6–24)

God's second speech begins with a challenge to announce the theme (40:6–14), before proceeding with the description of Behemoth (40:15–24) and Leviathan ((41:1–34). These two creatures are described as big in size and uncontrollable by humans, but YHWH totally control them all in his orderly world.

Verse 6

:''Then the answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:'' *Cross reference: Job 38:1 *"Whirlwind": or "storm", a common accompaniment for a theophany (cf. Ezekiel 1:4; Nahum 1:3; Zechariah 9:14). It was a sign of the arrival of

before speaking to the people of Israel (Exodus 19:16–20:21). In the early part of the book of Job, a storm caused Job's pain (Job 1:19; 9:17), and now becomes the setting of

's direct communication to Job.

Verse 15

: HWH said:''"Look now at the behemoth'' ::''which I made along with you;'' ::''he eats grass like an ox."'' *" Behemoth": in Hebrew literally means "beast" (in the feminine plural form), here refers to a large animal with unknown exact identity.Note on Job 40:15 in NET Bible It has been identified with the

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, which lives in Egypt, not in Palestine, although it can also be used as a normal word for a great beast including a large cow. *"Along with you": in Hebrew literally "with you"; may be a temporal meaning ("when I made you")—perhaps a reference to the sixth day of creation ().Note on Job 40:15 in NET Bible Although Behemoth cannot be controlled by humans, YHWH securely controls it, so it does not become a threat to the divine order of the world (Job 40:19).

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Iyov - Job - Chapter 40 (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *__Christian_translations: *
''Online_Bible''_at_GospelHall.org
(ESV,_KJV,_Darby,_American_Standard_Version,_Bible_in_Basic_English)
Book_of_Job_Chapter_40
_Various_versions *__Various_versions {{DEFAULTSORT:Job_40 Book_of_Job_chapters.html" ;"title="Job_40.html" ;"title="Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary.html" ;"title="Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org * Christian translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Book of Job Chapter 40
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