Study Notes

We Are Not God! November 25, 2018 - Job 38-41 - Read Online at epmkg.com/job37-41

A. God’s First Speech—38:1–40:2 1. The challenge—38:1–3 2. The inquisition—38:4–41 a. creation of the universe—38:4–7 b. creation of the seas—38:8–11 In contrast to ANE mythology which viewed the sea as a god with awesome powers, it is here (38:8–11) portrayed as in complete submission to God’s sovereign authority. “Deep in the recesses of the universe’s womb, enclosed by double doors Yahweh skillfully knit the sea together like a fetus. At the end of its … gestation Yahweh brought it forth gushing from the womb” (Hartley, 496). c. creation of the dawn—38:12–15 d. the expanse of the earth—38:16–18 e. light, darkness, snow and hail—38:19–24 f. rain, dew, ice and frost—38:25–30 g. the stars and constellations—38:31–33 h. clouds and lightning—38:34–38 i. the lion and the raven—38:39–41 j. the mountain goat—39:1–4 k. the donkey and ox—39:5–12 l. the ostrich—39:13–18 m. the horse—39:19–25 n. the hawk—39:26–30 3. The challenge renewed—40:1–2

B. Job’s First Response—40:3–5 Job’s former self-confidence has shriveled. Contrast 13:22 with 40:5.

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Study Notes

God clearly asserts his absolute sovereignty over all of creation. He knows and controls every square inch of the universe, whether animate or inanimate. No snowflake or drop of rain escapes his providence. Every force of nature and every living thing within it are ​ subject to his purposes. Such being the case with God’s relation to nature, it stands to reason that he cares even more for those created in his image. It now seems ludicrous that ​ a mere creature like Job would demand explanations from God. If Job cannot comprehend or control creation, what makes him think he can comprehend God’s control of mankind?

Why, then, does God often decline to provide us with answers about his dealings with us and with our sufferings? Here are three possible reasons:

1. “Perhaps God keeps us ignorant because enlightenment might not help us” (Yancey, 191).

We ask “why? why?”, on the assumption that if we had a reasonable explanation we could handle it better, be less bitter, and respond more humbly and submissively. But would we?

2. “Perhaps God keeps us ignorant because we are incapable of comprehending the answer” (Yancey, 193).

Yancey explains: “Maybe God’s majestic non-answer to Job was no ploy, no clever way of dodging questions; maybe it was God’s recognition of a plain fact of life. A tiny creature on a tiny planet in a remote galaxy simply could not fathom the grand design of the universe. You might as well try to describe colors to a person born blind, or a Mozart symphony to a person born deaf, or expound the theory of relativity to a person who doesn’t even know about atoms” (193).

It would be like trying to pour the ocean into a thimble! God has told us: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts (higher) than your thoughts” … (Isa. 55:9). And again, “as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things” (Eccles. 11:5).

3. Perhaps God keeps us ignorant because ignorance is the most fertile soil in which faith can grow.

In other words, ignorance compels us to do one of two things: either abandon God altogether, or trust him all the more fervently.

Observations:

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In one sense, God did answer Job’s questions. If God is truly such a majestic and sovereign ​ being who rules every molecule with magnificent precision and purpose, then what he has done or allowed in the case of Job must make perfect sense. ​ ​ Also, it is important to remember that there is something more important than knowing why God does what he does, namely, learning to cling to him in faith when everything else threatens to destroy your soul. As Don Baker has said:

“I have long since quit seeking the answer to that question [“why?”] in my own life. God … owes me no explanation. He has the right to do what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants. Why? Because He’s God! Job didn’t need to know why these things … happened as they did—he just needed to know Who was responsible and Who was in control. He just needed to know God.”

Note well: God’s “answer” apparently was perfectly satisfying to Job. You hear no complaints from him! But God isn’t finished quite yet … C. God’s Second Speech—40:6–41:34 1. The challenge—40:6–14

“Out of the storm”—cf. Exod. 19:16–17; 1 Kings 19:11–13; Isa. 6:4; Ezek. 1:4; Zech. 9:14.

In his zeal to maintain his own innocence, Job had come perilously close to charging God with sin. His reasoning was: “I’m innocent, but I’m suffering, therefore God must be guilty.”

With piercing irony God challenges Job to imagine himself in control of the universe: “Play ​ God, if you can, Job. Come and sit on the throne if you think you can do a better job of it than I can. Put on my glory and majesty and dignity and see how well you do in bringing down the proud and judging the wicked. If you can do all this, you don’t need me!”

2. The inquisition—40:15–41:34

God focuses on two animals in particular, most likely the hippopotamus and the crocodile. ​ They are literal beasts, but were also symbolic of evil and chaos in the world. They are a personification of all forces that oppose God. See Ps. 74:12–14; Isa. 27:1. Thus in describing how he rules over Behemoth and Leviathan God is not only telling Job of his creative power and majesty and sovereign authority over the natural world, but is also revealing his sovereign authority over the moral world, over the spiritual forces of both good and evil. Job need not despair over the prosperity of the wicked or accuse God of indifference toward the plight of the righteous, for God is in sovereign control over all. The purpose in this is two-fold: (1) to impress on Job his own

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feebleness and frailty in comparison with the power and majesty of a God who has revealed himself in the creation of such awesome animals, and (2) to point out to Job that if he can’t subdue these mighty earthly creatures, which are symbolic of cosmic spiritual powers, it is inconceivable that he could prove that God is treating him unjustly.

[Before reading the description of these creatures, keep in mind the author’s use of poetic license and hyperbole. Also remember that this was written before the advent of modern technology.] a. the hippopotamus—40:15–24

“Behemoth”—lit., the plural of the Hebrew word for “beast”, hence super-beast, the noblest and strongest beast (the plural gives intensive force to the word). Some have suggested this might rather be the elephant or the rhino or the water buffalo. The adult hippo weighs up to 8,000 lbs. v. 24—a tactic in hunting the hippo was to pierce its nose so that it must breathe through the mouth; then a fatal blow could be inflicted through its opened mouth. b. the crocodile—41:1–34

Other suggestions are the whale or the brontosaurus. God’s point is simple: if you can’t even capture the crocodile, what makes you think you can contend with me? If you run in terror from the crocodile, what makes you think you could stand boldly in my presence and challenge the way I run the universe? Are you sure 1 you want to challenge my justice and my competency?”

THE FIRST CHALLENGE Shall Mortal Man Contend with God?

Job 38:1–40:5

The voice from the storm touches first on the presumption of a man seeking to contend with God. After reviewing the greatness of God as revealed in the inanimate world (38:1–38) and animate world (38:39–39:30), Job is humbled and brought to silence (40:1–5).

1 Storms, S. (2016). Biblical Studies: Job (Job 38:1–41:34). Edmond, OK: Sam Storms. ​ ​ ​

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Study Notes

A. The Opening Challenge (38:2–3) The speech of the Lord opens with a question expressing his astonishment and impatience with Job. “Who then is darkening counsel?” The word “counsel” suggests that ​ the Lord has a plan or meaning in Job’s afflictions. That purpose was being “darkened” or obscured by the perverse and ignorant construction put upon those afflictions by Job. His words were “without knowledge,” i.e., without a true awareness of the facts, without an understanding of the controversy which had precipitated the trial (38:2).

God challenges the patriarch to “gird up” his loins, i.e., prepare for that contention which he had desired (cf. 9:35; 13:20). When undertaking a strenuous task a man in biblical times would gather up his flowing robe and tuck it into his waistband. Girding up the loins became a metaphor for preparation. Job had boasted that when God called to him, he would ​ answer (13:22). The Lord is about to demonstrate that such a boast was empty (38:2–3). ​ B. Wonders of the Earth (38:4–18) The questions began immediately. Dozens of inquiries are hurled at Job in rapid-fire with scarcely a moment allowed for reflection and response.

1. The creation (38:4–7). The examination begins in the area of cosmology. The smallness ​ of man is indicated by his total ignorance regarding the creation of the earth. The creation is represented poetically as being like the construction of a building. “Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth?” If so, let Job explain how this was done. For starters, God hurls four questions at him. (1) Who determined the measures of the earth? Of course Job knew the answer to this question. But the point is, Was he present to observe the creation? (2) Who stretched the line upon it [the earth], i.e., the construction line? If Job had firsthand knowledge of creation, then let him speak. (3). Upon what were the foundations [of the earth] sunk? (4) Who laid the cornerstone thereof? Here the earth is poetically compared to a great building with deep foundations. The cornerstone, as it were, was laid with great rejoicing among “the morning stars” and “the sons of God” (angels). The “morning stars” may be another name for the “sons of God” or the phrase may refer to the planets and stars. But was Job there at creation? (38:4–7).

2. The sea (38:8–11). Next the Lord turns to the sea. The poet used the language of ​ childbirth to describe the origin of the oceans. The ocean here is represented as an infant giant, breaking forth from the “womb” at creation. The infant ocean was clothed in dark clouds (cf. Gen 1:2). That newborn monster had to be tamed by almighty power. An impassable boundary had to be set to restrain its fury. The earth’s shorelines are presented as gates that hold back the proud waves as they try to advance against the earth (38:8–11).

3. The dawn (38:12–15). From the remote primeval origins, the Lord turns to an ​ everyday occurrence. Since the day he was born had Job been able to “command” the

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morning, i.e., order it to appear? The poet depicts the dawn pouring forth its light along the whole horizon. It takes hold of the darkness which stretches as a covering over the earth. Seizing this covering by its extremities, the dawn shakes the wicked out of it. The idea here is that the wicked flee from the light (cf. John 3:19). The “light” of the wicked is really darkness (cf. 24:13–17). The “high arm” is the arm already uplifted to commit violence. With the dawning of a new day that arm is broken, i.e., the violent deed is not performed in the light. Thus the dawn is a moral as well as a physical agent (38:12–13, 15).

Under the light of morning, the earth, which was formless in the darkness, takes shape like the clay under the impression of a seal. All things with clear-cut impression and vivid coloring stand forth under the light. Together they form a various, many-colored garment in which the earth is robed. Thus the blanket of darkness is removed daily, and the bright garment of light is put on (38:14).

4. The depths (38:16–18). Again the Lord resorts to the method of interrogation. Had Job ​ explored the abysses of the deep? Had he entered the gates of Sheol, the abode of the dead? Sheol is poetically regarded as even lower than the abysses of the deep. Had Job surveyed the breadth of the earth? If he comprehends the vastness of the earth, let him declare it.

C. Wonders of the Heavens (38:19–38) The divine examination now turns to meteorology and astronomy. Here again Job is humbled by his lack of knowledge.

1. Light and darkness (38:19–21). Here the poet imagines both light and darkness having ​ dwelling places in the heavens. Can Job find his way to the abode of light, i.e., the place from which it streams forth over the earth? Does he know where the darkness resides? If he knows the way to the “house” or “boundary” of the territory of light let him take the light back to its abode! No doubt, the Lord says sarcastically, Job knows the way to the place of light, for he was on the scene when the light first was called forth out of darkness! He is as old as the dawn which morning by morning has overspread the earth since creation. The sarcasm is obvious. The point is that Job was not present at the creation (38:19–21).

2. Meteorological phenomena (38:22–30). The poet represents snow and hail as having ​ been created and laid up in great storehouses in the heavens. The Lord brings them forth from his treasuries for use in his moral government of the earth. An example might be the hailstorm by which Yahweh defeated the Canaanites in the days of Joshua (Josh 10:11). Has Job inspected those treasuries? Was he present when God filled those storehouses at creation? (38:22–23).

Can Job explain the paths sought out by the lightning bolts, i.e., predict where the lightning will strike? Can he explain how the east wind spreads over the earth? Can he explain why the rain-flood seems to come down in channels from the heavens? Man is not,

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as he might think, the only object of God’s regard. God’s goodness is over all his works. He satisfies with rain the thirsty wilderness where no man is, that the tender grass may be refreshed (38:24–27).

Does the rain have a human father? Does Job, or any man, beget the rain or the drops of dew? No, they are marvels of God’s creative power. What about the ice which was as hard as stone? Who generated ice? The phenomenon of ice, rare in that region, naturally appeared wonderful (38:28–30).

3. The stars (38:31–33). What control does Job have over the stars? Can he bind the stars ​ of the constellation Pleiades together in their configuration? Can he loose the constellation Orion to make its way across the heavens? And what about the constellation Mazzaroth or the Bear? Does Job know the “ordinances of the heavens,” i.e., the laws which govern the movements of the heavenly bodies? Can Job in any way affect the way the heavenly bodies influence the earth? (38:31–33).

4. The clouds (38:34–38). Can Job lift up his voice and call down torrents of rain? Do the ​ lightning bolts answer to the summons of Job? What about the inner man? Where does his wisdom come from? Yet even with that wisdom, who can count the clouds of the heavens? Who can pour out “the bottles of heaven,” i.e., bring forth the rains which turn powdered earth to mud?

D. Wonders of Animal Life (38:39–39:30) A series of brilliant pictures from the animal world have the same purpose as those given in the preceding section, i.e., they reveal the wisdom and power of God. Ten animals are mentioned, six beasts and four birds. They include the ferocious, the helpless, the shy, the strong, the bizarre, and the wild. The questions concerning these animals are grouped in twos. The list begins with the king of the beasts and concludes with the king of the birds.

1. The lion and the raven (38:39–41). First, the Lord points out the contrast between the ​ lion and the raven in respect to the provision of food. The lioness is equipped with an instinct to hunt and catch her prey. She then returns to the den to feed her hungry young. Job cannot teach her anything about this skill. From the powerful lion the Lord turns to the lowly raven, one of the most common birds in Palestine. While the lion waits patiently and silently in his lair, the noisy raven surveys the terrain from her perch and wanders over the surface of the ground in search of food for her young. The cry of the young birds is considered an appeal to God (cf. Joel 1:20); the feeding of those chicks is proof of the providential care of the Almighty who does not overlook even the least of his creatures (38:39–41).

2. The goat and the hind (39:1–4). The goats and the hinds are next mentioned. The focus ​ here is upon the birthing process of the two animals. Does Job know the time when the shy

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wild goat (or ibex) will bear its young? Does he know the gestation period for the hind? At the appointed time these animals “bow themselves” and “cast out their sorrows,” i.e., get rid of their labor pains. These shy and solitary creatures, inhabiting the rocks, are without the care and help in bearing their young which domesticated creatures enjoy; yet their bearing is light and speedy. The young become strong and robust in the open field. Soon they leave their mothers to go forth and never return. God has equipped them to provide for themselves (39:1–4).

3. The wild donkey and ox (39:5–12). The questions concerning the next two animals have ​ to do with freedom. The wild donkey has an indomitable love of liberty. Who gave this animal its freedom? It dwells in the desert, not under “bonds” (harnesses) like his domesticated cousin. He scorns the noise of the city and scoffs at the shouts of the driver which the tame donkey obeys. In the spring the wild donkey frequents the plains in which there are pools of water, and later the heights where grass is abundant. This animal is another marvel of God’s creation (39:5–8).

The powerful wild ox (rem) cannot be bound by ropes to pull the plow through the ​ ​ fields. This wild creature will not abide by the grain crib like his domesticated brother. A farmer could not trust the wild ox to gather the grain to the threshing floor or to thresh it once it was there. The point here is the contrast between the wild ox and his tame brother. The wild ox was fitted for all the labor performed by the domestic animal, but was untamable. Man can make use of the one; but who would dare to attempt to subdue the other. The Lord is the author of this diversity in these creatures which outwardly look so similar (39:9–12).

4. The ostrich (39:13–18). In several ways the ostrich is a strange bird. The female ostrich ​ flaps her wings joyously “with pinion and plumage of a stork” (lit., a pious one). The point seems to be that there is an external similarity between the ostrich and the stork. The disposition of the two birds, however, is very different. She buries her eggs and allows the earth to warm them (39:13–14).

The ostrich leaves some eggs outside the nest to serve as food for the newly hatched brood. To this practice the poet refers when he says: “she forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may break them.” She appears to treat her young “harshly.” The reference is to another strange practice of this bird. When chased by hunters the adult birds will act as decoys, running hither and yon in an effort to draw off the intruders. From man’s point of view, the ostrich shows no concern for her young (39:15–16).

The mother ostrich acts as she does because God has deprived her of wisdom. Yet he has granted to that bird a swiftness of foot. The “flying” of the ostrich consists of swift running, in which she maintains her balance by her outspread wings and tail. The bird has been clocked at up to forty miles per hour over short distances. With her head elevated to full height, she is able to laugh at the swiftness of the horse and its rider. This combination of

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questionable and admirable qualities illustrates the creative genius and sovereign ways of the Almighty. God has chosen to create this bizarre bird, and Job can do nothing about it (39:17–18).

5. The horse (39:19–26). The mention of the horse in contrast to the ostrich in v. 18 ​ triggers the dramatic depiction of the war horse, another example of the creative diversity of God. Did Job, perhaps, give that animal his might? Did he clothe the neck of the horse with his mane? With a terrible snort the horse leaps effortlessly over obstacles like a locust. Did Job give the horse this strength? (39:19–20).

Anxious to enter the battle, the war horse paws the ground in anticipation. Fearlessly he goes out to meet an army of armed men. The movements of the rider’s quiver, spear and javelin against the horse’s side seems to spur the animal forward. The sound of the trumpet seems to instill in him fierceness and rage. The trumpet blast, thunderous commands of the officers and shouts of the troops cause the war horse to “smell” battle ahead. He says “Aha!” i.e., he impatiently neighs. He is anxious for action. The point is, Job had nothing to do with these wonders of beauty, courage and power which cause this animal to mingle in the conflicts of men with a fury which exceeds even their own (39:21–25).

6. The hawk and the eagle (39:26–30). The last series of questions has to do with the ​ subject of flight. Does Job have anything to do with the wisdom of the hawk which migrates southward when the cold weather sets in? What about the eagle? Is it at Job’s command that the eagle fixes her habitation fearlessly on the dizzy heights of the mountain cliff? Did he give to this bird her penetrating vision which scans the wide expanse and pierces into the deep ravine? Did he endow the eagle with her terrible instincts that show themselves at once in her young which “suck up blood”? The reference is to the scavenger habits of these birds which kill and rip apart their prey in order to take the bloody meat to their young (39:26–30).

E. The Reaction of Job (40:1–5) The first speech of God ends as it began, with a challenge to Job. In the light of this awesome array of illustrations of divine power and wisdom, will the critic still persevere in his contention with Yahweh? The Lord directly appealed to the patriarch to respond to him (40:1–2).

Job, however, had been put in his place by the glory of God which has just been displayed to him verbally. He now sees himself as “insignificant.” He declares: “I will lay my hand ​ upon my mouth,” i.e., restrain my speech. He had spoken his mind earlier (“once I have spoken even twice”). Now he will be silent before God (40:3–5). … SECOND CHALLENGE TO JOB

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Shall Man Charge God with Unrighteousness?

Job 40:6–42:6

Job had charged God with unrighteousness in his rule of the world. He regarded what had happened to himself as the prime illustration of that unrighteousness. God’s second speech makes the point that any alleged superiority to God’s justice must be accompanied by corresponding superiority in power. The speech demonstrates that Job does not even possess equality of power, not to mention superiority.

The second speech of God follows the pattern of the first. A challenge and interrogation of Job regarding nature is followed by a reply from Job. In the first speech two areas of nature were highlighted—the inanimate and animate. In this second speech two specific animals—Behemoth and Leviathan—are presented.

A. A Sarcastic Challenge to Job (40:6–14) Again God speaks from the storm. Again Job is ordered to “gird up” his loins like a man, i.e., prepare to face God like a man (cf. 38:3). God has two questions which he demands that Job answer. First, will this feeble man “annul,” i.e., make void or deny, God’s “judgment,” i.e., his rectitude as ruler of the world? Second, will Job condemn God’s righteous rule of the world so as to make himself look more righteous? Such would be as much an offense against God as daring to contend with him (40:6–8).

God now sarcastically invites Job to “play God,” and see if he could do any better. In order to play the role he would first need to deck himself with the thunder and majesty of the supreme Ruler. Let this man see if he is able to undertake the government of the world. Let Job humble all the proud ones on the earth. Let him tread down the wicked “where they stand,” i.e., immediately after the wickedness has been committed. Though this is what Job would have, it is not God’s method of government (40:9–12).

Let Job bring the wicked to “the dust,” i.e., death. Let him “bind them,” i.e., shut them up, in the “hidden place,” i.e., Sheol. If he can do this, he will prove himself worthy of that place to which he aspires when he reproves the rule of God in the world. Then Yahweh himself will admit Job’s independent might and will praise him as one who is able to save himself by his own “right hand,” i.e., power (40:13–14).

In this challenge to Job there are two underlying assumptions. First, omnipotence is necessary in the ruler of the world; second, the government of the world involves keeping in check the forces of evil. God’s rule is of this kind. It is a moral government. Exceptions to that moral government there may appear to be from time to time. These, however, are not ​ real exceptions.

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B. The Monster Behemoth (40:15–24) If Job is able to assume rule of the world and even contend with God, surely he would have no trouble subduing the mighty Behemoth and Leviathan. The point of introducing these monsters here is to impress on Job his puniness as over against God’s power. If Job cannot enter into conflict with these creatures, he certainly could not stand up to the one who created them.

God first introduces the Behemoth. The exact identity of the Behemoth is not certain. Modern commentators assume that the hippopotamus is intended. The tail of the hippopotamus, however, is short and stumpy; it resembles in no way the description of the tail of Behemoth. Some scholars have proposed that some mythological monster is ​ intended. In this context, however, it is more natural to regard both Behemoth and Leviathan as actual animals. Some have suggested that Behemoth was a brontosaurus dinosaur. Every interpretation presents difficulties. This author, however, believes that the hippopotamus is probably intended.

The Behemoth was as much a creation of God as was Job himself. This strange animal, though fitted by its size and strength to prey upon other creatures, feeds upon grass like the cattle. “He moves his tail like a cedar.” If Behemoth is the hippopotamus, this description of its tail is an extreme exaggeration. The poet describes the bones of Behemoth as “tubes of bronze,” i.e., very strong. His limbs are “like bars of iron” (40:15–18).

Behemoth is “the first of the ways of God,” i.e., first in magnitude and power. The creator has given this creature teeth (or perhaps tusks) like a sword with which Behemoth shears the vegetation in front of him. To satisfy its hunger the animal depastures whole mountains where other beasts “play,” i.e., they do not fear this grass-eating giant. His hunger satisfied, Behemoth lies down in thickets of lotus, reeds and willows (40:19–22).

Because of his size, Behemoth is not intimidated by raging rivers. He is confident though “Jordan rushes to his mouth,” a specific example of a river in flood. When this creature is awake, no one can capture him (40:23–24).

C. The Monster Leviathan (41:1–34) Leviathan has been identified as the whale, the dolphin, a marine dinosaur that survived the Flood, and the crocodile. The last view is the one this author accepts. The Lord first stresses the difficulty of capturing the animal through fishing or hunting techniques. Sandwiched between these two units is a lengthy description of the creature.

1. Fishing for Leviathan (41:1–11). One cannot snare this creature with a baited fish hook ​ or “press down his tongue with a cord.” The idea seems to be to pass a cord round the

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lower jaw to lead the animal about. One cannot put a rope through the nose of Leviathan as one might put a stringer through the gills of fish. With sarcasm the poet points out that Leviathan would never beg to be spared or treated kindly by a would-be capturer (41:1–3).

Leviathan would never willingly bind himself to perpetual slavery as a Hebrew bondsman might do (cf. Deut 15:12–17). One cannot make a pet out of this creature. This beast cannot be found in the marketplace where traders and merchants (lit., Canaanites) haggle over its worth. One attempt to lay a hand on Leviathan will result in a battle which will never be repeated nor forgotten. The hope of any assailant to overcome this creature is vain. Most men would cower before the sight of this monster (41:4–9).

If none dare stir up Leviathan, who will stand before God who created him, or venture to contend with him? On the other hand, no one has any ground of contention with God. None has given anything to God, so as to have a claim against him, for all things under the heavens are his (41:10–11).

2. Description of Leviathan (41:12–25). The Lord now describes the mighty Leviathan: his ​ limbs, strength, and graceful frame. He first focuses on the jaws of Leviathan. Who is able to strip off the outer garment, i.e., his coat of scales? Who is able to come with “his double bridle”? The term may refer particularly to the corners of the jaws. “Who can open the doors of his mouth,” i.e., his mouth. “Around his teeth there is terror” (41:12–14).

Next the focus is on the scales of Leviathan. Each of his scales is like a shield. These shields are arranged in rows. These shields are “shut up as with a tight seal,” i.e., they adhere closely to the body (41:15–17).

Leviathan breathes smoke and flame. The animal is said to inflate itself, as it lies basking in the sun, and then force the heated breath through its nostrils, which in the sun appears like a stream of light. The first parts of the animal that a person sees when it emerges from the water are the small eyes which are compared to the dawn’s rays gradually appearing upon the horizon. The long-repressed hot breath is blown out along with water from his mouth; it shines in the sun like a fiery stream (41:18–21).

Leviathan is noted for his strength and hardness of muscle. His strength seems to reside in his neck. Wherever he appears, terror leaps up. The idea is that in the presence of Leviathan other creatures are startled and seek to escape. The “folds of his flesh”—the parts beneath the neck and belly—are firm and hard. His heart is as hard as the lower millstone which bears all the pressure upon it. When Leviathan arouses himself “the mighty are afraid” and bewildered (41:22–25).

3. Hunting for Leviathan (41:26–34). Leviathan can be subdued by no weapon known to ​ man at that time. Sword, spear, dart or javelin have no effect upon him. Iron and bronze break before him like straw. He “laughs,” as it were, at such weapons (41:26–29).

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The scales on the underside of Leviathan, though smoother than those on the back, still are sharp. They leave an impression on the mire where he has lain as if a sharp threshing-sledge with teeth had gone over the area. As he glides through the water he leaves in his wake a shining track (41:30–32).

Leviathan has no rival on the earth. He is king among the proud beasts. He “looks on 2 everything that is high,” i.e., he looks them boldly in the face without terror (41:33–34).

1. god’s first speech (38:1–40:2) a. God’s opening rebuke and challenge to Job (38:1–3)

38:1. God’s appearance was accompanied by a storm, possibly the storm Elihu may have ​ ​ sensed was approaching (37:22). “Storm” translates se‘ārâh, “a tempest or storm ​ ​ accompanied by violent wind” (also used, e.g., in 2 Kings 2:1, 11; Isa. 40:24, “whirlwind”; Ps. 107:25; Isa. 29:6, “tempest”; Ezek. 1:4, “windstorm”). Ironically “a mighty wind” caused the ​ death of Job’s 10 sons and daughters. Now a violent storm accompanied God’s communication. Whereas the one was the occasion of ruin resulting in personal sorrow, this one was the occasion of revelation resulting in personal submission. Sometimes God used storms to dramatize awesome occasions (cf. Ex. 19:16–17; 1 Kings 19:11–13).

38:2–3. Opening with a rebuke, God accused Job (by means of a question) of darkening counsel, of beclouding God’s design for the universe. Job’s questioning confused rather ​ than clarified the issues (cf. Elihu’s comment about man’s darkness, 37:19). For Job to suggest that God had become his enemy would only confuse others about God rather than shed light on His ways. Because of this Job, though he sometimes extolled God, did not really know whereof he spoke when he blamed God for being unfair. Job’s words were ​ without knowledge (as Elihu had twice said; 34:35; 35:16). ​ Then God told Job to get ready for His questions. (Brace yourself like a man; cf. 40:7, is ​ ​ lit., “gird up your loins like a man,” geḇer, “strong man,” that is, tuck your outer robe-like ​ garment into your sash-belt as a man does before taking on a strenuous task such as running or fighting in a battle, Ex. 12:11; 1 Kings 18:46.) Job was to be alert so he could answer God intelligently. This is a striking reversal of Job’s words to God, “Let the Almighty answer me” (31:35). Job the plaintiff had now become the defendant! b. God’s questioning of Job regarding inanimate nature (38:4–38)

2 Smith, J. E. (1996). The wisdom literature and Psalms (Job 38:1–41:34). Joplin, MO: College ​ ​ ​ Press Pub. Co.

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In a series of questions on cosmology, oceanography, meteorology, and astronomy, God challenged Job’s competence to judge His control of the world. God used irony to point up Job’s ignorance (e.g., “Tell Me,” vv. 4, 18; “Surely you know!” vv. 5, 21).

(1) Questions about the earth (38:4–21).

38:4–7. Job was immediately confronted with his insignificance, for he was not present when God created the earth. Since he did not observe what had taken place then, he could not understand it. How could he hope to advise God now? Creating the earth is depicted ​ like constructing a building with a foundation. dimensions. a measuring line. ​ … … … footings, and a cornerstone. When God put the earth into orbit, it was similar to placing ​ ​ ​ parts of a building in place.

Job was absent when the morning stars (possibly Venus and Mercury; “morning stars” ​ were mentioned by Job in 3:9) sang and the angels (lit., “the sons of God”; cf. 1:6; 2:1) ​ ​ shouted with joy over God’s Creation of the earth. The stars’ singing is a poetic ​ personification, not a reference to the noise made by stars as detected by radio astronomy. In Psalm 148:2–3 angels and stars are together commanded to praise the Lord.

38:8–11. The origin of the earth was depicted as being like the construction of a building (vv. 4–7); the origin of the oceans was described like childbirth. Job was not in God’s obstetric delivery room when He created the oceans, seas, and lakes, which were like a baby coming from a womb (cf. v. 29). God confined the waters, His newborn, by means of ​ ​ shorelines (shut behind doors fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars [as on a ​ … … city gate] in place). The waters could no longer cover the entire globe as they had done (cf. ​ ​ Gen. 1:2, 9; Ps. 104:9). God separated the waters on the globe from the land; also above the earth’s waters He placed the clouds (cf. Gen. 1:6) which like a baby’s garment (cf. Job ​ ​ 38:14), shroud the earth’s waters at night in thick darkness. In limiting the waters’ proud ​ ​ ​ waves, pounding at the shore, God may have subtly hinted at His control of Job in his proud ​ allegations. God obviously had these cosmological elements under control.

38:12–15. God’s control of the earth also includes the daily sequence of dawn and ​ darkness. The dawn causes the wicked, who are active at night (cf. 24:14–17; John 3:19), ​ ​ to hide. It is as if the morning light were shaking them out of a blanket (Job 38:13), causing ​ them to be broken in their power (upraised arm, v. 15; cf. 40:9). As the sun comes up the ​ ​ ​ earth’s contours become evident and the wicked no longer have darkness, which they call ​ their light, in which to work. Since Job had nothing to do with establishing or controlling ​ this aspect of Creation how could he question God’s doings now?

38:16–18. God also put Job in his place by asking if he had ever explored such unseen realms as: (a) the springs of the sea (the Heb. word for “springs,” nēḇek, occurring only ​ ​ here in the OT, probably refers to springs of water pouring into oceans from the ocean floors), (b) the recesses of the deep (the depths of the oceans), (c) death, pictured as ​ ​ ​

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having gates which open for its entrants (cf. Pss. 9:13; 107:18; Isa. 38:10) and pictured as ​ being in darkness (cf. niv marg.), and (d) the extensive regions of the earth. ​ ​ 38:19–21. God personified light and darkness as living in houses. By rhetorical ​ ​ questions the Lord pointed up to the complainant that he, a mere human, had no way of following the light, at sunset, to see where it goes, or of pursuing the darkness, at sunrise, to see where it resides. Their places and dwellings are inaccessible in the sense that Job ​ ​ ​ could not explain how God moves the earth around the sun. Surely you know (cf. v. 5), for ​ ​ you were already born! was God’s ironic way of affirming that Job did not know since he ​ was not around when God set the earth’s rotation in motion. Job’s years were few ​ compared with God’s eternity (cf. 36:26).

(2) Questions about the sky (38:22–30).

38:22–24. Job had no idea how God makes snow or hail, pictured as if they were kept in ​ ​ ​ storehouses (cf. Pss. 33:7; 135:7; Jer. 10:13) and released by God when He chooses. Causing hail in battle (cf. Josh. 10:11) is an example of what Elihu had said about God’s using elements of weather to stop people from working (Job 37:6–7), or to punish people (37:13). Job could not predict where God would dispense lightning flashes (cf. Elihu’s ​ words along this line in 36:30, 32; 37:3, 11, 15; cf. 38:35) or where the winds would blow. ​ ​ 38:25–30. Nor can God’s ways with the rain and ice (cf. Elihu’s comments about them in ​ ​ 36:27–28; 37:6, 10) be comprehended by man. Only God cuts a channel (an imaginary ​ path) in the sky through which rain and the thunderstorm (cf. 28:26) come. Man does not ​ ​ even see where God often makes rain to fall—in a desert and a wasteland. ​ ​ ​ ​ Again using the figure of childbirth (cf. 38:8) God asked Job if he knew whether the rain ​ and dew have a father and the ice and frost have a mother. This may possibly be an ​ ​ ​ ​ allusion to and a polemic against the Canaanite myth that viewed rain as the semen of the gods, by which “mother earth” supposedly bears her “children,” the crops. Certainly no one knows completely how the earth’s Master sends rain and formulates elements of cold weather, including dew, ice, frost, and frozen lakes and rivers. ​ ​ (3) Questions about stars and clouds (38:31–38).

38:31–33. Job knew that God made the Pleiades Orion, and Bear constellations (9:9), ​ … ​ ​ but here God pointed out that Job had nothing to do with holding together the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades, nor could he alter the configuration of stars in the Orion constellation, nor cause the Bear (perhaps the Big Dipper) to appear at night. And since ​ Job knew nothing of the laws of the heavens, the principles by which God regulates the ​ ​ stars, planets, and moon, how could he begin to criticize God’s laws in His dealings with mankind? Dominion over the earth is God’s, not Job’s. ​ ​ ​ ​

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38:34–38. God also belittled Job by pointing to his inability to call down rain at will or to send down lightning bolts (cf. v. 24). In verse 36, difficult to translate, the word heart ​ ​ could perhaps be rendered “cloud layers” and the word mind, “celestial phenomenon” (see ​ ​ Rowley, Job, pp. 315–6). If those translations are accepted, they fit God’s practice in this ​ ​ chapter of personifying inanimate nature. The clouds and lightning bolts seem to operate as if they have minds of their own. Or if the NIV rendering of verse 36 is correct then the thought is that God gives man wisdom; yet man in all his wisdom cannot tabulate the number of clouds nor can he time the “tilting” of the clouds (like animal skins that hold ​ water) to moisten the dust and the clods. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ c. God’s questioning of Job regarding animate nature (38:39–39:30)

The 12 animals described here—six beasts, five birds, and an insect—all exhibit the creative genius and providential care of God. Fittingly the list begins with the lion, the king of the beasts, and ends with the word for eagle, the king of the birds (perhaps, however, the word for eagle refers to the griffon-vulture; see comments on 39:27). Job’s incompetence and ignorance are seen in that he could not provide food for the first two animals (38:39–41), did not know of the birth of their offspring (the next two, 39:1–4), did not set them free or tame them (the two in 39:5–12), did not give them their odd ways (the two in 39:13–25), or provide them with their ability of flight (the last two, 39:26–30). One might think that animals, being under man, could be controlled and cared for by man. But God showed Job that he was in some ways inferior to even the animal kingdom.

(1) Lions and ravens.

38:39–41. For his own safety, Job stayed clear of lions, not hunting their prey for them. ​ ​ ​ Nor could he even provide food for black ravens, whose young are often forgotten by their ​ ​ parents. Job could not be the nourisher of the world’s wild kingdom. Therefore since God ​ cares for them (Jesus said ravens are fed by God, Luke 12:24), who are of less value than humans, would He neglect His care of people?

(2) Goats and deer.

39:1–4. Job did not even know when certain animals give birth to their young or did he ​ ​ know their gestation periods. Totally apart from man’s help or knowledge, but obviously under God’s supervision, mountain goats and deer bring forth their young, who soon ​ ​ ​ grow up, leave their parents, and fend for themselves (cf. references to the “young” in ​ 38:41; 39:30). This mountain goat may be the Nubian Ibex, a goat in the wilds of the Middle East that hides when it bears its young. Even now relatively few people have ever seen these goats when they are bearing their offspring (Avinoam Danin, “Do You Know When the Ibexes Give Birth?” Biblical Archaeology Review 5.November–December 1979:50–1). ​ ​

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(3) Wild donkeys and wild oxen (39:5–12).

39:5–8. Even the mere act of releasing wild donkeys out in the desert where they ​ roamed the wasteland, lived in the salt flats (perhaps around the Dead Sea), rejected the ​ ​ ​ noise of civilization, and ranged the hills, was beyond Job’s ability. Only God can help such ​ ​ animals survive.

39:9–12. In contrast with setting wild donkeys free, Job could not tame a wild ox. This ​ ​ ​ animal, perhaps the auroch, resisted domestication. It would not serve Job or stay in his barn overnight, like a domesticated cow. Nor would it submit to plowing. Though unusually strong, it would not do heavy work for man. Nor would it pull a cart with grain from a ​ ​ field to a threshing floor. If Job could not tame even this one wild animal, how could he ​ ​ ​ hope to challenge God’s ways with man?

(4) Ostriches, storks, war horses, and locusts (39:13–25).

39:13–18. The ostrich, a bizarre bird, is odd-featured, weighing up to 300 pounds and ​ ​ reaching a height of seven or eight feet. It flaps its wings but it cannot fly. Unlike birds that ​ fly, such as the stork, an ostrich lays its eggs in a nest on the ground. In fact several ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ostrich hens lay their eggs in one nest, but if there is no more room in the nest they deposit their eggs outside the nest in the sand. There other brooding hens, in the confusion of ​ ​ getting in and out of the nest, often crush these eggs. Ostriches’ seeming unconcern for or even cruel treatment of their young (v. 16; cf. Lam. 4:3) evidences their lack of wisdom ​ ​ and good sense. Hens may desert the nest if they are overfed, or if impatient they may ​ ​ leave the nest before all the chicks are hatched. If a human disturbs a nest, an ostrich may trample the eggs. Or a hen may sit on eggs in another nest, forgetting her own. (For these and other examples of ostrich stupidity see George F. Howe, “Job and the Ostrich: A Case Study in Biblical Accuracy,” Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation 15. December ​ 1963:107–10.) Yet in spite of its stupidity, an ostrich can run 40 miles an hour, faster than a ​ horse. Would Job even think of making such a peculiar bird? ​ ​ ​ 39:19–25. Nor did Job have anything to do with creating the war horse, with its ​ ​ strength and its mane, ability to leap like a locust while snorting, pawing, and eagerly ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ and fearlessly entering a battle. His rider’s weapons on his side, he prances the ground as ​ ​ ​ if eating it up, while waiting for the trumpet blast to signal the charge. Snorting, he ​ … smells the scent of battle from a distance, and hears the battle commands. The spirited ​ ​ nature of the poetry in these verses matches the horse’s vitality. Since Job was inferior to the strength of this horse, certainly he was inferior to the horse’s Creator.

(5) Hawks and eagles.

39:26–30. The hawk’s annual migration toward the south occurred without Job’s ​ wisdom. On the other hand the eagle soars and builds its nest at high altitudes, on a cliff ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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or rocky crag, where with keen vision he (cf. 28:7) spies food at great distances below. ​ ​ ​ Devouring carcasses and sucking blood may suggest that this bird is the griffon-vulture ​ rather than the eagle (George Cansdale, Animals of Bible Lands. London: Paternoster Press, ​ ​ 1970, p. 144). The Hebrew ne er may include both eagles and vultures (cf. 9:26). ​ š ​ This view of a few of the world’s fauna demonstrates that Job, unable to contend with creation, hardly qualified to condemn the Creator. At the same time these words point up God’s delight in His creation. His stars and angels sang and shouted when He made the earth (38:7), and He apparently enjoys His animal world. Also, God uses creation to ​ limit the wicked (38:15), to aid man (38:23), to water the earth (38:26, 37–38); He controls ​ and limits creation (38:8–9, 11); He regulates creation (38:12, 25, 31–33). And in the ​ ​ animal world God provides for animals (38:39–41; 39:29–30), helps them (vv. 1–4, 26–28), ​ ​ frees them (vv. 5–12), and strengthens them (vv. 13–25). In contrast Job could do none of ​ ​ these. Obviously God’s orderly creation is provided for and well cared for; yet Job thought God’s cosmic plan was arbitrary and that He lacked control, provision, and care. d. God’s closing rebuke and challenge to Job (40:1–2) 40:1–2. God’s first speech, which began with a rebuke and a challenge (cf. 38:2–3), also concluded with a rebuke and a challenge. The rebuke is in the form of a question. The one ​ who contends refers to Job. Twice (10:2; 23:6) Job considered God’s (10:1) contending ​ ​ with him (rîḇ , bringing a court case against him), but now ironically, God turned the ​ accusation around. (Cf. Elihu’s words, “Why do you complain [rîḇ] to Him?” [33:13]) How ​ could Job now dare indict God? Since Job had accused God he should answer these ​ ​ questions (cf. “answer Me” in 38:3; 40:7).

2. job’s first reply to god (40:3–5) 40:3–5. Seeing that man is not the world’s master, and that God controls and cares for His creation, Job acknowledged (a) his insignificance (unworthy comes from the verb ​ q.ālal, “to be silent, trifling, small, insignificant”) and (b) his inability to defend himself ​ further. His former self-confidence (“I will say to God, Do not condemn me,” 10:2; “Then summon me, and I will answer,” 13:22; “You will call and I will answer You,” 14:15) now was changed to humble submission (“how can I reply to You?”). Never again would Job ​ ​ approach God like a stately prince (31:37). Job admitted that he could not respond to God, as God had challenged him to do (38:3; 40:2). His only response was silence—I put my ​ hand over my mouth—a gesture he had suggested for his disputants (“clap your hand ​ over your mouth,” 21:5).

Job had spoken his piece, repeating himself before God (I spoke once even twice), but ​ ​ ​ now he felt he should say no more. However, this response of the former plaintiff included ​ ​

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no note of repentance. He was humbled, but not yet repentant. So God summoned him to answer more questions.

3. god’s second speech (40:6–41:34) Like God’s first speech, this one included a challenge (40:6–7), a rebuke (40:8–14), and questions about nature (40:15–41:34). God’s first speech pointed to inanimate and animate creation; this oration called Job’s attention to only two animals. Unlike the first speech this one did not end with a closing rebuke and challenge (cf. 40:2). a. God’s challenge and rebuke to Job (40:6–14)

40:6–8. Again speaking out of the storm (cf. comments on 38:1) God repeated verbatim ​ His previous challenge (38:3) that Job brace himself like a man and that he answer God’s ​ ​ ​ questions. God then rebuked Job with a question (cf. the questions in 38:2; 40:2): Would ​ ​ you discredit My justice? Only here did God refer directly to Job’s accusation of the Sovereign’s supposed unfairness.

In the next question Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? the word “condemn” ​ is the verb rā a‘, “to act wickedly or to condemn as wicked.” This is an amazing reprimand ​ š ​ by God, for this verb has occurred several times already in the Book of Job. Job had said he would unwittingly condemn himself if God confronted him (9:20a). Then he said he would tell God not to condemn him (10:2). Eliphaz told Job that the sufferer was condemning himself by his words (15:6), and Elihu believed that the three had condemned Job (32:3) Now God said the One who was really being condemned was God Himself! Job’s self-justification that he was not acting wickedly resulted in his saying that God was acting ​ ​ wickedly.

40:9–14. To contend with God suggests an assumed equality with God. And yet no mortal possesses that. Job did not have God’s strength (arm symbolizes strength; cf. 38:15; Ps. ​ 89:13; Isa. 40:10; and cf. hand in Job 40:14), or the ability to terrify by his voice. Without ​ ​ ​ these resources to rule the world and rectify its wrongs how could Job rightfully criticize?

If his libels against the sovereign Lord were to be accepted as true, then Job would first have to prove his ability to govern the universe. Defaming God, as Job had done, was in essence a usurping of divine authority, an attempt to put himself in God’s place. So, as God ​ reasoned, if Job wanted the job of world Ruler, then he would need to prove he was qualified. Job would need to dress the part, putting on God’s glory and splendor, His ​ ​ honor and majesty. Of course, he would be disqualified in even that. His assignment, God ​ said, was to unleash his wrath, humiliating the godless and proud merely by looking at ​ ​ ​ ​ them (cf. the Leviathan’s ability to look down on the haughty, 41:34), and then crushing and burying them. Since Job had accused God of neglecting to punish the wicked ​ ​ ​ (21:29–31; 24:1–17), God ironically suggested He turn over the responsibility to Job to see

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if he could fulfill it. Only if Job could carry out such an awesome task, would God admit to ​ ​ the complainer’s independence and self-sufficiency and the validity of his criticisms. b. God’s questioning about two animals (40:15–41:34) God’s first speech displayed a panorama of nature including 12 animals, but in His second speech His zoom lens focused on only 2 animals. God thereby impressed Job with his mere puniness and with God’s majestic power.

Scholars differ in their views as to who these creatures were. Against the view that the behemoth (40:15–24) and Leviathan (chap. 41) are mythological, as some suggest, are these facts: (1) God told Job to “look at” the behemoth, (40:15). (2) God said He “made” the behemoth, as He had made Job (40:15). (3) The detailed descriptions of both animals’ anatomies befits real not mythological beasts. (4) Animals in myths were based on real ​ creatures, but were given exaggerated features. (5) The 12 animals in 38:39–39:30 were real, which would cause one to expect these 2 to be real also. (6) Though sometimes ​ elsewhere in Scripture the Leviathan may be mythological (e.g., 3:8; Ps. 74:14; Isa. 27:1), it is also spoken of elsewhere as a created being (Ps. 104:24, 26). And the plural Hebrew word for behemoth is used in Joel 1:20, where it is rendered “wild animals.”

However, though these are apparently actual animals, they may also represent proud, ​ wicked elements in the world. In the ancient Near East these beasts, in their brute force (Job 40:16–18; 41:12, 22, 26–29) and agitation of the waters (41:31–32), symbolized the chaotic effect of evil. (This helps explain how the crocodile then became the basis for the idea of a mythological dragon, a creature that causes extreme chaos in the waters.) In Egypt the Pharaoh, in preparation for his enthronement, ritually harpooned (with the help of others) a male hippopotamus and occasionally a crocodile, to dramatize his ability to dispel chaos and maintain order. The king could carry out this difficult harpooning task only because of his supposed superhuman, godlike strength. But God was showing Job that he did not have that ability. Since he could not conquer the animalistic symbols of evil, how could he subdue evil people?

The association of both animals with the water (40:21–23; 41:31–32) ties this speech to the first divine discourse (38:8–11, 16).

(1) The behemoth.

40:15–24. God mentioned several things about the behemoth: its position with Job as a fellow creature (v. 15), its diet (v. 15), its physical strength (vv. 16–19), its habitat (vv. 20–23), and its fierceness (v. 24). The word behemoth is the plural of “beast.” Since one ​ animal is described in verses 15–24, the plural probably points up the animal’s greatness. Suggestions as to the identity of this animal include an elephant, a rhinoceros, a plant-eating brontosaurus (dinosaur), a water buffalo, and a hippopotamus. The common

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view that this huge creature is the hippopotamus is supported by several observations: (1) The hippo is herbivorous (it feeds on grass like an ox, v. 15). Therefore wild animals do ​ ​ ​ not fear being attacked by it (v. 20). (2) It has massive strength in its loins, stomach ​ ​ ​ muscles tail thighs, metallike bones and limbs (vv. 16–18). Unlike the elephant, a … … ​ ​ ​ hippopotamus’ stomach muscles are particularly strong and thick. The rendering that his tail sways like a cedar (possibly meaning a cedar branch, not a cedar trunk) suggests to ​ some that “tail” means the trunk of an elephant. However, Ugaritic parallels indicate that the verb “sways” (which occurs only here in the OT) means “stiffens.” In that case the hippopotamus’ tail, though small, was referred to. The tail stiffens when the animal is frightened or is running. (3) The hippopotamus was the largest of the animals known in the ancient Near East (he ranks first among the works of God, v. 19). The adult hippo of ​ ​ today weighs up to 8,000 pounds. “There may have been an especially gigantic variety that flourished in the Jordan in those days, and as such he may have outclassed even the elephant ” (Gleason L. Archer, Jr., The Book of Job, p. 107). (4) The hippo is difficult if not … ​ ​ impossible to kill with a mere hand sword. The words His Maker can approach him with ​ His sword (v. 19) suggest that only God dare approach the beast for hand combat. Nor can ​ he be captured or harpooned when only his eyes or nose show above the water (v. 24). (5) ​ ​ As a hippopotamus lies hidden in the marsh. the stream, and the river (vv. 21–23), ​ … … ​ ​ its sustenance (perhaps vegetation) floats down from the hills (v. 20). This huge creature ​ is undistrubed by river turbulence for the rivers are his habitat (v. 23). An elephant or brontosaurus would hardly be described this way. A surging river would hardly reach the depth of a brontosaurus’ mouth.

(2) The leviathan (chap. 41). The discussion of the leviathan is longer than God’s comments on any of the other animals. That fact, coupled with the vicious nature of the leviathan, an animal that even attacks man (v. 8), makes chapter 41 climactic. This beast has been variously interpreted as the seven-headed sea monster Lotan of Ugaritic mythology, the whale, the dolphin, a marine dinosaur that survived the Flood, and, most likely, the crocodile. Archer suggests it was a giant crocodile of the Jordan River, not the Egyptian crocodile (The Book of Job, p. 107). Man’s attempt to capture this animal and the ​ ​ detailed description of the monster’s anatomy suggest that it was an actual creature. Calling the behemoth and the leviathan dinosaurs wrongly dates Job’s lifetime within only a few hundred years of the Flood. The crocodile fits God’s description of the leviathan’s back (vv. 13, 15–17, 23), teeth (v. 14), chest and undersides (vv. 24, 30), and its churning of the waters (vv. 31–32). (See comments on vv. 18–21 for answers to suggestions that this is a dragon.) The behemoth and leviathan have many similarities (see Roy B. Zuck, Job, p. 180), ​ ​ so if one is an actual animal, then the other probably is also.

As discussed earlier, in the ancient Near East both animals were symbols of chaotic evil.

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God spoke of this creature’s inability to be captured by fishing equipment and tamed by man (vv. 1–11), its awesome anatomy (vv. 12–25), and the leviathan’s inability to be captured by hunting equipment (vv. 26–34).

41:1–11. A fishhook a rope. a cord, and a hook are inadequate to capture so fierce ​ … … ​ ​ an animal (vv. 1–2). It is not so easily tamed that it would, personified like a human, plead to be released or agree to being tamed and used as a pet (vv. 3–5). Merchants cannot sell ​ ​ it, since it is seldom captured (v. 6). Larger fishing equipment, such as harpoons and ​ spears (v. 7), and even hand combat (v. 8) are useless. Since people are afraid at even the ​ sight of a crocodile, no one would dare wake it up (vv. 9–10). God then used this fierce ​ amphibian to illustrate man’s inability to oppose God (to stand against Him) or to claim ​ ​ He owes them something (since everything is His). If Job panicked at seeing a crocodile, ​ how did he dare confront the crocodile’s Maker, telling Him He had done wrong? If the beast’s power exceeded Job’s strength, certainly Job would be impotent before God.

41:12–17. God then reminded Job of the crocodile’s anatomy (vv. 12–25). It is difficult to catch a crocodile because of its strength (v. 12), the protective armor of its tough hide (v. ​ 13), jaws (the doors of his mouth) that man cannot pry open by hand (v. 14), sharp teeth ​ ​ ​ that terrify (v. 14), and its back rows of shields that weapons cannot penetrate (vv. ​ … ​ 15–17).

41:18–21. The movements of a crocodile’s nose, eyes, and mouth also put people in panic. A crocodile can stay completely submerged underwater for about five minutes. When it comes up for air and sneezes the water out from its nostrils, the spray looks like ​ ​ ​ flashes of light in the sun. When this reptile emerges from the water, its small eyes, with ​ ​ slits for pupils like a cat’s eyes, are seen first, like the dawn’s rays. Interestingly in ​ ​ ​ Egyptian hieroglyphs, the crocodile’s eye represents the dawn (Victor E. Reichert, Job, p. ​ ​ 216).

Do the firebrands from its mouth and the smoke and flames from its nostrils (vv. ​ ​ ​ ​ 19–21) mean this is a mythical dragon, after all? No. These may be explained as the way God spoke of the crocodile’s breath and water, which when emitted from its mouth, look in the sunlight like a stream of fire. This poetic language, probably spoken in hyperbole, accentuates this beast’s frightful nature. This language also is the basis for the concept of a dragon in mythology. (See comments under “b. God’s questioning about two animals [40:15–41:34].”)

41:22–25. With a strong neck, tight (cf. v. 15) and firm flesh, and unusually hard chest, ​ ​ ​ ​ this creature causes dismay in people. No wonder, when he rises up out of the water, ​ ​ even the mighty tremble and run. The Hebrew word rendered “When he rises up” is ​ actually a noun, “from his proud lifting up.” Job had said God’s“proud lifting up” (or ​ ​ “uprising” or “loftiness”; “splendor” in 31:23) had terrified him and would terrify the three

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controversialists (13:11). How inconsistent then for Job, terrified by God’s loftiness, to suppose he could confront God.

41:26–34. Strong hunters (cf. v. 25) in those days seldom confronted fierce crocodiles because their normal weaponry—the sword spear dart, and javelin—had no effect ​ … … ​ ​ ​ ​ on that animal’s tough hide (vv. 15–17, 23). Instruments of iron or bronze were easily ​ ​ broken by this beast. Objects propelled through the air, such as arrows or slingstones ​ ​ bounced harmlessly off its hide. Nor could a crocodile be felled with a club or a lance. ​ ​ ​ ​ The hide of this animal’s undersides is so jagged that when he walks in the mud he ​ ​ ​ leaves marks that look like a threshing sledge (with its sharp points) has been pulled ​ through the mud. Swimming in a river, a crocodile so stirs the water that it looks as if it were boiling. Saying that his agitating the water is like a pot of ointment means that it ​ ​ ​ looks like foam caused by an apothecary when he boils ointment.

Another terrifying aspect of the leviathan is its speed. It moves through the water so fast that it leaves a shiny wake, whitecaps of waves that appear like white hair. ​ ​ ​ ​ Nothing equals this creature; he is afraid of nothing, yet everyone is terrified of him. ​ ​ Even a haughty man crouches in fear before a crocodile. This unconquerable animal is ​ therefore king over proud beasts and man. Whereas Job could not humble the haughty ​ ​ merely by looking down on them (40:11–14), the leviathan, a mere animal, could do so. God’s concluding statements that the crocodile looks down on the “haughty” and is ​ supreme over the “proud” would have reminded Job that his pride before God, the ​ ​ ​ crocodile’s Fashioner, was both precarious and dangerous.

In this second lecture (40:6–41:34) God was therefore challenging Job to subdue these monsters—a task he obviously could not do—if he wanted to maintain order in God’s universe. Job had been concerned that God had not dealt with evil; so God was showing Job that he was unqualified to take over God’s job of controlling and conquering evil for he could not even conquer the animal symbols of evil. In fact God ​ had made these animals, which suggests that evil forces are not beyond God’s ​ control. He permits evil and chaos to rule for a time just as he had given Satan permission to test Job (1:12; 2:6).

Man cannot subdue singlehandedly a hippopotamus or a crocodile, his fellow creatures (40:15). Nor can man conquer evil in the world, which they symbolize. Only God can do that. Therefore Job’s defiant impugning of God’s ways in the moral

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universe—as if God were incompetent or even evil—was totally absurd and uncalled 3 for.

God’s First Speech and Job’s Response Job 38:1–40:5

38:1–40:5 For this interpretation, Job 38:1 takes on pivotal significance. What does it mean to say, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind”? One thing is certain: The ​ “whirlwind” is not to be confused with any mere natural phenomenon, such as a killer tornado or a category 5 hurricane. The evidence is clear that this whirlwind is nothing less than a mighty signal of a theophany, that is, God’s own immediate appearing in the midst of ​ ​ human affairs. From the texts cited above (see p. 156), it is clear that God’s decisive appearing, according to the Bible, always happens for the purpose of delivering God’s people and confounding God’s enemies. The theophany of Job 38:1 immediately raises the question: Is God appearing on Job’s side, for his vindication, or against Job, as the enemy, to annihilate him? In a variety of ways, both Job’s friends and Elihu have warned him that if such a direct encounter between Job and God ever took place, Job would be unmasked as God’s enemy, fully deserving the utter annihilation that must ensue. God’s angry speeches against Job seem to indicate that Job’s friends and Elihu are right about that. Yet Job survives this encounter with God. Not only this, but God affirms, later on, that Job was in the right all along, and Job’s friends were in the wrong (42:7–8). Odd. What’s going on here?

It is just this question that drove me to take a closer look at the Hebrew word translated “answer” in Job 38:1. The word itself is as common in Hebrew as it is in English. But when you look for instances in the Bible where people ask for an “answer” from God or where God is said to “answer” human beings, the texts become very interesting. In the Psalms, for instance, people who cry out for an answer from God (or who report the absence of such an answer) are invariably innocent people who are in need or under attack from false accusers (see Psalms 4:1; 13:3; 22:2). When such people anticipate or have received such an answer from God, the outcome is invariably an act of vindication or deliverance by God (see Psalms 3:4; 17:6; 20:1). In Psalm 91:15, God promises to “answer” God’s people when they call, to “be with them in trouble,” to “rescue them and honor them” (see Isa. 49:8; Zech.

3 Zuck, R. B. (1985). Job. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge ​ ​ Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 766–773). Wheaton, IL: Victor ​ Books.

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10:6). In Psalm 18:41, in contrast, God’s refusal to “answer” the cries of the psalmist’s enemies indicates God’s utter rejection of their cause (see Micah 3:4, 7).

The Hebrew text of Psalm 22 offers a striking instance of an innocent, Joblike sufferer for whom God’s answer constitutes a complete vindication of the sufferer’s cause. Like Job, the psalmist has been unaccountably abandoned by God, subjected to torment not only by physical suffering but by mockery and accusations of “evildoers” (v. 16; see vv. 6–8; 12–18). Like Job, the psalmist has cried out repeatedly to God, receiving no answer (v. 2). Like Job, the psalmist finds this state of affairs incomprehensible, since he remembers times past in which those who trusted God were not “put to shame” (vv. 3–5; see Job 29). Like Job, the psalmist is also puzzled by the mystery that this suffering should happen to one whose birth and nurture have indicated God’s intention for his well-being (Psalm 22:9–10; see Job 10:3, 8–13, 18).

Beginning in verse 22, however, Psalm 22 suddenly changes from a psalm of lamentation to a psalm of extravagant praise and thanksgiving to God, clearly from the lips of one who has experienced God’s vindication and deliverance (see v. 24). This change is so abrupt that many scholars have understood verses 22–31 as a deliberate corrective added to this otherwise quite hopeless-sounding psalm of lament. A very minor emendation of the Hebrew text of verse 21b helps make this separation complete. Earlier editions of the rsv chose this option, following ancient Greek and Syriac manuscripts, and translated verse 21 “Save me from the mouth of the lion, my afflicted soul from the horns of the wild oxen!” Yet the footnote in these earlier editions of the rsv dutifully indicates that the Hebrew text does not read “my afflicted soul” at this point. The consonants of the Hebrew text are very similar to this reading, but what the Hebrew text actually says is “You have answered me!” The nrsv follows the lead of several contemporary scholars by preferring the present Hebrew text over the usual emendation based on ancient Greek and Syriac translations. The result is that the break between the psalm of lament (22:1–21a) and the psalm of praise and thanksgiving (22:21b–31) now takes place in the middle of verse 21: “From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.” Again, the footnote indicates that the phrase “you have rescued me” is literally, in Hebrew, “you have answered me.”

By using the word rescue instead of answer, the nrsv translators are stressing the point ​ ​ ​ that God’s answer consists of a deed of vindication and deliverance, not an explanation or a discourse in words. This is entirely consistent with the great majority of biblical texts which speak of God’s “answer” to faithful people. In every one of the texts cited above, the word answer could be translated “rescue” or “vindicate” or “deliver” or “stand by the side ​ of” with no loss of meaning. In none of the texts cited above can God’s answer be understood as a verbal response.

On these grounds, then, I offer the suggestion that Job 38:1, all by itself, before the speeches of God ever begin, may be understood as God’s unqualified yes, spoken to God’s servant Job after Job has “persisted in his integrity” to the very end (chap. 31), even though

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he has been put to the test of confronting God as his enemy. Job has proved that he truly “serves God for nothing,” that is, even at the unimaginable personal cost of challenging God directly in order to make the point. If 38:1 all by itself constitutes God’s yes to Job, then all the “angry” speeches of God that follow are addressed to a vindicated Job, one who has ​ already been granted God’s unqualified approval. Perhaps even more important, as we shall see, the words of submission and repentance in Job 40:3–5 and 42:1–6 come from the lips of a vindicated Job, one who has now had the unimaginable experience of being ​ vindicated in a direct encounter with Almighty God, amid the overwhelming display of God’s transcendent wisdom and power.

The reader should know that this line of interpretation is only one among many and that it represents a tiny fragment of scholarly opinion. At best it may serve as a stimulus for readers to work out their own understandings of Job, not as any sort of definitive “answer” to the urgent questions of faith Job raises in every generation. For what it is worth, however, the following is an attempt to work out an interpretation of Job 38–42 as if 38:1 constitutes God’s complete vindication of Job.

The difficulties of this interpretation are immediately obvious in 38:2–5. Why would a God who has just vindicated Job by answering him “out of the whirlwind” now identify Job as one who “darkens counsel by words without knowledge” (v. 2)? Why should this “vindicating” God now sarcastically challenge Job to a ludicrous test of their respective wisdom and power (vv. 3–5)? Why overwhelm this “vindicated” Job with a series of questions that Job cannot possibly answer and a series of feats that Job cannot possibly equal (38:5–39:30)?

One point on which almost all students of Job agree is that chapters 38–41 are the poet’s attempt to describe the transcendent and inscrutable wisdom and power of God in the creation and governance of the universe. Insofar as the poet succeeds, the reader is left in a state of wide-eyed, openmouthed, slack-jawed wonder at the unapproachable splendor and majesty of God as reflected in nature and in God’s mastery of chaotic powers.

Modern readers, for whom scientific explanations are commonplace and for whom an authentic sense of wonder is rare, must engage all their powers of imagination to capture anything of the awe these magnificent speeches of God are meant to convey. This is now the sixth occasion on which the author of Job has asked us to imagine the unimaginable, the other occasions being:

1. In 1:1–5, 8, 20–22 and 2:7–10, we are asked to imagine that there once was a supremely righteous and supremely blessed human being who remained utterly faithful in spite of the unaccountable loss of every good and comforting thing.

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2. In 1:6–12 and 2:1–6, we are asked to imagine what it might be like to eavesdrop in the very council chamber of God, where an unimaginable test is contrived for God’s servant Job.

3. In chapter 29, we are asked to imagine what a human life would be like if every experience reflected perfect shalom (intactness, harmony, peace) between God and a particular human being.

4. In chapter 30, we are asked to imagine what it would be like if the shalom of chapter 29 were unaccountably shattered, and this same person experienced the absolute depths of human deprivation, humiliation, and suffering, for no reason.

5. In chapter 31, we are asked what it would be like if the person described in chapter 29 went through the inexplicable pain described in chapter 30 and then affirmed this notion of a human integrity worth living and dying for, no matter what.

In chapters 38–41 we are being asked to imagine an even less imaginable thing: What would it be like for a mere human being (even a human being like Job, who enjoys God’s unconditional approval; see 1:8; 2:3; 42:7–8) to stand unshielded and totally vulnerable in the absolute cosmic splendor of God’s immediate presence? If the poet’s appeal to images of God’s wisdom and power in creating and ordering the universe and overcoming chaos do not accomplish that for us, then I think it is up to us to supply our own images to achieve nothing less. If Job’s angry speeches are designed to tell God, “Look, I am a 100 percent human being and you are not!” perhaps God’s angry speeches are designed to tell Job, “Look, I’m 100 percent God and you are not!” Yet neither collection of angry speeches makes sense unless both God and Job are united at the irreducible point. In spite of the “infinite qualitative difference” between Almighty God and the merely human, Job and God concur on the definition of a quality of life that is both fully human and worthy of the unconditional approval of Almighty God. The unimaginable differences between Job and God on the points of wisdom and power do nothing to compromise that.

Job has had his chance to call God to account for Job’s side of this astonishing equation. Now it is God’s turn to call Job to account for God’s side of the same equation. Job has challenged God. Now God challenges Job! Job has no clue as to what was on God’s mind when the foundations of the earth were sunk (38:4), when “the morning stars sang together for joy” at God’s creation (38:7). Job was nowhere to be found when God set … ultimate bounds to the chaos waters when they burst forth, threatening to wipe out everything (38:8–11). Job had no part in regulating the alternation of day and night or setting ultimate limits to human wickedness (38:12–15). God alone has plumbed the mysteries of the deep; Job has not (38:16–18). Speak to me of the origins of light and darkness, says God; surely you are the firstborn of all creation; surely you were around

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when all these things were arranged (38:19–21; see Job 15:7–8 and Prov. 8:22–31, where only the personified Wisdom of God was privy to the secrets of creation).

Job 38:39–39:30 rings the changes on the dazzling phenomena of animal life on earth (the habits and characteristics of the lion, the raven, the mountain goat, the wild ass, the wild ox, the ostrich, the warhorse, the hawk, the eagle, the vulture), none of which fits into rational human schemes or can be finally bent to human control. Even people schooled in modern zoological science can still catch something of the ancient poet’s wonder at the sheer variety (and perhaps even whimsicality) of animal forms, some of which appear to be designed for efficiency, some for beauty, and some just for fun (see 39:13–18). (Modern zoologists, however, tell us that the ostrich is rather badly misrepresented in this delightful caricature!) Yet these are only the “outskirts of [God’s] ways” (see 26:14), behind which lie a wisdom and a power in God’s creating and ordering of the universe that go infinitely beyond the capacities of human reason. Of course Job cannot expect to read the character or purposes of God from the incomprehensible vagaries of nature, history, or human experience. God is God, and Job is not! This seems to me to be the point of the renewed challenge to Job with which God’s first mighty speech ends (40:1–2).

If the poet’s intention in 38:1–39:30 was to convey the unimaginable splendor of a direct encounter with Almighty God, Job’s response in 40:3–5 indicates the effect the poet hopes to achieve in the mind of the reader: sheer dumbstruck awe before the living presence of God. Job now understands at complete depth that God is God, and Job is not; therefore, there is nothing left to say.

Job’s silent submission in 40:3–5 can be understood in two quite different ways, depending on how we interpret 38:1. If the answer Job receives is limited to the angry speech of God in 38:2–40:2, then Job’s submission in 40:3–5 indicates that he has simply been overwhelmed by this pyrotechnic demonstration of God’s transcendent wisdom and power. To confess that he is “of small account” then suggests that all Job’s protestations of innocence, all his outcries against injustice, all his demands for a hearing before God are now disclosed to have been both arrogant and trivial. God is so overwhelmingly wise and powerful that all such petty human concerns are beneath God’s transcendent dignity, and Job was foolish to attempt to call God’s attention to them. If this is indeed God’s answer to Job, then God has placed Job in the wrong, just as Job’s friends and Elihu predicted all along. As we have noted, the only reference to what might be called the moral issues in God’s first speech occurs in 38:12–15, a rather vague suggestion that God’s cosmic order somehow works to the disadvantage of the wicked. There is no indication whatever that God has any positive regard for instances of human integrity and faithfulness. This would no doubt have been disappointing to Job’s friends and to Elihu, but at least they could have taken delight in God’s humiliation of Job.

To maintain that God’s answer to Job consists of this scathing reduction to absurdity of everything Job has said (“Who is this who darkens counsel?”), it is obviously necessary to

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disregard what is said in 1:8; 2:3; and 42:7–8. Scholars have typically done this by making an important distinction between the prose framework of Job (chaps. 1–2 and 42:7–17) and the mighty poem that stretches from 3:1 to 42:6. Perhaps this prose material reflects nothing more than a rather conventional piety according to which God ultimately rewards the patient sufferer (see 42:12–17). It is often argued that this pious “framework” is all that made the otherwise outrageous poem in any way acceptable to subsequent conventional faith communities. Indeed, it is quite unimaginable that any faith community based on the Hebrew Bible would ever have cherished as Holy Scripture a document portraying God as sublimely indifferent to issues of human justice, righteousness, and compassion.

The situation is altogether different, however, if the fact of God’s answer to Job “out of ​ the whirlwind” (38:1) constitutes God’s unconditional yes to Job’s life of selfless integrity as epitomized in chapter 31, which I suggest it may. Then Job’s abject wonder in 40:3–5 has two sources, not one. The obvious source is the unimaginable wonder of a direct encounter with God in all God’s transcendent glory (conveyed by God’s “angry” speeches in 38:2–39:30). But surely the greater wonder, for such a man as Job, is that this utterly transcendent God, in all God’s infinite mystery, should deign to take Job seriously, to hear him, to answer him—to stand by him, with him, for him—to vindicate his fragile human life ​ of integrity toward God and people. That is a wonder capable of rendering even so persistent and fearless a man as Job quite speechless. (Note Psalm 8, where the ultimate source of wonder is not God’s overwhelming grandeur, manifested in the starry heavens, but the fact that God pays attention to and cares about fragile “earthlings” such as us. The Job of 40:3–5 is now in a position to understand that psalm quite differently from the way he apparently did in 7:17.)

God’s Second Speech And Job’s Response Job 40:6–42:6

40:6–42:6 Strangely enough, God has not yet finished the angry speeches; neither does Job remain completely silent. Job 40:6 is identical with 38:1, and the whole encounter appears to begin afresh, even though the themes familiar to us in 38:1–40:5 are repeated using different imagery. Did the “original” book of Job really reach its climax with two slightly different accounts of this divine-human encounter? Or is 40:6–42:6 to be regarded as an addition incorporated into the text later on, in the process of its transmission and editing?

As we have seen, both Job 28 and Job 32–37 are often considered to be later additions of this kind, and the book contains other passages that may reflect editorial changes. Our approach throughout, however, has been to try to interpret the whole book as it has actually come down to us in the Jewish and Christian canons of Holy Scripture.

In that spirit, what shall we make of this second salvo of God’s cosmic artillery against Job, and what shall we make of Job’s second (and even more puzzling) response? Job 40:8

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leaps out at us because it appears to level a specific charge against Job, a charge that is far more serious than anything we remember from 38:2–40:2. Verse 8 not only accuses Job of having spoken what is not right about God (against 42:7–8) but does so in language that ​ might have come straight out of a speech by Eliphaz (see 15:12–13) or Elihu (see 32:2; 33:12–13; 34:5–6). For that matter, Job has, in fact, said that to maintain his own integrity, he must assert that God is not in the right (see 27:5). It will prove difficult, if not impossible, ​ to reconcile 40:8 with the notion that God’s answer vindicates Job from the outset. Interestingly enough, however, nothing in this second speech of God asserts that Job was wrong to justify himself (= “persist in his integrity”?). The objection of verse 8 is that Job felt compelled to put God in the wrong in order to do so. This is a dicey argument on God’s ​ part if we relate 40:8 to 2:3, where God effectively admits to having destroyed Job “for no reason.” Is Job expected to have somehow “intuited” that God’s unjust attack against him was an expression of God’s supreme confidence in and approbation of Job? How could Job have thought otherwise than that either he or God was in the wrong in this extraordinary instance? Let’s keep this question open.

God quickly moves from the question of Job’s “justification” to a sarcastic hypothetical instance in which Job might legitimately have the right to call God in question. All Job needs to do is to demonstrate that he has “an arm like God” and “can thunder with a voice like … [God’s]” (40:9). The premise of verses 10–14 is that Job would have to prove that he is God’s full equal to earn the acknowledgment of God that Job’s “own right hand” can prove him victorious in this dispute. Once again, the implication is that God is God and Job is not, but this time with a disturbing twist. Verses 11–13 suggest that if Job were God’s equal, then Job, like God, would give the “proud” their comeuppance and dispatch the “wicked” to the netherworld. This sounds all too similar to the hackneyed doctrine of Job’s friends that God invariably punishes the wicked. (Zophar devotes an entire speech to this theme in chapter 20. Job refutes it at length in 21:7–34.) Job knows well the “overflowings of [God’s] anger” and what it means to be abased by God (v. 11). Job knows what it is to be brought low by God, to be trodden down (v. 12), to be consigned to the netherworld (v. 13). Is he to infer from verses 11–13 that God identifies Job as one of the “proud” and the “wicked”? If so, then Job’s friends have surely spoken what is right about Job (and therefore, about God), contrary to God’s estimation in 42:7–8. Is there any alternative way to understand the harsh words of God in 40:8–14?

God’s second speech concludes with poems describing two quite indescribable “beasts” or “monsters” that have puzzled biblical interpreters for the better part of two millennia. Who is “Behemoth” (40:15–24)? Who is “Leviathan” (41:1–34)? Vivid and complex as these twin poems are, their import in the context of God’s speech to Job is simple in the extreme: They are surely to be taken, in the first line, as variations on the theme that God is God and Job is not. Job is expected to be overwhelmed by the sheer power and terror of these

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beings, but even more so by the fact that they exist as signs of God’s overarching power, which includes them, in all their chaotic terror, but also controls them.

If Behemoth is to be understood as the hippopotamus, as many scholars think, then its description in 40:15–24 suggests dimensions of awesomeness and mystery that go far beyond the merely animal (see 40:19, 23). If the description of Leviathan suggests the crocodile (see 41:13–17, 23, 30), this beast also transcends anything ever observed in nature (see 41:18–21, 25, 31–34). At the very least, Behemoth and Leviathan symbolize ​ uncontrollable and terrifying power before which human beings stand utterly helpless. Studies in ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Canaanite traditions have persuaded many scholars that conceptions of primeval chaos monsters underlie both of these descriptions, even though characteristics of the hippo and the crocodile may have colored the descriptions of Behemoth and Leviathan respectively.

In any case, neither description is identical with that of such monsters as depicted in any ancient Near Eastern mythology of record. The name Leviathan denotes a serpentine monster in a Mesopotamian text and in Canaanite myth. The former text suggests the power of a conjurer to unleash Leviathan’s destructive power, recalling Job 3:8. In Canaanite myth, this serpentine Leviathan is a sea monster against whom the god Baal does battle. In the tradition of Israel, traces of this myth appear in the notion of God’s primordial (Psalm 74:14) and ultimate (Isa. 27:1) victory over the powers of chaos (see also Psalms 18:7–15; 89:9–10; Isa. 51:9).

In Job 41, however, God challenges Job to deal with Leviathan in the almost playful manner in which God does, angling for it (v. 1), putting a rope in its nose (v. 2), bending it to the role of a servant (v. 4), playing with it as a pet (v. 5; see Psalm 104:26), and so on. At its fiercest, Leviathan poses no threat to God (the word creature in verse 33 indicates that it ​ 4 was “made” by God), no matter how unmanageable and terrifying it appears to Job.

4 Wharton, J. A. (1999). Job. (P. D. Miller & D. L. Bartlett, Eds.) (pp. 160–177). Louisville, KY: ​ ​ ​ Westminster John Knox Press.

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