11 His strength is in his body, and his force in the muscles of his stomach.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give worship and praise and honour to the King of heaven; for all his works are true and his ways are right: and those who go in pride he is able to make low.
And the high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low: and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.
Who may keep his place before his wrath? and who may undergo the heat of his passion? his wrath is let loose like fire and the rocks are broken open by him.
But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became hard with pride, he was put down from his place as king, and they took his glory from him: And he was sent out from among the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts', and he was living with the asses of the fields; he had grass for his food like the oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he was certain that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives power over it to anyone at his pleasure. And you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not kept your heart free from pride, though you had knowledge of all this; But you have been lifting yourself up against the Lord of heaven, and they have put the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your women, have taken wine in them; and you have given praise to gods of silver and gold, of brass and iron and wood and stone, who are without the power of seeing or hearing, and without knowledge: and to the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not given glory;
And in the same way, let the younger men be ruled by the older ones. Let all of you put away pride and make yourselves ready to be servants: for God is a hater of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low. For this cause make yourselves low under the strong hand of God, so that when the time comes you may be lifted up;
But he gives more grace. So that the Writings say, God is against the men of pride, but he gives grace to those who make themselves low before him.
But to those who, from a love of competition, are not guided by what is true, will come the heat of his wrath, Trouble and sorrow on all whose works are evil, to the Jew first and then to the Greek;
I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.
For see, the day is coming, it is burning like an oven; all the men of pride and all who do evil will be dry stems of grass: and in the day which is coming they will be burned up, says the Lord of armies, till they have not a root or a branch.
You have been tricked by the pride of your heart, O you whose living-place is in the cracks of the rock, whose house is high up; who has said in his heart, Who will make me come down to earth? Though you go up on high like an eagle, though your house is placed among the stars, I will make you come down from there, says the Lord.
But, for this very reason, I have kept you from destruction, to make clear to you my power, and so that my name may be honoured through all the earth. Are you still uplifted in pride against my people so that you will not let them go?
Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, This is what the Lord has said: Because your heart has been lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I am seated on the seat of God in the heart of the seas; but you are man and not God, though you have made your heart as the heart of God:
For this cause it will be that, when the purpose of the Lord against Mount Zion and Jerusalem is complete, I will send punishment on the pride of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of his uplifted eyes. For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my knowledge, for I am wise: and I have taken away the limits of the peoples' lands, and the stores of their wealth have become mine; and I have made towns low in the dust, sending destruction on those living in them; And I have put my hands on the wealth of the peoples, as on the place where a bird has put her eggs; and as a man may take the eggs from which a bird has gone, so I have taken all the earth for myself: and not a wing was moved, and not a mouth gave out a sound. Will the axe say high-sounding words against him who is using it, or the blade be full of pride against him who is cutting with it? As if a rod had the power of shaking him who is using it, or as if a stick might take up him who is not wood. For this cause the Lord, the Lord of armies, will make his fat become wasted; and in his inner parts a fire will be lighted like a burning flame. And the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: wasting and burning up his thorns in one day. And he will put an end to the glory of his woods and of his planted fields, soul and body together; and it will be as when a man is wasted by disease. And the rest of the trees of his wood will be small in number, so that a child may put them down in writing.
With your storm-flames send them in flight: send out your arrows for their destruction.
God sends his arrows against him without mercy; he goes in flight before his hand.
God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.
Now I am certain that the Lord is greater than all gods, for he has overcome them in their pride.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 40
Commentary on Job 40 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 40
Job 40:1-24. God's Second Address.
He had paused for a reply, but Job was silent.
1. the Lord—Hebrew, "Jehovah."
2. he that contendeth—as Job had so often expressed a wish to do. Or, rebuketh. Does Job now still (after seeing and hearing of God's majesty and wisdom) wish to set God right?
answer it—namely, the questions I have asked.
3. Lord—Jehovah.
4. I am (too) vile (to reply). It is a very different thing to vindicate ourselves before God, from what it is before men. Job could do the latter, not the former.
lay … hand … upon … mouth—I have no plea to offer (Job 21:5; Jud 18:19).
5. Once … twice—oftentimes, more than once (Job 33:14, compare with Job 33:29; Ps 62:11):
I have spoken—namely, against God.
not answer—not plead against Thee.
6. the Lord—Jehovah.
7. (See on Job 38:3). Since Job has not only spoken against God, but accused Him of injustice, God challenges him to try, could he govern the world, as God by His power doth, and punish the proud and wicked (Job 40:7-14).
8. Wilt thou not only contend with, but set aside My judgment or justice in the government of the world?
condemn—declare Me unrighteous, in order that thou mayest be accounted righteous (innocent; undeservingly afflicted).
9. arm—God's omnipotence (Isa 53:1).
thunder—God's voice (Job 37:4).
10. See, hast thou power and majesty like God's, to enable thee to judge and govern the world?
11. rage—rather, pour out the redundant floods of, &c.
behold—Try, canst thou, as God, by a mere glance abase the proud (Isa 2:12, &c.)?
12. proud—high (Da 4:37).
in their place—on the spot; suddenly, before they can move from their place. (See on Job 34:26; Job 36:20).
13. (Isa 2:10). Abase and remove them out of the sight of men.
bind … faces—that is, shut up their persons [Maurer]. But it refers rather to the custom of binding a cloth over the faces of persons about to be executed (Job 9:24; Es 7:8).
in secret—consign them to darkness.
14. confess—rather, "extol"; "I also," who now censure thee. But since thou canst not do these works, thou must, instead of censuring, extol My government.
thine own … hand … save—(Ps 44:3). So as to eternal salvation by Jesus Christ (Isa 59:16; 63:5).
15-24. God shows that if Job cannot bring under control the lower animals (of which he selects the two most striking, behemoth on land, leviathan in the water), much less is he capable of governing the world.
behemoth—The description in part agrees with the hippopotamus, in part with the elephant, but exactly in all details with neither. It is rather a poetical personification of the great Pachydermata, or Herbivora (so "he eateth grass"), the idea of the hippopotamus being predominant. In Job 40:17, "the tail like a cedar," hardly applies to the latter (so also Job 40:20, 23, "Jordan," a river which elephants alone could reach, but see on Job 40:23). On the other hand, Job 40:21, 22 are characteristic of the amphibious river horse. So leviathan (the twisting animal), Job 41:1, is a generalized term for cetacea, pythons, saurians of the neighboring seas and rivers, including the crocodile, which is the most prominent, and is often associated with the river horse by old writers. "Behemoth" seems to be the Egyptian Pehemout, "water-ox," Hebraized, so-called as being like an ox, whence the Italian bombarino.
with thee—as I made thyself. Yet how great the difference! The manifold wisdom and power of God!
he eateth grass—marvellous in an animal living so much in the water; also strange, that such a monster should not be carnivorous.
16. navel—rather, "muscles" of his belly; the weakest point of the elephant, therefore it is not meant.
17. like a cedar—As the tempest bends the cedar, so it can move its smooth thick tail [Umbreit]. But the cedar implies straightness and length, such as do not apply to the river horse's short tail, but perhaps to an extinct species of animal (see on Job 40:15).
stones—rather, "thighs."
wrapped—firmly twisted together, like a thick rope.
18. strong—rather, "tubes" of copper [Umbreit].
19. Chief of the works of God; so "ways" (Job 26:14; Pr 8:22).
can make his sword to approach—rather, "has furnished him with his sword" (harpe), namely, the sickle-like teeth with which he cuts down grain. English Version, however, is literally right.
20. The mountain is not his usual haunt. Bochart says it is sometimes found there (?).
beasts … play—a graphic trait: though armed with such teeth, he lets the beasts play near him unhurt, for his food is grass.
21. lieth—He leads an inactive life.
shady trees—rather, "lotus bushes"; as Job 40:22 requires.
22. shady trees—Translate: "lotus bushes."
23. Rather, "(Though) a river be violent (overflow), he trembleth not"; (for though living on land, he can live in the water, too); he is secure, though a Jordan swell up to his mouth. "Jordan" is used for any great river (consonant with the "behemoth"), being a poetical generalization (see on Job 40:15). The author cannot have been a Hebrew as Umbreit asserts, or he would not adduce the Jordan, where there were no river horses. He alludes to it as a name for any river, but not as one known to him, except by hearsay.
24. Rather, "Will any take him by open force" (literally, "before his eyes"), "or pierce his nose with cords?" No; he can only be taken by guile, and in a pitfall (Job 41:1, 2).