2 Shall he that will contend with the Almighty instruct [him]? he that reproveth +God, let him answer it.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let a potsherd [strive] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that formeth it, What makest thou? Or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto [his] father, What begettest thou? Or to [his] mother, What hast thou brought forth? Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask me of the things to come; concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me.
For who has known [the] mind of [the] Lord, or who has been his counsellor? or who has first given to him, and it shall be rendered to him? For of him, and through him, and for him [are] all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen.
Thou wilt say to me then, Why does he yet find fault? for who resists his purpose? Aye, but thou, O man, who art *thou* that answerest again to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that has formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? And if God, minded to shew his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction; and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory,
Wherefore did I not die from the womb, -- come forth from the belly and expire? Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?
Know now that +God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net. Behold, I cry out of wrong, and I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath hedged up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. He breaketh me down on every side, and I am gone; and my hope hath he torn up as a tree. And he hath kindled his anger against me, and hath counted me unto him as one of his enemies.
ùGod hath delivered me over to the iniquitous man, and hurled me into the hands of the wicked. I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. His arrows encompass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach; he runneth upon me like a mighty man. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and rolled my horn in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry! Even now, behold, my Witness is in the heavens, and he that voucheth for me is in the heights. My friends are my mockers; mine eye poureth out tears unto +God. Oh that there were arbitration for a man with +God, as a son of man for his friend!
For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou heapest up mine iniquity.
Withdraw thy hand far from me; and let not thy terror make me afraid: Then call, and I will answer; or I will speak, and answer thou me. How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin. Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, and countest me for thine enemy? Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble? For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth; And thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and markest all my paths; thou settest a bound about the soles of my feet; --
If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity. If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being [so] full of shame, and beholding mine affliction; -- And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me. Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions [of evil] and a time of toil are with me.
Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days, That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin; Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand?
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him; that we should come together in judgment. There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid, [Then] I will speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? Have I sinned, what do I unto thee, thou Observer of men? Why hast thou set me as an object of assault for thee, so that I am become a burden to myself? And why dost not thou forgive my transgression and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I lie down in the dust, and thou shalt seek me early, and I shall not be.
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).