Job 40:1
in Job 40And the LORD said to Job:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover Jehovah answered Job, and said,
KJV
Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said,
⋯
This verse in Job 40
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Moreover, the Lord answered Job - The word “answered” is used here as it is often in the Scriptures, not to denote a reply to what had been immediately said, but to take up or continue an argument. What God said here was designed as a reply to the spirit which Job had so frequently manifested.
This site's exposition
And the LORD said to Job
on Job 40:1-2
God's first demand fills a single verse. The line “Let him who argues with God give an answer” turns on Job the courtroom he has wanted. Barnes reads the brevity as deliberate, one sharp sentence standing in place of the long list of creatures that has just closed.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXI · Written before 604.
proposed
The Lord added, and spake to Job; Doth he that contendeth with God, so easily remain quiet? He that reproveth God, ought certainly also to answer Him. 107. The holy man did not consider that his merits were being increased, but that his vices were being cut away by this so great severity of the scourge. And since he knew that there were no vices within him, he believed that he was unjustly smitten; and, to murmur at the blow, is altogether to reprove the Smiter.
All these things have been brought to show the greatness of divine wisdom and power which produces such marvelous effects. We understand that after Job had heard so many wonderful things about the divine effects he was stunned and silent. But the Lord stirs him …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Answered - Having made a little pause to try what Job could answer. This is not said to be spoken out of the whirlwind, and therefore some think God said it in a still, small voice, which wrought more upon Job, (as upon Elijah) than the whirlwind did. Tho' Job had not spoken any thing, yet God is said to answer him.
We may sometimes have reason to expect better treatment from God, and a more candid construction of what we do, than we meet with from our friends. This the good man is here overcome by, and yields himself a conquered captive to the grace of God. He owns himself an offender, and has nothing to say in his own justification (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Moreover the Lord answered Job,.... The Lord having discoursed largely of the works of nature, in order to reconcile the mind of Job to his works of providence, stopped and made a pause for a little space, that Job might answer if he thought fit; but he being entirely silent, the Lord began again: and said; as follows:
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Moreover the Lord answered - That is, the Lord continued his discourse with Job. Answered does not refer to any thing said by Job, or any question asked. I think it very likely that this whole piece, from the beginning of this first verse to the end of the fourteenth, was originally the ending of the poem. Mr. Heath has noticed this, and I shall lay his words before the reader: “The former part of this chapter is evidently the conclusion of the poem; the latter part whereof seems to be in great disorder; whether it has happened from the carelessness of the transcriber, or, which appears most probable, from the skins of parchment composing the roll having by some accident changed their places. It is plain from the seventh verse of the forty-second chapter {Job 42:7} that Jehovah is the last speaker in the poem. If, then, immediately after the end of the thirty-ninth chapter, we subjoin the fifteenth verse of the forty-second chapter, and place the fourteen first verses of the fortieth chapter immediately after the sixth verse of the forty-second chapter, and by that means make them the conclusion of the poem, all will be right; and this seventh verse of the forty-second chapter will be in its natural order. The action will be complete by the judgment of the Almighty; and the catastrophe of the poem will be grand and solemn.” To these reasons of Mr. Heath, Dr. Kennicott has added others, which the reader may find at the end of the chapter. {Job 40:24} Without taking any farther notice of the transposition in this place, I will continue the notes in the present order of the verses.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֖עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִיּ֗וֹב | ʾiyov | Job | H347 → | 58 times |
| וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
וַיַּ֖עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אִיּ֗וֹבJob
ʾiyovH347 →58 times
וַיֹּאמַֽר׃and he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 38:1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
it leads to
- Job 40:6
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
- Job 37:1–2
“At this my heart also pounds and leaps from its place.
- 2 Kings 2:11
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
- 1 Kings 19:11
Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered…
- Exodus 19:16–19
On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the…
- Job 40:6
Through
Job 40:6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
it leads to
- Job 38:1
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
- Psalms 50:3–4
Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
- 2 Peter 3:10–12
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
- Job 38:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.