Job 40:19
He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
BSB
ASV
He is the chief of the ways of God: He only that made him giveth him his sword.
KJV
He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
He is the chief of the ways of God,.... Or the beginning of them, that is, of the works of God in creation; which must be restrained to animals, otherwise there were works wrought before any of them were created. There were none made before the fifth day of the creation, and on that day was the river horse made; in which respect it has the preference to the elephant, not made till the sixth day.
He is the chief of the ways of God - In size and strength. The word rendered “chief” is used in a similar sense in Num 24:20, “Amalek was the first of the nations;” that is, one of the most powerful and mighty of the nations. He that made him can make his sword approach unto him - According to this translation, the sense is, that God had power over him, notwithstanding his great strength and size, and could take his life when he pleased.
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.
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.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 104:24How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
leads to
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I…
for every beast of the forest is Mine— the cattle on a thousand hills.
Through
Isaiah 27:1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
leads to
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.