Job 40:21
in Job 40He lies under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He lieth under the lotus-trees, In the covert of the reed, and the fen.
KJV
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
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This verse in Job 40
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He lieth under the shady trees - Referring to his usually inactive and lazy life. He is disposed to lie down in the shade, and especially in the vegetable growth in marshy places on the banks of lakes and rivers, rather than to dwell in the open field or in the upland forest. This account agrees well with the habits of the hippopotamus. The word here and in Job 40:22 rendered “shady trees” (צאלים tse'eliym), is by Gesenius, Noyes, Prof.
This site's exposition
The hills yield him their produce
on Job 40:20-24
The hills yield Behemoth “their produce, while all the beasts of the field play nearby”. He lies “under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh”, an animal at rest. When “the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid”, secure though “the Jordan surges to his mouth”.
This site's exposition
He lies under the lotus plants
Behemoth lies hidden among the reeds of the marsh, and Barnes finds this true to the hippopotamus. Aquinas, citing Aristotle, gives the verse to the elephant on the riverbank. Gregory read the shade as a heart grown cold.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He next describes his habitat. Consider here that Aristotle says in The History of Animals V, "Elephants stay in the wilderness and especially on the banks of rivers;" and because there are usually reeds, willows, and shady places on the banks of rivers, he therefore …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, in moist places. 5. Overshadowing is sometimes used in Holy Scripture for the Incarnation of the Lord, or the cooling of the mind from the heat of carnal thoughts; whence by the expression 'shadow' this cooling of the heart in consequence of heavenly protection is usually spoken of. But sometimes 'shadow' is taken to mean the numbness of the frozen minds when charity departs.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
A humbling challenge which God gave to Job. After he had heaped up many hard questions upon him, to show him, by his manifest ignorance in the works of nature, what an incompetent judge he was of the methods and designs of Providence, he clenches the nail with one demand more, which stands by itself here as the application of the whole.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He lieth under the shady trees - This and the following verses refer to certain habits of the behemoth, with which we are and must be unacquainted,
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּֽחַת־ | tachat- | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| צֶאֱלִ֥ים | tzeelim | thorny lotus plants | H6628 → | |
| יִשְׁכָּ֑ב | yishkav | it lies | H7901 → | 212 times |
| בְּסֵ֖תֶר | beseter | in a hiding place of | H5643 → | 36 times |
| קָנֶ֣ה | kaneh | reed[s] | H7070 → | |
| וּבִצָּֽה׃ | uvitzah | and swamp | H1207 → |
תַּֽחַת־under
tachat-H8478 →505 times
צֶאֱלִ֥יםthorny lotus plants
tzeelimH6628 →
יִשְׁכָּ֑בit lies
yishkavH7901 →212 times
בְּסֵ֖תֶרin a hiding place of
beseterH5643 →36 times
קָנֶ֣הreed[s]
kanehH7070 →
וּבִצָּֽה׃and swamp
uvitzahH1207 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Isaiah 35:7The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.
it leads to
- Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
- Isaiah 49:10
They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Isaiah 34:13
Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches.
- Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Acts 26:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.