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Job 40:23

in Job 40

Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Behold, if a river overflow, he trembleth not; He is confident, though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.

KJV

Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

This verse in Job 40

Commentary

14 notes on this verse

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 26 · Written before 604.

Hence the Lord says to blessed Job concerning the ancient enemy of the human race: "He will swallow up a river and not wonder, and he has confidence that the Jordan will flow into his mouth." For who is signified by the river except the flow of the human race? For this race flows from origin to end, and, as if in the manner of water, runs its course from the flux of the flesh until its appointed end. What is signified by the Jordan except the pattern of the baptized?

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

the Jordan surges to his mouth

The Jordan stands for any river that rages, say Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, and Barnes notes that rages means to oppress. Gregory read the Jordan as the baptized. The river, for him, is the human race.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Cyril of Jerusalem

''Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 3'' · Written before 386.

proposed

Jesus sanctified Baptism by being Himself baptized. If the Son of God was baptized, what godly man is he that despiseth Baptism? But He was baptized not that He might receive remission of sins, for He was sinless; but being sinless, He was baptized, that He might give to them that are baptized a divine and excellent grace. For since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise partook of the same, that having been made partakers of His presence in the flesh we might be made partakers also of His Divine grace: thus Jesus was baptized, that thereby we again by our participation might receive both salvation and honour. According to Job, there was in the waters the dragon that draweth up Jordan into his mouth. Since, therefore, it was necessary to break the heads of the dragon in pieces, He went down and bound the strong one in the waters, that we might receive power to tread upon serpents and scorpions. The beast was great and terrible. No fishing-vessel was able to carry one scale of his tail: destruction ran before him, ravaging all that met him. The Life encountered him, that the mouth of Death might henceforth be stopped, and all we that are saved might say, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is drawn by Baptism.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

For the same reason this animal seeks humid and shady places, he also drinks a lot of water, and so Aristotle says in The History of Animals VII that, "Now an elephant drinks fourteen Macedonian measures of water as a draft and again later another …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII · Written before 604.

proposed

He will drink up a river, and will not wonder, and trusteth that Jordan can flow into his mouth. 12. For what is in this place designated by the name of 'river,' except the downward course of the human race, which rises at its birth, as if from the source of its fountain, but passes down, as if flowing to its lowest level at its death? But who are signified by the expression 'Jordan,' except those who have been already imbued with the sacrament of Baptism? For since our Redeemer deigned to be baptized in this river, all who have been baptized must needs be expressed by the name of that stream, in which this very sacrament of Baptism happened to be begun. Because, therefore, this Behemoth has drawn to himself like a river the human race flowing downward from the beginning of the world, even to the times of redemption, but a few Elect ones escaping him, it is now well said; He will drink up a river, and will not wonder. But since even after the coming of the Mediator he seizes some even of the faithful, who neglect to live righteously, it is rightly subjoined; And trusteth that Jordan can flow into his mouth. As if it were plainly said, Before the coming of the Redeemer of the world, he drank up the world without wondering, but, which is far worse, even after the coming of the Redeemer, he trusts that he is able to swallow up some, who have been sealed with the sacrament of Baptism. For he devours some who have been placed in the profession of Christians, because he supplants them by causing error in their faith itself. But others he does not turn aside from the uprightness of the faith, but inclines to the practice of wicked works. Others he is unable to bend as much as he wishes in deeds of impurity, but he inwardly turns them aside from the zeal of their intention; so that, when they sever their minds from charity, whatever they may do outwardly may not be right. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

River - A great quantity of water, hyperbolically called a river. Hasteth not - He drinks not with fear and caution; but such is his courage, that he fears no enemy either by water or by land.
Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not,....
6 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He drinks so much that one would think he could drink up a river, if you would give him time, and not hasten him. Or, when he drinks, he hasteth not, as those do that drink in fear; he is confident of his own strength and safety, and therefore makes no haste when he drinks, no more haste than good speed.

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

Behold he drinketh up a river - Margin, “oppresseth.” The margin expresses the proper meaning of the Hebrew word, עשׁק ‛âshaq. It usually means to oppress, to treat with violence and injustice; and to defraud, or extort. But a very different sense is given to this verse by Bochart, Gesenius, Noyes, Schultens, Umbreit, Prof. Lee, and Rosenmuller.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

"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.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Behold, he drinketh up a river - A similar mode of expression, and of precisely the same meaning, as that in Job 39:24: “He swalloweth the ground with fierceness.” No river can stop his course: he wades through all; stems every tide and torrent; and hurries not as though he were in danger. He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan - Even when the river overflows its banks, it is no stoppage to him: though the whole impetuosity of its stream rush against his mouth, he is not afraid. Mr. Good has seized the true idea in his translation of this verse: - “If the stream rage, he revileth not: He is unmoved, though Jordan rush against his mouth.” From this mention of Jordan it is probable that the behemoth was once an inhabitant of the mountains, marshes, and woods, of the land of Palestine.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 28:16

    So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 118:22

      The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

    • Acts 4:11–12

      This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

    • 1 Peter 2:6–8

      For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

    • Luke 20:17–18

      But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

    • Romans 9:33

      as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

  • Through

    Genesis 13:10

    And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 34:3

      the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.

    • Isaiah 51:3

      For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…

    • Genesis 14:8

      Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed themselves for battle in the…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Jerusalem, ''Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 3''; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 26; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.