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Texts -- Job 40:6-24 (NET)

Context
The Lord’s Second Speech
40:6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind : 40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task like a man . I will question you and you will inform me! 40:8 Would you indeed annul my justice ? Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right ? 40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s , and can you thunder with a voice like his? 40:10 Adorn yourself, then , with majesty and excellency , and clothe yourself with glory and honor ! 40:11 Scatter abroad the abundance of your anger . Look at every proud man and bring him low ; 40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him; crush the wicked on the spot ! 40:13 Hide them in the dust together , imprison them in the grave . 40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.
The Description of Behemoth
40:15 “Look now at Behemoth , which I made as I made you; it eats grass like the ox . 40:16 Look at its strength in its loins , and its power in the muscles of its belly . 40:17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar , the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound . 40:18 Its bones are tubes of bronze , its limbs like bars of iron . 40:19 It ranks first among the works of God , the One who made it has furnished it with a sword . 40:20 For the hills bring it food , where all the wild animals play . 40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies , in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh . 40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their shadow ; the poplars by the stream conceal it. 40:23 If the river rages , it is not disturbed , it is secure , though the Jordan should surge up to its mouth . 40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes , or pierce its nose with a snare ?

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
  • I. Prologue chs. 1-2A. Job's character 1:1-5B. Job's calamities 1:6-2:101. The first test 1:6-222. The second test 2:1-10C. Job's comforters 2:11-13II. The dialogue concerning the basis of the divine-human relationship 3:1-42...
  • The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main body (3:1-42:6) in poetry. The prologue and epilogue form a frame around the main emphasis of the revelation, the poetic section, and ...
  • Verse 2 is irony; his companions were not as wise as they thought. Job pointed out that much of what they had said about God was common knowledge (cf. 5:9-10; 8:13-19; 11:7-9). Nonetheless their conclusion, that the basis of ...
  • Because the speech in this chapter is more soliloquy than dialogue some scholars have concluded that someone other than Job spoke it: Zophar, Bildad, or God. One writer argued for its being a speech by none of the characters,...
  • Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job's three friends (vv. 6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason he said he had refrained from speaking until now. However he had become convinced that advancing age does not...
  • Elihu focused next on God's activities in nature. There may be reference to autumn conditions in 36:27-33, winter in 37:1-13, and summer in 37:17-18.150Elihu's third "Behold"(36:26) draws attention to the infinite wisdom of G...
  • As Job's friends had done, God began to break Job down blow by verbal blow. Finally all his pride was gone. However where Job's friends had failed, God succeeded."The function of the questions needs to be properly understood....
  • This second divine discourse is similar to, yet different from, the first. It began as the first one did with a challenge to Job (40:6-14; cf. 38:1-3), but it did not end with one (cf. 40:1-2). In the first speech Yahweh spok...
  • God introduced this challenge much the same as He did His first, out of the whirlwind, and with a demand that Job refute Him if he could.Job had claimed God was unjust. In answering this challenge God did not argue with Job. ...
  • Yahweh's purpose in directing Job's attention to such inexplicable animals on land (Behemoth) and in the water (Leviathan) seems to have been the same as His purpose in His first speech. He intended to humble Job by reminding...
  • Job's words reveal the changes that God's revelations had produced in him. He was aware as never before that God had all power and all wisdom. This resulted in an attitude of awe and submission (v. 2). He saw that it was fool...
  • Andersen, Francis I. Job. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Leicester, Eng. and Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1976.Archer, Gleason L., Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Revised ed. Chicago: Moody...
  • Agur began with three declarations. The subject of each is God.30:2-4 Behind this ironical section one can perhaps imagine Agur's sons claiming to be wiser than their father. Agur confessed his own limited understanding while...
  • Though his view of and awareness of God are very much behind what Agur said in the rest of this chapter, his counsel deals primarily with practical prudence from this point on.30:10 It is unwise to meddle in the domestic affa...
  • The writer now turned from reviewing the plight of the people to consider the greatness of their God."In 5:19-20 the writer carefully chose his words to summarize the teaching of the entire book by using the split alphabet to...
  • 1:4 Ezekiel saw within the opened heavens a great cloud blown toward him by the north wind with lightning flashing from it almost constantly (cf. 1 Kings 19:11-13; Job 38:1; 40:6; Ps. 29:3-5). Israel's enemies had invaded fro...
  • 1:22 Ezekiel also saw something like a clear expanse (Heb. raqia', firmament, Gen. 1:6; Ps. 19:1; 150:1; Dan. 12:3) of ice (Heb. qerah, crystal) over the heads of these four living creatures. Rather than being empty space thi...
  • 40:1 Ezekiel dated the vision that comprises the final portion of the book as coming to him in 573 B.C., more than 12 years after his immediately preceding messages (cf. 33:21-22).512He located it in time using two points of ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • "Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 2. I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee. 3. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood ...
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