Genesis 6:20

6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. ¹ 

Genesis 7:14

7:14 They entered, ²  along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. ³ 

Genesis 8:19

8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.

Job 7:12

7:12 Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, ⁴ 

that you must put ⁵  me under guard? ⁶ 

Job 26:5

A Better Description of God’s Greatness ⁷ 

26:5 “The dead ⁸  tremble ⁹  –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 104:24-26

104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! ¹¹ 

You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; ¹² 

the earth is full of the living things you have made.

104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, ¹³ 

which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, ¹⁴ 

living things both small and large.

104:26 The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale ¹⁵  you made to play in it.

Ezekiel 32:2

32:2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

“‘You were like a lion ¹⁶  among the nations,

but you are a monster in the seas;

you thrash about in your streams,

stir up the water with your feet,

and muddy your ¹⁷  streams.

Jonah 1:17

Jonah Prays

(2:1)

1:17 ¹⁸ The Lord sent ¹⁹  a huge ²⁰  fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:10

2:10 Then the Lord commanded ²¹  the fish and it disgorged Jonah on dry land.

Matthew 12:40

12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ²²  for three days and three nights, ²³  so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

¹ tn Heb “to keep alive.”

² tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”

⁴ tn The word תַּנִּין (tannin) could be translated “whale” as well as the more mythological “dragon” or “monster of the deep” (see E. Dhorme, Job, 105). To the Hebrews this was part of God’s creation in Gen 1; in the pagan world it was a force to be reckoned with, and so the reference would be polemical. The sea is a symbol of the tumultuous elements of creation; in the sea were creatures that symbolized the powerful forces of chaos – Leviathan, Tannin, and Rahab. They required special attention.

⁵ tn The imperfect verb here receives the classification of obligatory imperfect. Job wonders if he is such a threat to God that God must do this.

⁶ tn The word מִשְׁמָר (mishmar) means “guard; barrier.” M. Dahood suggested “muzzle” based on Ugaritic, but that has proven to be untenable (“Mismar, ‘Muzzle,’ in Job 7:12,” JBL 80 [1961]: 270-71).

⁷ sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.

⁸ tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.

⁹ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

¹⁰ tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.

¹¹ tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O Lord.” In this case the Lord’s “works” are the creatures he has made, as the preceding and following contexts make clear.

¹² tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”

¹³ tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”

¹⁴ tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.

¹⁶ tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).

¹⁷ tc The Hebrew reads “their streams”; the LXX reads “your streams.”

¹⁸ sn Beginning with 1:17, the verse numbers through 2:10 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:17 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:10 ET = 2:11 HT.

¹⁹ tn Or “appointed” (NASB); NLT “had arranged for.” The Piel verb מִנָּה (minnah) means “to send, to appoint” (Ps 61:8; Jonah 2:1; 4:6-8; Dan 1:5, 10-11; HALOT 599 s.v. מנה 2; BDB 584 s.v. מָנָה). Joyce Baldwin notes, “Here, with YHWH as the subject, the verb stresses God’s sovereign rule over events for the accomplishment of his purpose (as in 4:6-8, where the verb recurs in each verse). The ‘great fish’ is in exactly the right place at the right time by God’s command, in order to swallow Jonah and enclose him safely” (Joyce Baldwin, “Jonah,” The Minor Prophets, 2:566).

²⁰ tn Heb “great.”

²¹ tn Heb “spoke to.” The fish functions as a literary foil to highlight Jonah’s hesitancy to obey God up to this point. In contrast to Jonah who immediately fled when God commanded him, the fish immediately obeyed.

²² tn Grk “large sea creature.”

²³ sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.