Job 40 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Job 40:1-2: 40:1-2 The Greek Old Testament omits this conclusion to God’s first speech.

Summary for Job 40:1-2: 40:1-2 ^a The Greek Old Testament omits this conclusion to God’s first speech.
Summary for Job 40:3-5: 40:3-5 ^b Job’s brief and humble response does not acknowledge guilt, but it does admit his insignificance (40:4 ^c). He had previously thought that he could approach God like a prince (31:37 ^d) or even cross-examine him (13:22-23 ^e).
40:4 ^f I am nothing (cp. 42:6 ^g): Job was not repenting from sin; like Abraham, he recognized his unworthiness (Gen 18:27 ^h).

• Job had asked his comforters to cover their mouth to acknowledge shock (21:5 ⁱ); here he does so himself in reaction to his own rash words.
40:5 ^j Job had nothing more to say; he had no further charges against God, nor would he make a rebuttal.
Summary for Job 40:6-7: 40:6-7 ^k The Lord repeated his earlier challenge (see 38:1-3 ^l).
40:8 ^m Job’s words (10:7 ⁿ; 27:2 ^o; 31:35-37 ^p) had angered Elihu (32:2 ^q; 34:5 ^r); now God himself challenged them.
Summary for Job 40:11-12: 40:11-12 ^s Job could not do God’s work of humbling the proud (Isa 2:11-12 ^t, 17 ^u; Jas 4:6 ^v; 1 Pet 5:5-6 ^w) apart from God’s authority (Mal 4:3 ^x; Rom 16:20 ^y).
Summary for Job 40:15-24: 40:15-24 ^z Following a list of natural animals (39:1-30 ^aa), God described Behemoth (40:15-24 ^ab) and Leviathan (41:1-34 ^ac) as creatures that man cannot tame. Job couldn’t tame the wild donkey or ox (39:5-12 ^ad), let alone Behemoth and Leviathan (40:15-24 ^ae), but God created them and could control them, and Job had to acknowledge it (41:2 ^af).

• Here Behemoth seems to be a natural creature: (1) It is an animal that God made, just as he made Job (40:15 ^ag); (2) it is not a dreadful predator but eats grass like an ox (40:15 ^ah); and (3) it is in a poem describing God’s creation of the natural order, rather than in a mythological story of the world’s formation. Most commentators identify Behemoth with the hippopotamus, a huge, grass-eating animal (40:15-19 ^ai) that lies in the river among the lotus plants and reeds (40:21 ^aj). Like the wild ox, Behemoth is powerful (40:16-18 ^ak, 24 ^al; 39:11 ^am), yet is essentially peaceful (40:20-23 ^an).