Job 38-40 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Job 38:1: 38:1–42:6 Finally, the Lord answered Job . In this final section, the Lord challenges Job’s overreaching self-defense with a display of his works that remind Job of God’s transcendent greatness. Summary for Job 38:1-40:5: 38:1–40:5 God challenges Job, who acknowledges his inability to judge the moral world by demonstrating his ignorance of the natural world’s cosmic (38:4-21 ) and meteorological elements (38:22-38 ), animals, and birds (38:39–39:30 ). Summary for Job 38:1-3: 38:1-3 God challenged Job from out of the whirlwind . The Old Testament commonly associates storms with God’s presence (2 Kgs 2:1 , 11 ; Ezek 1:4 ; Nah 1:3 ). Job finally had an audience with God (Job 13:22-23 ).

Summary for Job 38:1: 38:1–42:6 ^a Finally, the Lord answered Job. In this final section, the Lord challenges Job’s overreaching self-defense with a display of his works that remind Job of God’s transcendent greatness.
Summary for Job 38:1-40:5: 38:1–40:5 ^b God challenges Job, who acknowledges his inability to judge the moral world by demonstrating his ignorance of the natural world’s cosmic (38:4-21 ^c) and meteorological elements (38:22-38 ^d), animals, and birds (38:39–39:30 ^e).
Summary for Job 38:1-3: 38:1-3 ^f God challenged Job from out of the whirlwind. The Old Testament commonly associates storms with God’s presence (2 Kgs 2:1 ^g, 11 ^h; Ezek 1:4 ⁱ; Nah 1:3 ^j). Job finally had an audience with God (Job 13:22-23 ^k).
38:2 ^l questions my wisdom: God’s accusation sounds like a charge made by Eliphaz (15:2 ^m) and Elihu (34:35 ⁿ; 35:16 ^o) to which Job eventually admitted guilt (42:3 ^p).
38:7 ^q The morning stars are personified in parallel construction with the angels (1:6 ^r; 2:1 ^s).
Summary for Job 38:10-11: 38:10-11 ^t locked it behind barred gates: The sea is depicted as a dangerous creature kept under control.
38:14 ^u it is robed in brilliant colors: The rising sun brings out the colors, shapes, and textures of things.
38:21 ^v you were born before it was all created: Cp. Prov 8:25 ^w. This sarcasm resembles that of Eliphaz (Job 15:7 ^x).
Summary for Job 38:22-23: 38:22-23 ^y Snow and hail are kept in divine storehouses such as those for the deep seas and winds (Pss 33:7 ^z; 135:7 ^aa; Jer 10:13 ^ab; 51:16 ^ac). God uses these elements as weapons (Job 36:32 ^ad; Isa 30:30 ^ae; Ezek 13:11-13 ^af; Rev 16:21 ^ag) in the storms he sends on the day of battle and war (e.g., Josh 10:11 ^ah; Judg 5:20-21 ^ai; 1 Sam 7:10 ^aj).
Summary for Job 38:24-27: 38:24-27 ^ak The east wind blows off the desert to scorch crops (Gen 41:6 ^al, 23 ^am, 27 ^an; Jer 4:11 ^ao; Jon 4:8 ^ap) and dry up seas (Exod 14:21 ^aq; Isa 11:15 ^ar). It is an arid contrast to the torrents of rain that cause flooding.

• Beneficial rain to satisfy the parched ground (Pss 104:10-11 ^as; 107:35 ^at; Isa 35:7 ^au; 58:11 ^av) stands in contrast to both scorching winds (Job 38:24 ^aw) and flooding rains (38:25 ^ax).
38:36 ^ay heart ... mind: These words can also be translated ibis ... rooster. The Egyptians thought the ibis was wise about the flooding of the Nile, the most important seasonal event in Egypt; and Israel’s rabbis thought the rooster could forecast rain or that its crow distinguished day from night. The idea would then be Who taught the ibis and the rooster? See also Ps 51:6 ^az; Prov 2:6 ^ba; Jas 1:5 ^bb, 17 ^bc.

‏ Job 39

Summary for Job 39:5-7: 39:5-7 ^bd wild donkey ... hates (literally scorns) the noise of the city: This is the first in a series of animals that scorn others who are their inferiors in some way (cp. 39:18 ^be, 22 ^bf; 41:29 ^bg). These images illustrate how God scorns the opposition of a man like Job (see Ps 2:4 ^bh).
Summary for Job 39:9-12: 39:9-12 ^bi Now extinct and already rare by Moses’ time, the wild ox was the most powerful land animal in early Canaan. This Old Testament symbol of strength (Num 23:22 ^bj; 24:8 ^bk; Deut 33:17 ^bl; Pss 29:6 ^bm; 92:10 ^bn) was never tamed (cp. Gen 1:28 ^bo; 9:2 ^bp; Ps 8:5-6 ^bq).
Summary for Job 39:13-18: 39:13-18 ^br In the ancient Near East, the ostrich had a reputation as a bird that God had deprived of wisdom.
Summary for Job 39:14-16: 39:14-16 ^bs The ostrich is a symbol of neglect for her young (Lam 4:3 ^bt) because she (1) lays her eggs on top of the earth; (2) appears to leave her eggs to die when a predator approaches them (although she is probably attempting to lure the predator away from the nest); and (3) lays her eggs with several other hens in one nest, so most of the eggs are not her own.
39:18 ^bu passes (literally scorns) the swiftest horse with its rider: See 39:7 ^bv, 22 ^bw; 41:29 ^bx.
39:24 ^by The ram’s horn was sounded in combat to call for the charge (Josh 6:4-6 ^bz).
39:30 ^ca Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it—feeding on the remains (Ezek 39:17-19 ^cb; Matt 24:28 ^cc; Luke 17:37 ^cd).

‏ Job 40

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

• Job had asked his comforters to cover their mouth to acknowledge shock (21:5 ^cm); here he does so himself in reaction to his own rash words.
40:5 ^cn 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 ^co The Lord repeated his earlier challenge (see 38:1-3 ^cp).
40:8 ^cq Job’s words (10:7 ^cr; 27:2 ^cs; 31:35-37 ^ct) had angered Elihu (32:2 ^cu; 34:5 ^cv); now God himself challenged them.
Summary for Job 40:11-12: 40:11-12 ^cw Job could not do God’s work of humbling the proud (Isa 2:11-12 ^cx, 17 ^cy; Jas 4:6 ^cz; 1 Pet 5:5-6 ^da) apart from God’s authority (Mal 4:3 ^db; Rom 16:20 ^dc).
Summary for Job 40:15-24: 40:15-24 ^dd Following a list of natural animals (39:1-30 ^de), God described Behemoth (40:15-24 ^df) and Leviathan (41:1-34 ^dg) as creatures that man cannot tame. Job couldn’t tame the wild donkey or ox (39:5-12 ^dh), let alone Behemoth and Leviathan (40:15-24 ^di), but God created them and could control them, and Job had to acknowledge it (41:2 ^dj).

• Here Behemoth seems to be a natural creature: (1) It is an animal that God made, just as he made Job (40:15 ^dk); (2) it is not a dreadful predator but eats grass like an ox (40:15 ^dl); 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 ^dm) that lies in the river among the lotus plants and reeds (40:21 ^dn). Like the wild ox, Behemoth is powerful (40:16-18 ^do, 24 ^dp; 39:11 ^dq), yet is essentially peaceful (40:20-23 ^dr).