the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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King James Version
Job 40:19
Bible Study Resources
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- InternationalParallel Translations
"It is the first of the ways of God;Let its Maker bring near its sword.
"He is the first of the ways of God; Let his maker bring near his sword.
He is the chiefe of the wayes of God, he that made him wyl make his sword to approche vnto him.
He is the chief of God's ways: he that made him gave him his sword.
He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.
he is the first in the ways of God; his Maker brings near his sword.
The behemoth is the most amazing animal I made, but I can defeat him.
He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.
Hee is the chiefe of the wayes of God: he that made him, can make his sword to approach vnto him.
First when God made him, he ordened the wyldernesse for him,
He is the chief of the ways of God: He only that made him giveth him his sword.
He is the chief of the ways of God, made by him for his pleasure.
He is the chief of the ways of God: [Only] he who made him brings his sword near.
He [is] the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach [him].
It ranks first among the works of God, the One who made it has furnished it with a sword.
I made it more powerful than any other creature, yet I am stronger still.
"He ranks first among God's works. Only his maker can approach him with his sword.
He is the chiefe of the wayes of God: he that made him, will make his sworde to approch vnto him.
He is the chief among Gods creations; for he made him powerful to fight.
"He is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God; [Only] He who made him can bring near His sword [to master him].
He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.
He is the beginning of the ways of God; He only that made him can make His sword to approach unto him.
It is a prime example of God's handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.
"He is the first of the works of God. Let his maker bring him his sword.
Yet one shall take him in his sight; one shall catch him with a cord, and pierce his nose.
He is the chief of the ways of God: he only that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
He is the foremost of God's works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
"It is the first of the great acts of God— only its Maker can approach it with the sword.
He, is the beginning of the ways of GOD, Let his maker, present him his sword:
(40-14) He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he will apply his sword.
"It is the first of God's actions; the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.
"He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!
"He is the first of the ways of God; Let his Maker bring His sword near.
It is one of the first of God's works, but its Maker can destroy it.
The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him.
He is the foremost of God's works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
He is the bigynnyng of the weies of God; he, that made hym, schal sette his swerd to hym.
He [is] a beginning of the ways of God, His Maker bringeth nigh his sword;
"He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the chief: Job 26:13, Psalms 104:24
he that: Psalms 7:12, Isaiah 27:1
Reciprocal: Job 41:33 - Upon
Cross-References
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.
And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
He [is] the chief of the ways of God,.... Or the beginning of them, that is, of the works of God in creation; which must be restrained to animals, otherwise there were works wrought before any of them were created. There were none made before the fifth day of the creation, and on that day was the river horse made; in which respect it has the preference to the elephant, not made till the sixth day. But if this phrase is expressive of the superior excellency of behemoth over other works of God, as it seems to be, it must be limited to the kind of which it is; otherwise man is the chief of all God's ways or works, made either on the fifth or sixth day: and so as the elephant may be observed to be the chief of the beasts of the earth, or of land animals, for its largeness and strength, its sagacity, docility, gentleness, and the like; so the river horse may be said to be the chief of its kind, of the aquatic animals, or of the amphibious ones, for the bulk of its body, which is not unlike that of the elephant, as says Diodorus Siculus q; and it has been by some called the Egyptian elephant r; and also from its great sagacity, of which instances are given by some writers s. However, it is one of the chief works of God, or a famous, excellent, and remarkable one, which may be the sense of the expression; see Numbers 24:20. It might be remarked in favour of the elephant, that it seems to have its name from אלף, the first and chief; as the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is called "aleph"; unless it should have its name from this root, on account of its docility;
he that made him can make his sword to approach [unto him]; not the sword of God, as if this creature could not be killed by any but by him that made it; for whether the elephant or river horse be understood, they are both to be taken and slain: but the sword of behemoth is that which he himself is furnished with; which some understand of the trunk of the elephant, with which he defends himself and annoys others; but that has no likeness of a sword. Bochart t renders the word by "harpe", which signifies a crooked instrument, sickle or scythe; and interprets it of the teeth of the river horse, which are sharp and long, and bent like a scythe. That which Thevenot u saw had four great teeth in the lower jaw, half a foot long, two whereof were crooked; and one on each side of the jaw; the other two were straight, and of the same length as the crooked, but standing out in the length: see the figure of it in Scheuchzer w; by which it also appears to have six teeth. Another traveller says x, of the teeth of the sea horse, that they are round like a bow, and about sixteen inches long, and in the biggest part more than six inches about: but another relation y agrees more nearly with Thevenot and Scheuchzer; that four of its teeth are longer than the rest, two in the upper jaw, one on each side, and two more in the under; these last are four or five inches long, the other two shorter; with which it mows down the corn and grass in great quantities: so that Diodorus Siculus z observes, that if this animal was very fruitful, and brought forth many young and frequently, the fields in Egypt would be utterly destroyed. This interpretation agrees with what follows.
q Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 136. & l. 3. p. 173. 174. 175.) r Achilles Tatius, l. 4. s Ammian. Marcellin. Plin. Solin. ut supra. Vid. Plin. l. 28. c. 8. t Ut supra, (Apud Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 14.) col. 760. u Travels, part 1. c. 72. w Physic. Sacr. tab. 532. x Dampier's Voyages, vol. 2. part 2. p. 105. y Capt. Rogers apud Dampier, ib. p. 106. z Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 136. & l. 3. p. 173. 174. 175.)
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
He is the chief of the ways of God - In size and strength. The word rendered “chief” is used in a similar sense in Numbers 24:20, “Amalek was the first of the nations;” that is, one of the most powerful and mighty of the nations.
He that made him can make his sword approach unto him - According to this translation, the sense is, that God had power over him, notwithstanding his great strength and size, and could take his life when he pleased. Yet this, though it would be a correct sentiment, does not seem to be that which the connection demands. That would seem to require some allusion to the strength of the animal; and accordingly, the translation suggested by Bochart, and adopted substantially by Rosenmuller, Umbreit, Noyes, Schultens, Prof. Lee, and others, is to be preferred - “He that made him furnished him with a sword.” The allusion then would be to his strong, sharp teeth, hearing a resemblance to a sword, and designed either for defense or for the purpose of cutting the long grass on which it fed when on the land. The propriety of this interpretation may be seen vindicated at length in Bochart, “Hieroz.” P. ii. Lib. v. c. xv. pp. 766, 762. The ἅρπη harpē, i. e. the sickle or scythe, was ascribed to the hippopotamus by some of the Greek writers. Thus, Nicander, “Theriacon,” verse 566:
Η ἵππον, τὸν Νεῖλος ύπερ Σάιν αἰθαλοεσσαν
Βόσκει, ἀρούρησιν δὲ κακὴν ἐπιβάλλεται
ἍΡΠΗΝ.
Ee hippon, ton Neilos huper Sain aithaloessan
Boskei, arourēsin de kakēn epiballetai.
Harpēn
On this passage the Scholiast remarks, “The ἅρπη harpē, means a sickle, and the teeth of the hippopotamus are so called - teaching that this animal consumes (τρώγει trōgei) the harvest.” See Bochart also for other examples. A slight inspection of the “cut” will show with what propriety it is said of the Creator of the hippopotamus, that he had armed him with a sickle, or sword.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 40:19. He is the chief of the ways of God — The largest, strongest, and swiftest quadruped that God has formed.
He that made him — No power of man or beast can overcome him. God alone can overcome him, and God alone could make his sword (of extinction) approach to him.
