Job 40 Explained

Job 40 is the 40th chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1] The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of God to Job, which belongs to the "Verdicts" section of the book, comprising –42:6.

Context

Job 40 appears towards the end of the Book of Job. Traditionally placed in the Ketuvim section of the Hebrew Bible between Psalms and Proverbs, in modern Jewish Bibles the book is placed after the other two other poetic books. Job is also one of the poetic books in the Christian Old Testament, usually following the Book of Esther. The book is structured with a prologue and narrative introduction in the first two chapters and then the majority of the book is a debate between Job and number of other people in poetry, which runs until chapter 37.

The chapter is part of the response of God to Job which runs from chapters 38 to 41. The chapter is traditionally divided into three sections. The first two verses are joined with the preceding two chapters from verse 38:1 in God's first speech, Verses 3 to 5 of the chapter are considered a short intermission in God's monologue and cover Job's response to this first speech. The remainder of the chapter from verse 6 to the end of chapter 41 are considered to be God's second speech.

Text

The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 24 verses in English Bibles, but counted to 32 verses in Hebrew Bible using a different verse numbering (see below).

Verse numbering

There are some differences in verse numbering of this chapter in English Bibles and Hebrew texts:[2]

EnglishHebrew
41:1–840:25–32
41:9–3441:1–26
This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

ak{G}

B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK:

ak{G}

S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A;

ak{G}

A; 5th century).

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows:

Within the structure, chapter 40 is grouped into the Verdict section with the following outline:

God's speeches in chapters 38–41 can be split in two parts, both starting with almost identical phrases and having a similar structure:

First speech Second speech
A. Introductory formula (38:1) A1. Introductory formula (40:6)
B. Thematic challenge (38:2–3)

i. Theme A (key verse – verse 2)

ii. Summons (verse 3)

B1. Thematic challenge (40:7–14)

i. Summons (verse 7)

ii. Theme B (key verse – verse 8)

iii. Challenge expanded (verses 9–14)

C, Particularization of theme

i. In the physical world (38:4–38)

ii. In the animal and bird kingdoms (38:39–39:30)

C1, Particularization of theme

i. With Behemoth (40:15–24)

ii. With Leviathan (41:1–34)

D. Brief Challenge to Answer (40:1–2)

The revelation of the Lord to Job is the culmination of the book of Job, that the Lord speaks directly to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering—without cursing God, holding his integrity, and nowhere regretted it – but he was unaware of the real reason for his suffering, so God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. Job was not punished for sin and Job’s suffering had not cut him off from God, now Job sees the end the point that he cannot have the knowledge to make the assessments he made, so it is wiser to bow in submission and adoration of God than to try to judge him.[3]

Chapter 40 opens with a short dialogue between YHWH and Job (verses 1–5) interposed between the first and second speeches of YHWH.[4] It is followed by God's second speech which focuses mainly on two figures: Behemoth (Job 40) and Leviathan (Job 41).

Dialogue between God and Job (40:1–5)

The inclusion of legal terms ("contend… argue… answer) from the litigation motif suggests that YHWH does not intend to present evidence for the defense, but rather to show Job why the process is flawed, because Job wishes to see God in court based on the very narrow view of the retributive justice in the world. YHWH is not just a judge, but also the king who actively exercises his sovereign rule, with a complex governing of the universe. YHWH's summation (verse 2) shows Job the futility of his pursue and the implied way forward for Job to acknowledge it.

Verse 2

[YHWH said:] "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?

He who rebukes God, let him answer it."[5]

Verse 4

[Job said:] "Behold, I am vile;

What shall I answer You?

I lay my hand over my mouth."[8]

Job's acknowledgement that he is "small" ("vile"; rather than he has sinned) shows the turning point from arguing against YHWH into accepting what YHWH has done in Job's life. This answer of Job is still tentative, so YHWH proceeds with a second round of questions and observations (Job 40:6–41:34) to finally prompt Job to give his ultimate response (Job 42:1–6).

God speaks of Behemoth (40:6–24)

God's second speech begins with a challenge to announce the theme (40:6–14), before proceeding with the description of Behemoth (40:15–24) and Leviathan (41:1–34).[10] These two creatures are described as big in size and uncontrollable by humans, but YHWH totally control them all in his orderly world.

Verse 6

Then the answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:[11]

Verse 15

[YHWH said:] "Look now at the behemoth

which I made along with you;

he eats grass like an ox."[13]

See also

Sources

. Michael D. Coogan . The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 . Coogan . Michael David . Marc Zvi . Brettler . Carol Ann . Newsom . Pheme . Perkins . Augmented 3rd . Oxford University Press . 2007 . 978-0-19528-881-0 .

. Henry Hampton Halley. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary . 24th (revised). Zondervan Publishing House . 1965 . 0-310-25720-4.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  2. Notes on Job 41:1 in NET Bible
  3. Note [a] on Job 38:1 in NET Bible
  4. Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Job 40". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
  5. 40:2 NKJV NKJV
  6. Note [a] on Job 40:2 in NET Bible
  7. Note [b] on Job 40:2 in NET Bible
  8. 40:4 NKJV NKJV
  9. Note [a] on Job 40:4 in NET Bible
  10. Note [a] on Job 40:6 in NET Bible
  11. 40:6 NKJV NKJV
  12. Note [c] on Job 38:1 in NET Bible
  13. 40:15 MEV MEV
  14. Note [b] on Job 40:15 in NET Bible
  15. Note [a] on Job 40:15 in NET Bible
  16. Note on Job 40:15 in NKJV
  17. Note [c] on Job 40:15 in NET Bible

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