Difference between revisions of "Job 40:15 - 41:34"
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Latest revision as of 19:52, 4 August 2016
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Summary
- Dinosaur-like creatures, now apparently extinct. They belong to God, as does everything else.
Details and/or Comments
- Behemoth and Leviathan. The verses give actual descriptions of these creatures, communicating it with metaphors, similes and other figures of speech.
- We can understand what is meant in these descriptions. When behemoth's tail is compared to a cedar, it conveys ideas such as strong and powerful... quite the opposite of a "twig"!
- In later centuries, after leviathan had become extinct, its description "grew" to mythical proportions. But these later exaggerations do not nullify the earlier description that was given while it was still a living creature that Job could personally observe - from a distance, of course! (Psalm 74:14 refers to the mythical description, with leviathan being a sea monster with multiple heads - unlike the Job account, 41:7.)
- Today, these two animals appear to be extinct.
Scripture
Job 40:15 to 41:34
Note: Job 41:11 – God owns everything.
Behemoth
Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
Job 40:15 "See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.
Job 40:16 Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly. Job 40:17 He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together. Job 40:18 His bones are like tubes of brass. His limbs are like bars of iron. Job 40:19 He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword. Job 40:20 Surely the mountains produce food for him, where all the animals of the field play. Job 40:21 He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the marsh. Job 40:22 The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him. Job 40:23 Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn't tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth. Job 40:24 Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare? |
A description of behemoth.
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Leviathan
Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
Job 41:1 "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord?
Job 41:2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook? Job 41:3 Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you? Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? Job 41:5 Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls? Job 41:6 Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants? Job 41:7 Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears? Job 41:8 Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more. Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won't one be cast down even at the sight of him? |
A description of leviathan. This first part focuses on the impossibility of a human to subdue it. |
Job 41:10 None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?
Job 41:11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine. |
In contrast, to the inability of humans, God is greater. The conclusion: If we dare not confront leviathan, how much less dare we confront God!
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Job 41:12 "I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. Job 41:13 Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall come within his jaws? Job 41:14 Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. Job 41:15 Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal. Job 41:16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. Job 41:17 They are joined one to another. They stick together, so that they can't be pulled apart. Job 41:18 His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Job 41:19 Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap forth. Job 41:20 Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. Job 41:21 His breath kindles coals. A flame goes forth from his mouth. Job 41:22 There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him. Job 41:23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can't be moved. Job 41:24 His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone. Job 41:25 When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing. Job 41:26 If one attacks him with the sword, it can't prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. Job 41:27 He counts iron as straw; and brass as rotten wood. Job 41:28 The arrow can't make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him. Job 41:29 Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. Job 41:30 His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. Job 41:31 He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Job 41:32 He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. Job 41:33 On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. Job 41:34 He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride." |
Further description of leviathan's greatness: "On earth there is not his equal" - v. 33.
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Scripture Passages
(Only books that have relevance to this study have active links. The others are in italics.)
Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • 1 Samuel • 2 Samuel • 1 Kings • 2 Kings • 1 Chronicles • 2 Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther • Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel • Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi Matthew • Mark • Luke • John • Acts • Romans • 1 Corinthians • 2 Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians • 1 Timothy • 2 Timothy • Titus • Philemon • Hebrews • James • 1 Peter • 2 Peter • 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Jude • Revelation |
—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——
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The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.
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Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.
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