Commentary - Job 40:15-24

Bird's-eye view

After Job has been silenced by the Lord’s initial volley out of the whirlwind (Job 40:3-5), God does not let up. He is not finished with Job, because Job’s repentance is not yet complete. What follows is not a detached lesson in zoology, but rather a continuation of God’s argument. The point of bringing forth Behemoth is to display for Job a small fraction of God’s untamable creative power. Job, who thought he could call the Almighty into the dock, is now confronted with a creature that he himself could not hope to control. The argument is one of simple, brute force, from the lesser to the greater. If you cannot handle one of My creatures, Job, what on earth makes you think you can contend with Me?

This entire display is a severe mercy. God is humbling Job in order to save him. The problem was never God’s injustice, but rather Job’s ignorance and presumption. By pointing to Behemoth, God is re-establishing the fundamental Creator/creature distinction. God is God, and Job is man. This is the foundational lesson that must be learned before any true wisdom can be had. The description of this mighty beast is designed to overwhelm Job’s senses and, by extension, to crush his pride. It is a tangible, earthy, and powerful illustration of a transcendent theological reality: God is sovereign, and we are not.

Outline

Context In Job

This section, describing Behemoth, comes immediately after God challenges Job to try his own hand at running the universe. "Deck yourself with majesty and dignity," God says, "pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him" (Job 40:10-11). Job, of course, cannot do this. And so, God immediately provides a concrete example of something Job cannot manage. He cannot manage Behemoth. This is not a random tangent. It is the very heart of God's argument against Job's self-righteousness. Job has been speaking out of turn, darkening counsel by words without knowledge, and the appearance of Behemoth is God's Exhibit A in the case against human pride.

The Lord is not answering Job’s questions about the "why" of his suffering. Instead, He is answering Job's deeper, unspoken sin, which was to question the "who" on the throne. By demonstrating His raw, creative genius and power in Behemoth and Leviathan, God is not explaining His ways, but rather demonstrating His character. He is the kind of God who makes such creatures, and therefore He is the kind of God who can be trusted, even when His ways are inscrutable.

Commentary

15 “Behold now, Behemoth, which I made along with you; It eats grass like an ox.

The Lord commands Job’s attention. "Behold now." Look. Pay attention. Stop thinking about your own case for a moment and consider what I am putting in front of you. This is a direct object lesson. And the first thing God says about this creature is foundational: "which I made along with you." The ESV says "which I made as I made you." The point is the same. Both Job and Behemoth are creatures. They have the same Maker. This immediately puts Job in his place. He is a made thing, just as this beast is a made thing. The infinite chasm is not between man and beast, but between the Creator and all of His creation, man included. The second observation is almost comically mundane: "It eats grass like an ox." This colossal beast, which we are about to see is a picture of raw power, is an herbivore. This is a classic biblical theme. True strength does not come from predation and violence, but from the power God gives. This grass-eater could flatten a lion without a second thought. God is deconstructing our worldly ideas of power from the very first clause.

16 Behold now, its power in its loins And its vigor in the muscles of its belly.

Again, "Behold now." God wants Job to look closely. The description begins with the creature's core. Its strength is not in its teeth or claws, but in its midsection, its very gut. The loins and the belly are the seat of its power. This is a picture of immense, solid, foundational strength. There is nothing flashy here, just raw, compacted vigor. God is showing Job that true might is not always what it appears to be on the surface. It is deep, internal, and placed there by its Creator.

17 It hangs its tail like a cedar; The sinews of its thighs are knit together.

Here the popular identification of Behemoth with the hippopotamus runs into a bit of trouble. A hippo's tail is more like a small paddle than a great cedar tree. Some have suggested this refers to the way it moves its tail, but the plain sense of the text suggests size and strength. A cedar is a massive, strong tree. This creature has a tail to match. Whether this is a sauropod dinosaur, a hippo described poetically, or something else, the point is its immense scale. This is no ordinary animal. And its thighs are "knit together," a phrase suggesting tightly woven, powerful muscles. Every part of this animal is designed for maximum force and stability. It is a masterpiece of divine engineering.

18 Its bones are tubes of bronze; Its limbs are like bars of iron.

The description moves from the flesh to the frame. The language is metaphorical, of course, but the meaning is plain. This creature is built like a tank. Its skeletal structure is compared to forged metal, bronze and iron. It is virtually indestructible. God is piling up the superlatives. He is painting a picture of a creature that is beyond human power to subdue. Job, who is made of dust and whose life is a vapor, is being confronted with a fellow creature that is, by comparison, a walking fortress of metal.

19 “It is the first of the ways of God; Let its Maker bring near its sword.

This is a crucial verse. "The first of the ways of God." This can be understood as the chief, or the masterpiece, of God's land animals. It stands at the pinnacle of His creative work in this domain. And then the second clause: "Let its Maker bring near its sword." Only its Maker can master it. Man cannot. No human weapon, no human cleverness, can bring this creature down. The sword belongs to God alone. This is the central point of the whole description. This creature is God’s handiwork, and it answers to Him alone. The implication for Job is staggering. If God is the only one who can wield a sword against this creature, what folly is it for Job, a man, to think he can call God, the Creator, to account?

20 Surely the mountains bring it food, And all the beasts of the field play there.

This verse speaks to the creature’s place in the created order. The mountains, symbols of stability and grandeur, serve it. They provide its sustenance. And "all the beasts of the field play there." This is a picture of peace. This immense beast is not a terror to the other animals. It is a grass-eater, and the other creatures are safe in its presence. This is a subtle rebuke to Job. Job has been imagining a world run by a cruel and arbitrary God. But God shows him a creature of immense power that lives peaceably. Power in God's economy is not inherently destructive. God's world is not the dog-eat-dog world that Job has been accusing God of running.

21 Under the lotus plants it lies down, In the hidden place of the reeds and the marsh. 22 The lotus plants cover it with shade; The willows of the brook surround it.

Here we see the creature at rest. It is not constantly rampaging. It lies down in the shade, hidden and secure. The natural world provides it with comfort and shelter. This is a picture of profound contentment and security. The mightiest of beasts is at peace in its habitat. It is not striving or anxious. It simply is. This is a portrait of a creature that is perfectly suited to its environment, perfectly cared for by its Creator. It is a picture of shalom.

23 If a river oppresses, it is not alarmed; It is secure, though the Jordan bursts forth to its mouth.

Now the scene shifts from peaceful rest to a test of its strength. A raging river, a flood, does not faze it. The verb "oppresses" is a strong one. The river is violent, but Behemoth is "not alarmed." It is utterly secure. Even if the mighty Jordan river were to surge directly at it, it would stand its ground. This is a creature that cannot be moved. It is a living embodiment of stability in the midst of chaos. And what is the lesson for Job? Job has been swept away by the flood of his afflictions. He has been anything but secure. God is showing him a creature that trusts in the strength its Maker gave it. It does not panic when the waters rise. It stands.

24 Can anyone capture it before its eyes, With snares can anyone pierce its nose?

The speech ends with a series of rhetorical questions, driving the point home. Can you capture it? Can you trap it? Can you lead it around by the nose like a domesticated bull? The answer is a resounding no. This creature is untamable by man. It is sovereign in its domain. The questions are directed at Job. "Can you do this, Job?" And if you cannot master this one creature, which I made on the same day I made you, how can you possibly presume to understand or judge Me? The lesson is complete. Man's place is not to challenge God, but to behold His works with fear and trembling, and to trust the one who made all things, even the mighty Behemoth.

Application

The point of this passage is not to get us to identify a particular animal, whether it be a hippopotamus or a dinosaur. The point is to get us to identify the Creator. When we are tempted, like Job, to question God’s wisdom or justice in our suffering, we need to be taken out to the zoo. We need to behold Behemoth.

God’s answer to our suffering is not a neat theological syllogism; it is a display of His own untamable glory. He shows us that He is the kind of God who creates creatures of such immense power and peculiar beauty that they defy our categories and mock our pretensions to control. If He can make and master a Behemoth, He can certainly handle the details of our lives. Our problem is that we think our suffering is the biggest thing in the universe. God shows Job Behemoth to remind him that it is not.

The ultimate Behemoth, the ultimate display of God’s untamable power made manifest, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who, though He was the very power of God, ate and drank with men. He is the one whose strength is not in a violent rampage, but in a cross. He is the one who faced the flood of God’s wrath and was not alarmed, but stood secure. And He is the one whom no one could capture, whom no snare could hold, for He laid down His life of His own accord and took it up again. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and beholding Behemoth is a good place to start.