Study notes
Job 40
38:1–40:5 Section
Job thought that God wouldn’t listen to him. Earlier Job had said he thought that God would send a storm to crush him. Job thought God would do this if he called out to God. Instead, God listened very closely.
God listened to everything that Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu said. Instead of crushing Job with a storm, God spoke to Job from a storm. God didn’t answer the questions Job had asked. He didn’t explain to Job why people suffer. God didn’t explain that Satan had suggested a test for Job. Instead, God asked Job many questions. God asked what things Job was able to do. Then God explained many of the things that he can do.
God created everything in heaven and on the earth. He makes sure that what he created works the way he wants it to. This includes the land, the water, the sky, the stars and the animals. God takes care of all animals. This includes animals that aren’t livestock raised by human beings.
God talked a lot about the sky, the earth and the animals. The way he talked about them showed Job something important. Human beings are only one part of what God created. As a human being, Job couldn’t understand everything about God’s creation. Job couldn’t understand everything that was needed to take care of creation. Job couldn’t understand God’s plans. Job couldn’t understand the reasons why God did what he did. And Job couldn’t do God’s work better than God did it. Job’s first answer to God was to remain silent.
40:1–2
The ancient Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) does not include the end of God's first speech.
40:3–5
40:4
I am insignificant (compare 42:6): Job was not asking God to forgive his sin. Like Abraham, he recognized that he was not worthy (Genesis 18:27).
Job had asked those comforting him to cover their mouths to show shock (21:5). Here, he does so himself in reaction to his own inappropriate words.
40:5
I have nothing to add: He had no more accusations against God and would not argue again.
40:6–7
The LORD repeated his earlier challenge (refer to 38:1–3).
40:6–42:6 Section
In his second answer to God Job recognised something important. He hadn’t understood what he was talking about when he spoke with his friends. He had talked about things that were too wonderful for him to know. This means that they were things that human beings can’t understand.
Recognising this made Job humble. Job said that he hated himself. This doesn’t mean that Job thought he was a terrible person. It doesn’t mean that he had no love for himself. It means that he no longer wanted to argue against God. Job stopped bringing charges against God for treating him unfairly.
God had showed Job how much care he takes of all of his creatures. Job came to understand that he was one of God’s creatures. So Job understood that he could trust God because God was his creator. God had shown himself to Job. When Job heard and understood God, he saw that God was worthy of his trust.
40:8
40:11–12
Job could not humble proud people without God's authority (Isaiah 2:11–12, 17; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5–6; Malachi 4:3; Romans 16:20).
40:15–24
After listing natural animals, God described Behemoth and "Leviathan" as creatures humans cannot control (39:1–30; 40:15–24; 41:1–34). Job could not control the wild donkey or ox (39:5–12; 40:15–24). However, God created and could control them, and Job had to accept this fact (41:2).
Here, Behemoth appears to be a natural creature:
It is an animal God made, just as he made Job (40:15).
It is not a fierce predator but eats grass like an ox (40:15).
It is in a poem about God’s creation of the natural world, not in a myth about the world's formation. Most commentators think Behemoth is the hippopotamus, a large, grass-eating animal (40:15–19). It rests in the river among lotus plants and reeds (40:21). Like the wild ox, Behemoth is strong (40:16–18, 24; 39:11). Yet it is mostly peaceful (40:20–23).
Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources