Job 40:15

Job 40:15

Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

a. ASV: Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee; He eateth grass as an ox.

b. YLT: Lo, I pray thee, Behemoth, that I made with thee: Grass as an ox he eateth.

c. Classic Amplified: Behold now the behemoth (the hippopotamus), which I created as I did you; he eats grass like an ox.

d. Septuagint: But now look at the wild beasts with thee; they eat grass like oxen. 

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: Behold now the Behemoth that i have created with you; he eats grass like cattle.

1. “Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee…”

a. Behold [Strong: 2009 hinneh hin-nay' prolongation for 2005; lo!:--behold, lo, see.]

b. now [Strong: 4994 na' naw a primitive particle of incitement and entreaty, which may usually be rendered: "I pray," "now," or "then"; added mostly to verbs (in the Imperative or Future), or to interjections, occasionally to an adverb or conjunction:--I beseech (pray) thee (you), go to, now, oh.]

c. behemoth [Strong: 930 bhemowth be-hay-mohth' in form a plural or 929, but really a singular of Egyptian derivation; a water-ox, i.e. the hippopotamus or Nile- horse:--Behemoth.]

1). This Hebrew word is only used once in the Bible and it is here, so that there is nothing to compare it with, but the description of it in the passage defies the lame explanations of some scholars, an ox or a hippo. The tails of each of those large creatures cannot in any way compare to the “behemoth” that moves his tail “like a cedar”. Give me a break.

d. which [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

e. [I] made [Strong: 6213 `asah aw-saw' a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows):--accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

f. with [you]  [Strong: 5973 `im eem from 6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):--accompanying, against, and, as (X long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-)to, with(-al).]

2. “...he eateth grass as an ox.”

a. [he] eateh [Strong: 398 'akal aw-kal' a primitive root; to eat (literally or figuratively):--X at all, burn up, consume, devour(-er, up), dine, eat(-er, up), feed (with), food, X freely, X in...wise(-deed, plenty), (lay) meat, X quite.]

b. grass [Strong: 2682 chatsiyr khaw-tseer' perhaps originally the same as 2681, from the greenness of a courtyard; grass; also a leek (collectively):--grass, hay, herb, leek.]

c. [as an] ox [Strong: 1241 baqar baw-kawr' from 1239; beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing); collectively, a herd:-- beeve, bull (+ -ock), + calf, + cow, great (cattle), + heifer, herd, kine, ox.]

1). The explanations for this creature are anywhere from a mythological creature to an elephant, hippopotamus, or an ox. The description given in Scripture defies all of those explanations.

2). Institute of Creation Research Days of Praise 4/6/2017:    As God responded to Job, He spent an unusual amount of time referring to animals Job would be familiar with—lions, goats, unicorns (probably the aurochs or wild ox), peacocks, the ostrich, the horse, hawks, and eagles, all within 33 verses. Then, as though Job needed to pay special attention, God took 44 verses to talk about two animals—behemoth (Job 40:15-24) and leviathan (Job 41:1-34)—citing the behavior and descriptions of these very large animals. Why the interest? Why should it matter? To begin with, behemoth was “made with thee.” Whatever it was, it was created at the same time as man. Behemoth was an enormous animal that “moveth his tail like a cedar” and had bones like “strong pieces of bronze” and “bars of iron.” Behemoth was “the chief of the ways of God; only he that made him can make his sword to approach him.” This animal illustrates something of the enormous power of the Creator and gives evidence that only God could control it (Job 40:15-19). Today, with only fossil bones to give some idea of the enormity of this animal, science would likely call behemoth an Apatosaurus. This creature really lived in the past. The fossils indicate it was between 70 and 90 feet long and nearly 15 feet high at the hips. The tail was about 50 feet long (remember the cedar tree), and it had peg-like teeth that suggest its diet was plants. The legs were like columns. Estimates suggest that the animal weighed around 35 tons. With this much known evidence, it is sad to see the notes in the margins of many Bibles insisting that the behemoth was either an elephant or a hippopotamus. Perhaps these “scoffers” are “willingly ignorant” (2 Peter 3:3-5). HMM III

3). Institute Of Creation Research Days of Praise 1/26/14 In this remarkable passage, the Lord has been urging Job and his three philosophizing friends to consider all the marvelous evidences of God’s power and wisdom in nature. Finally, he calls their attention to “behemoth” (from a Hebrew word meaning “gigantic beast”), the greatest land animal God ever made—“chief of the ways of God.” Commentators who have tried to identify a living animal as behemoth have called it either an elephant or a hippopotamus, but it is obvious that neither of these animals “moveth his tail like a cedar.” The other descriptions are also inappropriate. It should be obvious that the behemoth is an extinct animal, very probably a great dinosaur. This would be obvious were it not for the widespread evolutionary delusion that dinosaurs became extinct million of years ago, with man evolving only about a million years ago. Modern creation scientists, however, have published many well-documented evidences that dinosaurs existed contemporaneously with early humans up to relatively recent times, and that these supposed evolutionary eons of time are pure fiction. Early men, such as Job, could indeed marvel at this gigantic creature of God and also rejoice in God’s ability to control the great problems of life as well as His sincere concern with every individual need of His people. It is also worth noting that there are several references to dragons in the Bible, as well as in ancient traditions everywhere, and it is likely these also reflect the memories of dinosaurs retained by early tribes after the Flood. HMM