Job 40:23

 Job 40:23

Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

a. ASV: Behold, if a river overflow, he trembleth not; He is confident, though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.  [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT:  Lo, a flood oppresseth -- he doth not haste, He is confident though Jordan Doth come forth unto his mouth.  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Behold, if a river is violent and overflows, he does not tremble; he is confident, though the Jordan [River] swells and rushes against his mouth.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Behold he plunders the river and is not anxious; he feels secure that he can gulp the Jordan into his mouth  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.

e. ESV:  Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. “Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.”

a. Behold [Strong: 7200 hên, hane; a primitive particle; lo!; also (as expressing surprise) if:—behold, if, lo, though.]

b. [he] drinketh up [Strong: 6231 ʻâshaq, aw-shak'; a primitive root (compare H6229); to press upon, i.e. oppress, defraud, violate, overflow:—get deceitfully, deceive, defraud, drink up, (use) oppress(-ion), (-or), do violence (wrong).]

c. [a] river [Strong: 5104 nâhâr, naw-hawr'; from H5102; a stream (including the sea; expectation the Nile, Euphrates, etc.); figuratively, prosperity:—flood, river.]

d. [and] hasteth [Strong: 2648 châphaz, khaw-faz'; a primitive root; properly, to start up suddenly, i.e. (by implication) to hasten away, to fear:—(make) haste (away), tremble.]

e. not [Strong: 3808 lôʼ, lo; or לוֹא lôwʼ; or לֹה lôh; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle; + not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles:—× before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

f. [he] trusteth [Strong: 982 bâṭach, baw-takh'; a primitive root; properly, to hie for refuge (but not so precipitately as H2620); figuratively, to trust, be confident or sure:—be bold (confident, secure, sure), careless (one, woman), put confidence, (make to) hope, (put, make to) trust.]

g. that [Strong: 3588 bâṭach, baw-takh'; a primitive root; properly, to hie for refuge (but not so precipitately as H2620); figuratively, to trust, be confident or sure:—be bold (confident, secure, sure), careless (one, woman), put confidence, (make to) hope, (put, make to) trust.]

h. [he can] draw up [Strong: 1518 gîyach, ghee'-akh; or (shortened) גֹּחַ gôach; a primitive root; to gush forth (as water), generally to issue:—break forth, labor to bring forth, come forth, draw up, take out.]

i. Jordan [Strong: 3383 Yardên, yar-dane'; from H3381; a descender; Jarden, the principal river of Palestine:—Jordan.]

j. into [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

k. [his] mouth [Strong: 6310 peh, peh; from H6284; the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech); specifically edge, portion or side; adverbially (with preposition) according to:—accord(-ing as, -ing to), after, appointment, assent, collar, command(-ment), × eat, edge, end, entry, file, hole, × in, mind, mouth, part, portion, × (should) say(-ing), sentence, skirt, sound, speech, × spoken, talk, tenor, × to, two-edged, wish, word.]

1). 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