Job 40
The full text of Job 40 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 And the LORD said to Job:
2 Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who argues with God answer it.
3 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
4 Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.
6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
9 Have you an arm like God's,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low;
tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 Behold now, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength is in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze;
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild animals play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent, he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?
Translation notes (5)
- Job 40:15a Hebrew behemot, 'beasts' (בהמות) is a plural form used as a singular, likely an intensive. Many take it as the hippopotamus, while others view it as a literary chaos-beast symbolizing forces that only God controls. The Masoretic Text presents it as a proper name.
- Job 40:17a Hebrew zanav, 'tail', and erez, 'cedar', are clear; the rare verb yachpots can mean 'stiffens' or 'moves' (so the King James tradition). Because a hippopotamus has a small tail, some have taken 'tail' as a euphemism for the male organ, but zanav elsewhere means a tail, and the parallel 'sinews of his thighs' simply underscores massive bodily strength.
- Job 40:19a Hebrew yaggish charbo, 'bring near his sword', may be read as a jussive ('let his Maker draw near with his sword') or an indicative ('only his Maker can approach him with a sword'). The suffix on charbo, 'his sword', is ambiguous (Maker or Behemoth). The phrase reshit dar'kei El, 'the first of the ways of God', signals preeminence, not temporal priority.
- Job 40:23a The Masoretic Text has yarden, 'Jordan' (יַרְדֵּן), and the Septuagint likewise reads Iordanes, 'Jordan' (Ιορδάνης). The name may function as a poetic emblem for a great river; some take yarden here as a generic 'descending river,' mitigating the geographic tension if Behemoth is identified with the Nile hippopotamus.
- Job 40:24a The Masoretic Text has be'enav, 'by his eyes' (בְּעֵינָיו), a difficult phrase. Hebrew ayin, 'eye; spring' (עַיִן) can also mean 'spring of water', yielding 'at the watering place', or it may be taken as 'in his sight.' The second colon's moqesh, 'snare' (מוֹקֵשׁ) supports capture imagery.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is a new translation of the Bible prepared by Trinity Bible — rendered from the original Hebrew and faithful to the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. Finished in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation you can read today, and it is available only through Trinity Bible. All 66 books, including Job, are free to read on this site.
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