Job 40:21

Contemporary English Version

It rests in the shade of trees along the riverbank

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He lies under the lotus plants,hiding in the protection of marshy reeds.

Hebrew Names Version
He lies under the lotus trees, In the covert of the reed, and the marsh.

King James Version
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.

English Standard Version
Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.

New Century Version
It lies under the lotus plants, hidden by the tall grass in the swamp.

New English Translation
Under the lotus trees it lies, in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.

Amplified Bible
"He lies down under the lotus plants, In the hidden shelter of the reeds in the marsh.

New American Standard Bible
"He lies down under the lotus plants, In the hiding place of the reeds and the marsh.

World English Bible
He lies under the lotus trees, In the covert of the reed, and the marsh.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Lyeth hee vnder the trees in the couert of the reede and fennes?

Legacy Standard Bible
Under the lotus plants it lies down,In the hidden place of the reeds and the marsh.

Berean Standard Bible
He lies under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh.

Complete Jewish Bible
He lies down under the thorny lotus bushes and is hidden by the reeds in the swamp;

Darby Translation
He lieth under lotus-bushes, in the covert of the reed and fen:

Easy-to-Read Version
He lies under the lotus plants. He hides among the reeds of the swamp.

George Lamsa Translation
He lurks in the covert of reeds, he couches as a lion.

Good News Translation
He lies down under the thorn bushes, and hides among the reeds in the swamp.

Lexham English Bible
Under the lotus tree it lies, in the hiding place of the reeds and in the marsh.

Literal Translation
He lies under the lotus, in the hiding-place of the reed and the marsh;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He lyeth amoge the redes in the Mosses, the fennes

American Standard Version
He lieth under the lotus-trees, In the covert of the reed, and the fen.

Bible in Basic English
He takes his rest under the trees of the river, and in the pool, under the shade of the water-plants.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
He lieth under the lotus-trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.

King James Version (1611)
He lieth vnder the shady trees in the couert of the reede, and fennes.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He resteth him in the shade, in the couerte of the reede and fennes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Or wilt thou fasten a ring in his nostril, and bore his lip with a clasp?

English Revised Version
He lieth under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the fen.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He slepith vndur schadewe, in the pryuete of rehed, in moiste places.

Update Bible Version
He lies under the lotus-trees, In the covert of the reed, and the fen.

Webster's Bible Translation
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.

New King James Version
He lies under the lotus trees, In a covert of reeds and marsh.

New Living Translation
It lies under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds in the marsh.

New Life Bible
He lies down under the lotus plants, hidden in the high river grass.

New Revised Standard
Under the lotus plants it lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Under the lotus-trees, he lieth down, in a covert of reed and swamp;

Douay-Rheims Bible
(40-16) He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places.

Revised Standard Version
Under the lotus plants he lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.

Young's Literal Translation
Under shades he lieth down, In a secret place of reed and mire.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Under the lotus plants he lies down, In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ I created both you and the hippopotamus. It eats only grass like an ox, ¹⁶ but look at the mighty muscles in its body ¹⁷ and legs. Its tail is like a cedar tree, and its thighs are thick. ¹⁸ The bones in its legs are like bronze or iron. ¹⁹ I made it more powerful than any other creature, yet I am stronger still. ²⁰ Undisturbed, it eats grass while the other animals play nearby. ²¹ It rests in the shade of trees along the riverbank ²² or hides among reeds in the swamp. ²³ It remains calm and unafraid with the Jordan River rushing and splashing in its face. ²⁴ There is no way to capture a hippopotamus— not even by hooking its nose or blinding its eyes.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the reed: Isaiah 19:6, Isaiah 19:7, Isaiah 35:7

Cross-References

Genesis 40:13
and in three days the king will pardon you. He will make you his personal servant again, and you will serve him his wine, just as you used to do.

Nehemiah 2:1
During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was king, I served him his wine, as I had done before. But this was the first time I had ever looked depressed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed,

and fens. This may be thought to agree very well with the river horse, the inhabitant of the Nile, where reeds in great plenty grew, and adjoining to which were fenny and marshy places, and shady trees; and, as historians relate e, this creature takes its lodging among high reeds, and in shady places; yea, the reeds and sugar canes, and the leaves of the papyrus, are part of the food on which it lives; and hence the hunters of them sometimes cover their bait with a reed to take them; though it must be allowed that the elephant delights to be about rivers, and in clayey and fenny places f, and therefore Aelianus g says it may be called the fenny animal.

e Ammian. Marcellin. l. 22. Bellonius & Achilles Tatius apud Bochart ut supra. (Apud Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 14. col. 760.) f Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 46. Plin. l. 8. c. 10. Aelian. de Animal. l. 9. c. 56. g lbid. l. 9. c. 24.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He lieth under the shady trees - Referring to his usually inactive and lazy life. He is disposed to lie down in the shade, and especially in the vegetable growth in marshy places on the banks of lakes and rivers, rather than to dwell in the open field or in the upland forest. This account agrees well with the habits of the hippopotamus. The word here and in Job 40:22 rendered “shady trees” (צאלים tse'eliym), is by Gesenius, Noyes, Prof. Lee, and Schultens, translated “lotus,” and “wild lotus.” The Vulgate, Syriac, Rosenmuller, Aben-Ezra, and others, render it “shady trees.” It occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures, and it is difficult, therefore, to determine its meaning. According to Schultens and Gesenius, it is derived from the obsolete word צאל tsā'al, “to be thin, slender;” and hence, in Arabic it is applied to the “wild lotus” - a plant that grows abundantly on the banks of the Nile, and that often serves the wild beasts of the desert for a place of retreat. It is not very important whether it be rendered the “lotus,” or “shades,” though the probable derivation of the word seems to favor the former.

In the covert of the reed - It is well known that reeds abounded on the banks of the Nile. These would furnish a convenient and a natural retreat for the hippopotamus.

And fens - בצה bitstsâh - “marsh, marshy places.” This passage proves that the elephant is not here referred to. He is never found in such places.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 40:21. He lieth under the shady trees — This and the following verses refer to certain habits of the behemoth, with which we are and must be unacquainted,