Job 40:19

Complete Jewish Bible

"He ranks first among God's works. Only his maker can approach him with his sword.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He is the foremost of God’s works;only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

Hebrew Names Version
He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.

King James Version
He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

English Standard Version
"He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!

New Century Version
It is one of the first of God's works, but its Maker can destroy it.

New English Translation
It ranks first among the works of God, the One who made it has furnished it with a sword.

Amplified Bible
"He is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God; [Only] He who made him can bring near His sword [to master him].

New American Standard Bible
"He is the first of the ways of God; Let his Maker bring His sword near.

World English Bible
He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.

Geneva Bible (1587)
He is the chiefe of the wayes of God: he that made him, will make his sworde to approch vnto him.

Legacy Standard Bible
"It is the first of the ways of God;Let its Maker bring near its sword.

Berean Standard Bible
He is the foremost of God's works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

Contemporary English Version
I made it more powerful than any other creature, yet I am stronger still.

Darby Translation
He is the chief of God's ways: he that made him gave him his sword.

Easy-to-Read Version
The behemoth is the most amazing animal I made, but I can defeat him.

George Lamsa Translation
He is the chief among Gods creations; for he made him powerful to fight.

Good News Translation
The most amazing of all my creatures! Only his Creator can defeat him.

Lexham English Bible
"It is the first of God's actions; the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.

Literal Translation
he is the first in the ways of God; his Maker brings near his sword.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
First when God made him, he ordened the wyldernesse for him,

American Standard Version
He is the chief of the ways of God: He only that made him giveth him his sword.

Bible in Basic English
He is the chief of the ways of God, made by him for his pleasure.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
He is the beginning of the ways of God; He only that made him can make His sword to approach unto him.

King James Version (1611)
Hee is the chiefe of the wayes of God: he that made him, can make his sword to approach vnto him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He is the chiefe of the wayes of God, he that made him wyl make his sword to approche vnto him.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Yet one shall take him in his sight; one shall catch him with a cord, and pierce his nose.

English Revised Version
He is the chief of the ways of God: he only that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He is the bigynnyng of the weies of God; he, that made hym, schal sette his swerd to hym.

Update Bible Version
He is the chief of the ways of God: [Only] he who made him brings his sword near.

Webster's Bible Translation
He [is] the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach [him].

New King James Version
He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

New Living Translation
It is a prime example of God's handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.

New Life Bible
"He is the first of the works of God. Let his maker bring him his sword.

New Revised Standard
"It is the first of the great acts of God— only its Maker can approach it with the sword.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
He, is the beginning of the ways of GOD, Let his maker, present him his sword:

Douay-Rheims Bible
(40-14) He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he will apply his sword.

Revised Standard Version
"He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!

Young's Literal Translation
He [is] a beginning of the ways of God, His Maker bringeth nigh his sword;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He is the first of the ways of God; Let his maker bring near his sword.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ "Now consider Behemot, whom I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox. ¹⁶ What strength he has in his loins! What power in his stomach muscles! ¹⁷ He can make his tail as stiff as a cedar, the muscles in his thighs are like cables, ¹⁸ his bones are like bronze pipes, his limbs like iron bars. ¹⁹ "He ranks first among God's works. Only his maker can approach him with his sword. ²⁰ The mountains produce food for him there, where all the wild animals play. ²¹ He lies down under the thorny lotus bushes and is hidden by the reeds in the swamp; ²² the lotus bushes cover him with their shade, and the willows by the stream surround him. ²³ If the river overflows, it doesn't worry him; he is confident even if the Yarden rushes by his mouth. ²⁴ Can anyone catch him by his eyes or pierce his nose with a hook? "And Livyatan! Can you catch him with a fishhook or hold his tongue down with a rope? Can you put a ring in his nose or pierce his jaw with a barb? Will he entreat you at length? Will he speak with you softly? Will he agree with you to be your slave forever? Will you play with him as you would with a bird or keep him on a string to amuse your little girls? Will a group of fishermen turn him into a banquet? Will they divide him among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with darts or his head with fish-spears? If you lay your hand on him, you won't forget the fight, and you'll never do it again!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the chief: Job 26:13, Psalms 104:24

he that: Psalms 7:12, Isaiah 27:1

Reciprocal: Job 41:33 - Upon

Cross-References

Genesis 40:13
Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office: you will be giving Pharaoh his cup as you used to when you were his cupbearer.

Genesis 40:17
In the uppermost basket there were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds ate them out of the basket on my head."

Genesis 40:22
But he hanged the chief baker, as Yosef had interpreted to them.

Genesis 40:23
Nevertheless, the chief cupbearer didn't remember Yosef, but forgot him. Haftarah Vayeshev: ‘Amos (Amos) 2:6–3:8 B'rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Vayeshev: Acts 7:9–16 (specifically vv. 9–10)

Genesis 41:13
And it came about as he interpreted to us — I was restored to my office, and he was hanged."

Joshua 8:29
The king of ‘Ai he hanged on a tree until evening; at sundown Y'hoshua gave an order, so they took his carcass down from the tree, threw it at the entrance of the city gate and piled on it a big heap of stones, which is there to this day.

Joshua 10:26
With that, Y'hoshua struck them and put them to death, hanging them on five trees, where they remained hanging until evening.

1 Samuel 17:44
Then the P'lishti said to David, "Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds in the air and the wild animals."

1 Samuel 17:46
Today Adonai will hand you over to me. I will attack you, lop your head off, and give the carcasses of the army of the P'lishtim to the birds in the air and the animals in the land. Then all the land will know that there is a God in Isra'el,

2 Samuel 21:6
have seven of his male descendants handed over to us, and we will put them to death by hanging before Adonai in Giv‘ah of Sha'ul, whom Adonai chose." The king said, "I will hand them over."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He [is] the chief of the ways of God,.... Or the beginning of them, that is, of the works of God in creation; which must be restrained to animals, otherwise there were works wrought before any of them were created. There were none made before the fifth day of the creation, and on that day was the river horse made; in which respect it has the preference to the elephant, not made till the sixth day. But if this phrase is expressive of the superior excellency of behemoth over other works of God, as it seems to be, it must be limited to the kind of which it is; otherwise man is the chief of all God's ways or works, made either on the fifth or sixth day: and so as the elephant may be observed to be the chief of the beasts of the earth, or of land animals, for its largeness and strength, its sagacity, docility, gentleness, and the like; so the river horse may be said to be the chief of its kind, of the aquatic animals, or of the amphibious ones, for the bulk of its body, which is not unlike that of the elephant, as says Diodorus Siculus q; and it has been by some called the Egyptian elephant r; and also from its great sagacity, of which instances are given by some writers s. However, it is one of the chief works of God, or a famous, excellent, and remarkable one, which may be the sense of the expression; see Numbers 24:20. It might be remarked in favour of the elephant, that it seems to have its name from אלף, the first and chief; as the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is called "aleph"; unless it should have its name from this root, on account of its docility;

he that made him can make his sword to approach [unto him]; not the sword of God, as if this creature could not be killed by any but by him that made it; for whether the elephant or river horse be understood, they are both to be taken and slain: but the sword of behemoth is that which he himself is furnished with; which some understand of the trunk of the elephant, with which he defends himself and annoys others; but that has no likeness of a sword. Bochart t renders the word by "harpe", which signifies a crooked instrument, sickle or scythe; and interprets it of the teeth of the river horse, which are sharp and long, and bent like a scythe. That which Thevenot u saw had four great teeth in the lower jaw, half a foot long, two whereof were crooked; and one on each side of the jaw; the other two were straight, and of the same length as the crooked, but standing out in the length: see the figure of it in Scheuchzer w; by which it also appears to have six teeth. Another traveller says x, of the teeth of the sea horse, that they are round like a bow, and about sixteen inches long, and in the biggest part more than six inches about: but another relation y agrees more nearly with Thevenot and Scheuchzer; that four of its teeth are longer than the rest, two in the upper jaw, one on each side, and two more in the under; these last are four or five inches long, the other two shorter; with which it mows down the corn and grass in great quantities: so that Diodorus Siculus z observes, that if this animal was very fruitful, and brought forth many young and frequently, the fields in Egypt would be utterly destroyed. This interpretation agrees with what follows.

q Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 136. & l. 3. p. 173. 174. 175.) r Achilles Tatius, l. 4. s Ammian. Marcellin. Plin. Solin. ut supra. Vid. Plin. l. 28. c. 8. t Ut supra, (Apud Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 14.) col. 760. u Travels, part 1. c. 72. w Physic. Sacr. tab. 532. x Dampier's Voyages, vol. 2. part 2. p. 105. y Capt. Rogers apud Dampier, ib. p. 106. z Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 136. & l. 3. p. 173. 174. 175.)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He is the chief of the ways of God - In size and strength. The word rendered “chief” is used in a similar sense in Numbers 24:20, “Amalek was the first of the nations;” that is, one of the most powerful and mighty of the nations.

He that made him can make his sword approach unto him - According to this translation, the sense is, that God had power over him, notwithstanding his great strength and size, and could take his life when he pleased. Yet this, though it would be a correct sentiment, does not seem to be that which the connection demands. That would seem to require some allusion to the strength of the animal; and accordingly, the translation suggested by Bochart, and adopted substantially by Rosenmuller, Umbreit, Noyes, Schultens, Prof. Lee, and others, is to be preferred - “He that made him furnished him with a sword.” The allusion then would be to his strong, sharp teeth, hearing a resemblance to a sword, and designed either for defense or for the purpose of cutting the long grass on which it fed when on the land. The propriety of this interpretation may be seen vindicated at length in Bochart, “Hieroz.” P. ii. Lib. v. c. xv. pp. 766, 762. The ἅρπη harpē, i. e. the sickle or scythe, was ascribed to the hippopotamus by some of the Greek writers. Thus, Nicander, “Theriacon,” verse 566:

Η ἵππον, τὸν Νεῖλος ύπερ Σάιν αἰθαλοεσσαν

Βόσκει, ἀρούρησιν δὲ κακὴν ἐπιβάλλεται

ἍΡΠΗΝ.

Ee hippon, ton Neilos huper Sain aithaloessan

Boskei, arourēsin de kakēn epiballetai.

Harpēn

On this passage the Scholiast remarks, “The ἅρπη harpē, means a sickle, and the teeth of the hippopotamus are so called - teaching that this animal consumes (τρώγει trōgei) the harvest.” See Bochart also for other examples. A slight inspection of the “cut” will show with what propriety it is said of the Creator of the hippopotamus, that he had armed him with a sickle, or sword.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 40:19. He is the chief of the ways of God — The largest, strongest, and swiftest quadruped that God has formed.

He that made him — No power of man or beast can overcome him. God alone can overcome him, and God alone could make his sword (of extinction) approach to him.