Job 40:15-24
Evangelical Heritage Version
Behemoth
15 Take a look at Behemoth,[a]
which I made just as I made you.
He eats grass like cattle.
16 Would you look at the power of his hips
and the strength of the muscles of his belly!
17 He stiffens his tail[b] like a cedar.
The tendons of his thighs[c] are tight.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze.
His skeleton is like bars of iron.
19 He stands at the head of God’s creatures,
but his Maker draws near with his sword.[d]
20 Yes, the mountains carry their floodwaters[e] to him.
All the wild animals play there.
21 He lies under the lotus plants,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotus plants cover him with their shadows.
Poplars by the stream surround him.
23 The river rages, but he is not frightened.
He remains calm even if the Jordan bursts into his mouth.
24 Can people capture him by his eyes?
Can they pierce his nose with a hook?
Footnotes
- Job 40:15 Or the Beast. This is a poetic description, which does not exactly match any known animal, though the hippopotamus has been suggested as the closest match. Other suggestions are the elephant or some form of dinosaur.
- Job 40:17 Or penis. The Hebrew word zanav, which most often means tail, can be used as a euphemism for penis.
- Job 40:17 Or testicles. The Targum, the Vulgate, Luther, and the King James Version all support the interpretation testicles.
- Job 40:19 Or his Maker provided him with his sword
- Job 40:20 Or food. The word occurs only here. The translation accepts the view that it is derived from a verb that means flow violently. Many translations accept a derivation from a verb that means produce.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.