CHAPTER XL.

A. M. 2484. yea, twice; but I will proceed no fur- || cellency; and array thyself with glory A. M. 2484. ther. and beauty.

9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou their faces in secret.

14 Then will I also confess unto thee that

10 Deck thyself now with majesty and ex- thine own right hand can save thee.

the faces of condemned persons and of dead men. may serve instead of a commentary upon the pasIn secret--Either secretly, with a secret and invisi- sage. The ancient is Achilles Tatius, who thus deble stroke, that it may appear to come from the hand scribes the animal: "Some persons chanced to meet of God, or in a secret place: that is, bury them in with, and take a river monster, which was very retheir graves. Then will I confess unto thee, &c.—||markable. The Egyptians call it the river-horse, That thou art my equal, and mayest venture to con- or horse of the river Nile; and it resembles a horse, tend with me. indeed, in its feet and body, excepting that its hoofs are cloven. Its tail is short, and without hair, as well as the rest of the body. Its head is round, but not small; its jaws, or cheeks, resemble those of a horse; its nostrils are very large, and breathe out a vapour like smoke; its mouth is wide, and extends to the temples; its teeth, especially those called the canine, are curved like those of a horse, both in their form and situation, but thrice as large. It is a very voracious animal, and would consume the produce of a whole field. It is very strongly made all over, and its skin so hard that it is impenetrable to any weapon." The modern traveller is the Sieur Thevenot, who saw one of these animals at Cairo. "This animal," says he, "was of a tan colour; its hind parts resembled those of an ox, or buffalo, excepting that its feet were shorter and thicker; in size it is equal to a camel; its snout, or nose, is like that of an ox, and its body twice as big; its head resembles that of a horse, and is of the same size; its eyes are small; its crest is very thick; its ears are small; its nostrils very wide and open; its feet are very thick, pretty large, and have each four toes, like those of a crocodile; its tail is small, without any hair, like that of an elephant; its lower jaw has four large teeth, about half a foot long, two of them crooked, and as thick as the horns of an ox, one of which is on each side of the throat; beside these, it has two others, which are straight, of the same thickness as those which are crooked, and project forward." "The river-horse," says the doctor," shelters himself among the reeds; and the behemoth is said to be in the coverts of the reeds and fens, and to be compassed about with the willows of the brook. The river-horse feeds upon herbage of the Nile; and the behemoth is said to eat grass as an ox. No creature is known to have stronger ribs than the river-horse; and the bones of the behemoth are as strong pieces of brass, like bars of iron." See Lowth's Notes on his sixth Prelection, 8vo. edit.

Verse 15. Behold now behemoth-The word properly means beasts, and is so understood by the LXX., whose interpretation of the verse is, dov Onpia пара σoι, xoртоν loa ẞovoiv eoliovov, Behold the beasts with thee, they eat grass like oxen. According to Ab. Ezra, and the Targum, it is the name of any great beast. But R. Levi says, bestiam esse specialem, that it is an animal peculiarly called by that name. This, indeed, is probable from what follows, namely, His strength is in his loins: he moveth his tail, &c., and though the word, according to the termination oth, be strictly a plural in the feminine gender, yet we sometimes find it irregularly used for a singular. Thus, Psa. lxxiii. 22. So foolish was I, &c., I was, behemoth, a beast before thee. But the great question is, What beast it meant? The ancient and most generally received opinion has been, that it is the elephant. Thus Buxtorf, Singulariter, capitur pro elephante proper ingentem magnitudinem, It is taken in the singular number for the elephant, because of its vast greatness. "And I confess," says Henry, "I see no reason to depart from the opinion, that it is the elephant that is here described, which is a very strong, stately creature, of a very large stature, above any other, and of wonderful sagacity, and of such great reputation in the animal kingdom, that, among so many four-footed beasts as we have had the natural history of, chap. xxxviii. and xxxix., we can scarce suppose this should be omitted." They who understand this of the elephant, take the following animal, called leviathan, for the whale; observing, that as these are two of the goodliest and vastest creatures which God hath made, the one of the land, the other of the sea, and withal such as the description here given, for the most part, mani- || festly agrees to, it is most probable they are here intended. But some later and very learned men take the leviathan to be the crocodile, and the behemoth to be a creature called the hippopotamus, or river-horse, which may seem to be fitly joined Verse 16. His strength is in his loins-He hath with the crocodile, both being very well known to strength answerable to his bulk, but he is of a mild Job and his friends, as being frequent in the adja- disposition, and his strength, by God's wise and cent places, both amphibious, living and preying merciful providence, is not an offensive strength, both in the water and upon the land, and both being consisting in, or put forth by, horns or claws, as it creatures of great bulk and strength. Dr. Dodd, is in ravenous creatures, but only defensive, and seatwho is of opinion that Bochart has proved to a de- ed in his loins. And his force is in the navel of his monstration that the behemoth is the hippopota-belly-From hence Bochart argues that behemoth mus, has presented us with two descriptions, one from the ancients, and the other from a modern, who saw the creature; which descriptions, he thinks,

the

cannot be the elephant, as is generally supposed: because the strength of an elephant consists not in his belly; for though his hide on the back is very

A. M. 2484. 17 2 He moveth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his stones are wrapped

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together.

Description of behemoth.

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20 Surely the mountains 1 bring him A. M. 2484. forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.

18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; 21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the cohis bones are like bars of iron. vert of the reeds and fens.

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

2 Or, He setteth up. Psa. civ. 14.

hard, yet on the belly it is soft. And therefore the rhinoceros, contending with him, aims chiefly at his paunch, knowing, as it were, that to be a soft place, and more capable of being injured. On the other hand, the description, he urges, agrees well with the hippopotamus, which is remarkable, both for the strength of his belly and navel, as well as other parts of his body; the skin being so firm and thick as to be almost impenetrable, and able to resist the force of spears and darts.

Verse 17. He moveth his tail like a cedarThough the tail be but short, both in the elephant, and in the hippopotamus; yet, when it is erected, it is exceeding stiff and strong. The sinews of his stones, &c.-Rather, of his thighs, as the Hebrew may be rendered. The thighs and feet of the riverhorse are so sinewy and strong that one of them is able to break or overturn a large boat.

the

ed him with his scythe, taking the Hebrew word, rendered sword, or scythe, to denote the instrument by which this animal gathers his food. Houbigant's translation of the clause is, His Creator sharpeneth his crooked tooth.

Verse 20. The mountains bring him forth food— Though this creature be so vastly large, and require much food, and no man careth for it, yet God provides for it out of his own stores, and makes the desert mountains to afford it sufficient sustenance. This particular of the description seems more applicable to the elephant than the hippopotamus, which, though he fetches his food, in a great measure, from the land, feeding on the herbage on the banks of the Nile, and among the lakes and fens of Ethiopia, through which that river passes, yet can hardly be said to pasture upon the mountains. Both animals consume great quantities of food, and it must be acknowledged to be an instance of the goodness of God that he hath so ordered it that they feed on grass, and the other products of the field, and not on flesh; for if the latter had been their usual food, great multitudes of creatures must have died continually to keep them alive. Where all the beasts of the field play-This is equally applicable both to the elephant and the river-horse. The beasts of the field not only feed securely, but sport themselves by both of them, being taught by experience that they are gentle and harmless, and never prey upon them.

Verses 18, 19. His bones-Under which title are comprehended his ribs, (as the LXX. here render it,) and his teeth; are as strong pieces of brassExceeding hard and strong. Such they are both in the elephant and river-horse. He is the chief of ways of God―That is, of God's works, namely, of that sort, or among living and brute creatures. This is eminently and unquestionably true of the elephant, in regard of his vast bulk and strength, joined with great activity; and especially of his admirable sagacity, and aptness to learn; and of his singular usefulness to man, his lord and master; and many other commendable qualities. And the hip- Verses 21, 22. He lieth under the shady trees, &c. popotamus also is, in some sort, the chief, or one-Or, He lieth down secretly between the shady of the chief, of God's works, in regard of his bulk, trees, under the covert of the reed, and in the fens, which, say the authors of the Encyclopedia Britan- Houbigant and Heath. The shady trees cover him nica, "is so great that twelve oxen were found neces- -The Hebrew, literally translated, is, The shady sary to draw one ashore, which had been shot in a trees, (1, tzillo,) his shadow, cover him, or, are river beyond the Cape of Good Hope; and Hassel- his arbour: the willows of the brook, or, as ní, naquist says, his hide is a load for a camel." His chal, is often rendered, of the river, compass him strength and sagacity also are very remarkable, as about. Bochart argues, that the elephant is not dewell as the manner of his living, both in the water scribed here, because he rarely lies down, sed rectus and on the land. But it must be granted, that the dormit, sleeps standing upright. And he quotes a elephant exceeds the hippopotamus in many things. passage from Marcellinus, exactly parallel to this, Can make his sword to approach unto him-Though to show that it is perfectly applicable to the riverhe be so strong and terrible, yet God can easily sub-horse, which inter arundines celsas et squalentes due, or destroy him, either immediately, or by arm- nimia densitate cubilia ponit, makes his bed among ing other creatures against him. But, 12 w wyn, the lofty reeds and in muddy fens. hagnosho jaggesh charbo, may be properly rendered, He that made him hath applied, or given to him, his sword, or arms, that is, He hath formed him so as to make him appear dreadful and terrible. Heath renders it, He who made him hath furnish- ||

Verse 23. Behold, he drinketh up a river-A great quantity of water, hyperbolically called a river. He swalloweth the waters to such a degree, says Aben Ezra, as to diminish their fulness. This may be fitly applied to the elephant, says Poole,

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"which, because of its great bulk and vehement || to resist and overcome, and therefore they are comthirst, drinks a great quantity of water at one pelled to make use of many wiles and stratagems to draught, as naturalists and historians have observ- take him; which is true, both of the elephant and ed." And hasteth not-He does not drink with fear of the hippopotamus. And the latter clause is renand caution, and sparingly, as the dogs do, who drink dered by Heath, Can cords be drawn through his at the Nile, for fear of the crocodile; but such is his nose? and by Houbigant, Can his nose be perforated courage and self-confidence, that he fears no enemy with hooks? "The way of taking these animals," either by water or by land, but drinks securely and (the hippopotami,) says Dr. Dodd, “as related by freely. He trusteth he can draw up Jordan into || Achilles Tatius, will explain this passage. The huntshis mouth-He drinks as if he designed, or hoped, men, having found the places where they haunt, dig to drink up the whole river. Bochart and others a trench or ditch, which they cover with reeds and say that Jordan is put here, by a figure, for any earth, having placed underneath a wooden chest river; but Houbigant is of opinion that Jordan it- whose lids are open, like a folding-door, on each self is meant, which was not far from the land of || side, to the height of the cavity; after this they conUz, and at which not only many elephants, no doubt, ceal themselves, watching till the beast is taken; for used to drink, but in which it is probable there were as soon as ever it treads on the surface of the hole, it river-horses, as well as in the Nile. For, it is sup- || is sure to fall to the bottom. The huntsmen run up posed, they might come into Jordan from the Dead immediately to the cavity and shut down the lids, sea, and into that by subterraneous passages from the and by these means catch the beast, which could not Red, or the Mediterranean sea. It may be proper to be taken by any other method, on account of its proobserve here, that many other learned men who in- digious strength." The latter clause of the verse sigterpret this paragraph of the hippopotamus propose a nifies literally, Canst thou bore his nose with cords? different translation of this verse: thus, Behold, let But this kind of boring is made by a hook, in order the river press him, he will not tremble; he trusteth || to insert a cord to lead the creature about with pleathat he can spout forth Jordan with his mouth. And sure. It is very remarkable, that this cord in the they paraphrase it thus, No sudden rising of the ox's nose serves instead of a bit to guide him. This river, which makes it flow with uncommon violence | Thevenot confirms in his Voyage to Indostan, where, and fury, gives him any alarm or fear. He is not having mentioned that oxen are used instead of borne away with the rapidity of the stream from his horses for travelling, he adds, "These creatures are place, but enjoys himself the same as if the river ran managed like our horses, and have no other bits or with its usual flow: and, were such a river as Jor- bridles than a cord which passes through the tendon dan to break forth suddenly from the earth, he would of their nose or nostrils." So that this boring his not be terrified; for he trusteth he can throw back nose and introducing a cord were not to take, but to its waters from his mouth. keep him, in order to make him serviceable when taken.-Heath. I would just observe upon this and the following description, that nervous and excellent as they are, they do not strike us with the same degree of admiration as the foregoing description of the horse, because we are not so well acquainted with the nature of the animals described. Dr. Young renders the last two verses of this chapter thus:

Verse 24. He taketh it with his eyes-He imagines, when he sees it, that he can take the whole river and drink it up. His nose pierceth through snares—The elephant will not be kept from the water by any snares or impediments, but removes them all by his trunk; and both he and the river-horse securely thrust their snouts deep into the river, through their eagerness to satisfy their thirst. But different conHis eye drinks Jordan up, when fired with drought, structions are put upon this verse also by learned He trusts to turn its current down his throat: men. Bochart and several others think the former clause should be read with an interrogation, thus, In lessen'd waves it creeps along the plain, He sinks a river, and he thirsts again." Who will, or who can take him in his eyes? That is, while he sees them, and is sensible what they are The reader who can have access to the Encyclop. about: or openly, and by manifest force? Surely Brit. may there find a full account both of the elenone. His force and strength are too great for men || phant and the hippopotamus.

CHAPTER XLI.

To convince Job of his wickedness, he is here challenged to subdue and tame the leviathan, 1-10. A particular description

of him, 11-34.

2

The Lord answers Job.

CHAPTER XLI.

Description of the leviathan.

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A. M. 2484. CANST thou draw out 1leviathan || with a cord 2 which thou lettest A. M. 2484. a with a hook? or his tongue || down?

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1 That is, a whale,or, a whirlpool.- Psa. civ. 26; Isa. xxvii. 1.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XLI.

2 Heb. which thou drownest.

ment, this being a matter wherein Christians may Verse 1. Canst thou draw out leviathan with a vary without any hazard. Only this I will say, that hook? It is a great question among learned men, whatever becomes of the behemoth of the former what creature is meant by ¡n, leviathan. Our chapter, whether that be the elephant or the hippotranslators were evidently uncertain respecting it, potamus, that doth not at all determine the sense of and therefore have given us here and elsewhere, this leviathan, but leaves it indifferent to the whale where the word occurs, the original term itself, un- or the crocodile, as the context shall determine, translated. The LXX., however, (who are followed which, I confess, seems to me to favour the latter in two instances by the author of the Vulgate,) have more than the former. To which may be added, not done so, but have everywhere rendered it opakov, that it seems more probable that God should speak the dragon. But it is far from being certain that in of such creatures as were very well known to Job so doing they have given us the true meaning of the and his friends, as the crocodile was, than of such as word. It is much more probable that either the it was very uncertain whether they were known in whale or the crocodile is intended. It is evident the those parts, and in Job's time." The reader will obleviathan, mentioned Psa. civ. 26, is an inhabitant of serve, that the word leviathan is supposed to be dethe sea, and the description given of him is generally rived from ", levi, joined, or coupled, and ¡n, than, thought best to suit the whale. There (in the great or in, thannin, a dragon, that is, a large serpent, and wide sea) go the ships: there is that leviathan or fish, the word thannin being used both for a landwhich thou hast made to play therein. The same serpent and a kind of fish. And, "after comparing may be said concerning the leviathan, mentioned what Bochart and others have written on the subPsa. lxxiv. 14. It also appears to be an inhabitant ject, it appears to me," says Parkhurst, "that the of the sea. Now the dragon and crocodile, it is ar- compound word jr, leviathan, the coupled dragon, gued, have nothing to do with the sea, but only with denotes some animal partaking of the nature both of rivers, and therefore cannot be intended by levia- land-serpents and fishes, and, in this place, signifies than here. Divers other reasons are also advanced the crocodile, which lives as well under water as on to prove that the whale is the creature meant. "That the shore." Dr. Dodd also agrees with Parkhurst, which inclines me," says Henry, "rather to under- and the other learned men just mentioned, that Bostand it of the whale, is not only because it is much chart "has proved by arguments, strictly conclusive, larger and a nobler animal, but, because, in the his- that the crocodile must be meant in this chapter." It tory of the creation there is such an express notice may be observed further here, that, although it might taken of it as is not of any other species of animals have been expected, that the Creator should have whatsoever; God created great whales, Gen. i. 21. singled out and have dwelt upon two of the greatest By which it appears, not only that whales were well of his works in the animal creation, the elephant and known in those parts in Moses's time, who lived a the whale, the former the largest and most eminent little after Job; but that the creation of whales was of quadrupeds, and the latter of fishes, for the display generally looked upon as a most illustrious proof of of his power and glory; yet, that naturalists have the eternal power and godhead of the Creator. And found great, if not insuperable difficulties in their enwe may conjecture that this was the reason (for deavours to apply the particulars of this description otherwise it seems unaccountable) why Moses there to the whale. And all that can be said to solve these so particularly mentions the creation of the whales; difficulties is, that there are many different species because God had so lately, in this discourse with Job, of whales, several that are known, and probably more largely insisted upon the bulk and strength of many more that are not known; and that although that creature than of any other, as the proof of his this description, in all its parts, may not exactly suit power." At the same time, however, that Mr. Henry any species of them which we know, there may be thus delivers his opinion on the subject, he acknow- others in the immense ocean with which we are not ledges that many learned men were of a different acquainted that it may suit; creatures which, though mind; and, in particular, observes of Sir Richard comprehended under the general name of whales, Blackmore, that though he admitted the more re- may, in many respects, be very different from, and ceived opinion concerning the behemoth being the much larger than, any that have been taken. But elephant, yet he agreed with the learned Bochart's still it is very improbable, either that Job should notion of the leviathan, that it is the crocodile, so know any thing of such whales, or that Jehovah, well known in the river of Egypt. Poole also seems when reasoning with him and producing proofs of to have been of the same judgment. "It is evident," || his power and providence, should make his appeal to says he, "that the Hebrew, thannin, which is creatures with which Job had no acquaintance. It parallel to this word, leviathan, is used of the croco- seems, therefore, most probable that the crocodile is dile, Ezek. xxix. 3, 4, and xxxii. 3. But I shall not intended, and, we think, would be certain, were it positively determine this controversy," adds he, "but not that the leviathan is represented in some of the only show how far the text may be understood of passages where it is mentioned in Scripture, as we both of them, and then submit it to the reader's judg- have observed, as an inhabitant of the sea, whereas