properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
tail
זְנָב֣וֹze.na.Vo
H2180
the tail (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
cedar
אָ֑רֶז'A.rez
H730
a cedar tree (from the tenacity of its roots) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sinews
גִּידֵ֖יgi.Dei
H1517
a thong (as compressing) · noun, common masculine plural construct
stones
פַחֲדָ֣יוfa.cha.dov
H6344
a testicle (as a cause of shame akin to fear) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
together
יְשֹׂרָֽגוּye.so.Ra.gu
H8276
to intwine · verb, pual imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 41:23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 40:15–end
God, for the further proving of his own power and disproving of Job's pretensions, concludes his discourse with the description of two vast and mighty animals, far exceeding man in bulk and strength, one he calls behemoth, the other leviathan. In these verses we have the former described. "Behold now behemoth, and consider whether thou art able to contend with him who made that beast and gave him all the power he has, and whether it is not thy wisdom rather to submit to him and make thy peace with him." Behemoth signifies beasts in general, but must here be meant of some one particular species. Some understand it of the bull; others of an amphibious animal, well known (they say) in Egypt, ca…
like a cedar--As the tempest bends the cedar, so it can move its smooth thick tail [UMBREIT]. But the cedar implies straightness and length, such as do not apply to the river horse's short tail, but perhaps to an extinct species of animal (see on Job 40:15).
stones--rather, "thighs."
wrapped--firmly twisted together, like a thick rope.
Adam Clarke on Job 40:17
He moveth his tail like a cedar - Therefore it was neither the elephant, who has a tail like that of the hog, nor the hippopotamus, whose tail is only about a foot long.
The sinews of his stones - I translate with Mr. Good, and for the same reasons, the sinews of his haunches, which is still more characteristic; as the animal must have excelled in leaping.
John Gill on Job 40:17
He moveth his tail like a cedar,.... To which it is compared, not for the length and largeness of it; for the tail both of the elephant and of the river horse is short; though Vartomannus (c) says, the tail of the elephant is like a buffalo's, and is four hands long, and thin of hair: but because of the smoothness, roundness, thickness, and firmness of it; such is the tail of the river horse, being like that of a hog or boar (d); which is crooked, twisted, and which it is said to turn back and about at pleasure, as the word used is thought to signify. Aben Ezra interprets it, "maketh to stand": that is, stiff and strong, and firm like a cedar. One writer (e) speaks of the horse of the Nile,…
The Church Fathers
He setteth fast his tail, like a cedar. 22. There are in these words many points, to be brought forward for moral instruction. But we examine in the first place the violences of this Behemoth, in order afterwards to detect more accurately his crafts. In Holy Scripture under the name 'cedar,' sometimes the lofty excellence of heavenly glory is expressed; but sometimes the stubborn pride of the wicked is designated. By the name 'cedar' is expressed the loftiness of heavenly glory, as the Psalmist witnesses, The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall be multiplied like a cedar in Libanus. [Ps. 92, 12] Again, under the name 'cedar' is designated the haughty power of the wicked, as is said by the same Prophet; The voice of the Lord breaking the cedars. [Ps. 29, 5] But what is meant by the tail of this Behemoth, except that latter end of the ancient enemy, when he enters, doubtless, that ruined man, his peculiar vessel, who is specially called Antichrist? For since he is permitted, at one time by the honours of the world, at another by signs and prodigies of pretended sanctity, to be elevated to the swelling of power, his tail is rightly compared by the voice of the Lord to a cedar. For as a cedar leaves behind other trees by increasing in height, in like manner will Antichrist, possessing in temporal things the glory of the world, surpass at this time the standard of man both in the height of his honour, and in the power of his miracles. For there is in him a spirit, who having been created in high estate, lost not, even when cast down, the power of his nature. But his power is at present very little displayed, because it is held bound by an exercise of Divine strength. Whence it is said by John; I saw an Angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand: and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him. [Rev. 20, 1-3] For he is said to be bound, and cast into the bottomless pit; because he is thrust back and bound in the hearts of the wicked by Divine power, so as not to be unchecked, as far as he is able to hurt; that, though he may secretly rage by them, he may not break forth into the violent ravages of pride. But it is there intimated how he is to be loosed…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Behemoth — (Job 40:15-24). Some have supposed this to be an Egyptian word meaning a “water-ox.” The Revised Version has here in the margin “hippopotamus,” which is probably the correct rendering of the word.…
Cedar — (Heb. e’rez, Gr. kedros, Lat. cedrus), a tree very frequently mentioned in Scripture. It was stately (Ezek. 31:3-5), long-branched (Ps. 80:10; 92:12; Ezek. 31:6-9), odoriferous (Cant. 4:11; Hos.…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
15 Behold now the behmth,
Which I have made with thee:
He eateth grass like an ox.
16 Behold now, his strength is in his loins,
And his force in the sinews of his belly.
17 He bendeth his tail like a cedar branch,
The sinews of his legs are firmly interwoven.
18 His bones are like tubes of brass,
His bones like bars of iron.
בּהמות (after the manner of the intensive plur. הוללות, חכמות, which play the part of the abstract termination), which sounds like a plur., but without the numerical plural signification, considered as Hebrew, denotes the beast κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν, or the giant of beasts, is however Hebraized from the Egyptian p-ehe-mau, (muau), i.e., the (p) ox (ehe) of the water (mau as in…
Following a list of natural animals (39:1-30), God described Behemoth (40:15-24) and Leviathan (41:1-34) as creatures that man cannot tame. Job couldn’t tame the wild donkey or ox (39:5-12), let alone Behemoth and Leviathan (40:15-24), but God created them and could control them, and Job had to acknowledge it (41:2). • Here Behemoth seems to be a natural creature: (1) It is an animal that God made, just as he made Job (40:15); (2) it is not a dreadful predator but eats grass like an ox (40:15); and (3) it is in a poem describing God’s creation of the natural order, rather than in a mythological story of the world’s formation. Most commentators identify Behemoth with the hippopotamus, a huge,…
hardens Heb. יחפץ like יַחְפּוֹז, hardens. Similarly, in the language of the Sages: דַחַפִּיזָא כִּי אוּפְתָּא (Hullin 47b), hard as wood.
his testicles Heb. פַחֲדָיו.
are knit together Heb. ישרגו, twisted cords, like (Lam. 1:14), “they are knit together (ישתרגו),” or the webbing (שריגי) of a bed in the language of the Mishnah, (Moed Katan 1:8), and it is an expression of twisted cords.
