Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened; he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
God answers Job by pointing at an animal He made, called behemoth. Verse 23 is the peak of that description: the river can rage, and the beast does not flinch.
The Picture in the Verse
One writer describes where this beast likes to lie down, and how it meets the flood there.
William KellyHigh ground is not where he loves to lie down. He lies under the lotuses, where the reed and the marsh give him cover. The lotuses are his shade, and the willows too. No swelling floods startle him: he waits calmly for a Jordan rushing to his mouth.
The verse names the Jordan. One dictionary explains what its flooding meant to people who lived near it:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe 'SWELLING' of Jordan is mentioned as causing dangers or difficulties. It not only stopped people crossing at the usual fords. It also disturbed the wild beasts in their lairs on its banks, as is mentioned three times (Jeremiah 12:5; 49:19; 50:44).
The Identity of Behemoth
Commentators differ on which animal this is. Some read the passage as a portrait of the hippopotamus, and of God's greatness in making it.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe Lord asks Job to consider the behemoth. It is surely the hippopotamus (the Greek word means river-horse). A description of this powerful beast follows. He calls the behemoth the "chief of the ways of God," one of His greatest works in animal creation. The behemoth is one of Job's fellow-creatures, "which I made as I made you." He has tremendous strength in his loins and legs. He rests under the shady trees and fears nothing.
Others object that the description does not fit that animal at all:
Leslie M. GrantSome have thought this refers to a hippopotamus. But that animal has a small tail, while behemoth "moves his tail like a cedar" (v.17). Perhaps this animal is now extinct, since its tail seems to look like a dinosaur's.
(Grant quotes an older translation of verse 17. The ESV reads, "He makes his tail stiff like a cedar.")
Either way, God made the creature, and Job could not tame it.
Calm in the Middle of a Flood
Verse 23 puts its weight on the beast's calm, not on the flood.
Leslie M. GrantHe is the very picture of self-confident power. Even the river may rage while he is at peace (v.23). He drinks in great amounts of water rather than be drowned in it.
Strength That Serves No One
But calm is not the same as good. One writer asks what the beast does with all that power.
Samuel RidoutIn other words, he is an untamable, uncontrollable beast. He is of no use for man's service. The whole description gives the impression of absolute power used for completely selfish ends. It lives for itself, refusing to give its strength to the service of others.
Why God Points to It
People often read these chapters as nature writing. One writer says that misses why God gave them.
William KellyMen talk as if God's object was merely to occupy us with His works. God, on the contrary, brings forward His works to turn us away from our own thoughts and bow us to Himself. For if the works of God are so wonderful, who is He that made them? And what is man if he dares to judge such a God?... Do you think that after this Job was occupied with behemoth or with leviathan? Not at all, but with God; and this was the design of it all.
The Mirror Held Up to Job
God sets this creature in front of Job as a measuring stick.
Samuel RidoutAnd yet he is only a creature, given by God, for His all-wise purposes, with superhuman strength. Let Job consider this creature, self-sufficient and unstoppable. Let everyone do the same who is tempted to trust in their own strength — strength of body, as here, or of heart and mind. How small their own arm will look.
And the final sting is the comparison of ranks:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinBehemoth then is a powerful, uncontrollable beast which lives for itself. How weak, then, is man compared with this beast that has such marvellous strength. Yet it is only a beast, and Job is a man. How hateful, then, must Job's pride and boasting appear in the sight of the Lord.
Summary
- Flood. A flooding Jordan drove wild beasts from their lairs. This beast does not move.
- Confidence. Another animal would drown. This one drinks the water in. That is self-confident power.
- Selfishness. That power is untamable and useless to anyone; it lives for itself and will not lend its strength to serve.
- Smallness. Set beside such strength, the arm a man trusts in — body, heart, or mind — looks tiny.
- God. The beast is never the point. God shows His works to turn us from our own thoughts and bow us to Himself. Job ended up occupied with God, not behemoth.