Ayub 40:20--41:5

40:20 For the hills bring it food, ¹ 

where all the wild animals play.

40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies,

in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.

40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their ²  shadow;

the poplars by the stream conceal it.

40:23 If the river rages, ³  it is not disturbed,

it is secure, ⁴  though the Jordan

should surge up to its mouth.

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, ⁵ 

or pierce its nose with a snare? ⁶ 

The Description of Leviathan

41:1 (40:25) ⁷  “Can you pull in ⁸  Leviathan with a hook,

and tie down ⁹  its tongue with a rope?

41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose,

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, ¹⁰ 

will it speak to you with tender words? ¹¹ 

41:4 Will it make a pact ¹²  with you,

so you could take it ¹³  as your slave for life?

41:5 Can you play ¹⁴  with it, like a bird,

or tie it on a leash ¹⁵  for your girls?

[40:20]  ¹ tn The word בּוּל (bul) probably refers to food. Many take it as an abbreviated form of יְבוּל (yÿvul, “produce of the field”). The vegetation that is produced on the low hills is what is meant.

[40:22]  ² tn The suffix is singular, but must refer to the trees’ shade.

[40:23]  ³ tn The word ordinarily means “to oppress.” So many commentators have proposed suitable changes: “overflows” (Beer), “gushes” (Duhm), “swells violently” (Dhorme, from a word that means “be strong”).

[40:23]  ⁴ tn Or “he remains calm.”

[40:24]  ⁵ tn The idea would be either (1) catch it while it is watching, or (2) in some way disabling its eyes before the attack. But others change the reading; Ball suggested “with hooks” and this has been adopted by some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV).

[40:24]  ⁶ tn Ehrlich altered the MT slightly to get “with thorns,” a view accepted by Driver, Dhorme and Pope.

[41:1]  ⁷ sn Beginning with 41:1, the verse numbers through 41:9 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 41:1 ET = 40:25 HT, 41:2 ET = 40:26 HT, etc., through 41:34 ET = 41:26 HT. The Hebrew verse numbers in the remainder of the chapter differ from the verse numbers in the English Bible. Beginning with 42:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[41:1]  ⁸ tn The verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh) means “to extract from the water; to fish.” The question here includes the use of a hook to fish the creature out of the water so that its jaws can be tied safely.

[41:1]  ⁹ tn The verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’) means “to cause to sink,” if it is connected with the word in Amos 8:8 and 9:5. But it may have the sense of “to tie; to bind.” If the rope were put around the tongue and jaw, binding tightly would be the sense.

[41:3]  ¹⁰ tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.

[41:3]  ¹¹ tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.

[41:4]  ¹² tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”

[41:4]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”

[41:5]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb is שָׂחַק (sakhaq, “to sport; to trifle; to play,” Ps 104:26).

[41:5]  ¹⁵ tn The idea may include putting Leviathan on a leash. D. W. Thomas suggested on the basis of an Arabic cognate that it could be rendered “tie him with a string like a young sparrow” (VT 14 [1964]: 114ff.).