Limitless Word
See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly.
Job 40:16 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly.
  • KJV Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
  • BSB See the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly.
  • NKJV See now, his strength is in his hips, And his power is in his stomach muscles.
  • NASB “Behold, his strength in his waist, And his power in the muscles of his belly.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Behemoth's strength is in his loins and the muscles of his belly. His sheer power testifies to the might of his Maker.

Overview

God describes the immense strength concentrated in Behemoth's body. The detail underscores a creature of overwhelming power that man cannot subdue. As with the earlier survey of animals, the description leads Job from the creature to the Creator. If God can fashion and control such a beast, Job has every reason to trust God's wise governance of his own life.

Cross-references & the web

No cross-references recorded for this verse.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 40:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 40:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.