He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.
- BSB He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him.
- NKJV He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.
- NASB ¶“He is the first of the ways of God; Let his Maker bring His sword near.
- NLT It is a prime example of God’s handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it.
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 is called the chief of God's ways, yet his Maker alone can wield the sword against him. The creature is mighty, but God is mightier still.
Overview
Behemoth ranks among the foremost of God's creatures, a masterpiece of created power. Yet the verse notes that only the One who made him can approach him with a sword. The point is that however great the creature, the Creator remains supreme over it. Job, far weaker than Behemoth, is led to bow before the God who alone is sovereign over all he has made.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 41:33Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
- Ps 104:24O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
- Ps 7:12If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
- Job 26:13By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
- Isa 27:1In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
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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 40:19 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.