Job 40 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

The ULT sets the lines of [verses 1–2](../40/01.md), [4–5](../40/04.md), and [7–24](../40/07.md) farther to the right on the page than the rest of the text because they are poetry. - Verses 1–2: Yahweh challenges Job to respond to what he has said so far. - Verses 3–5: Job replies that he has nothing to say in response. - Verses 6–14 Yahweh tells Job that if he wishes to judge the world as he would do, he must display power and justice in subduing wicked people. - Verses 15–24 Yahweh tells Job to consider a great creature named Behemoth.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Behemoth

To help Job continue to recognize that he occupies a small and insignificant place within creation, Yahweh describes the strength and power of one of his great creatures, Behemoth. While this animal was known in the time of Job, its exact identity is now uncertain. You may therefore wish to use the name Behemoth in your translation, spelling it the way it sounds in your language, rather than trying to specify a particular animal that Yahweh is describing. The UST models this approach.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Justice

In [verse 8](../40/08.md), Yahweh asks Job whether he wishes to decide what is right. and then in the next verse, Yahweh asks Job whether he has great power. However, Yahweh is not suggesting that might makes right. Rather, he is asking Job whether he has the might to make things right, as he then describes in [verses 10–14](../40/10.md). In [verse 10](../40/10.md), the terms “majesty,” “greatness,” “glory,” and “splendor” describe moral qualities, not simply power. See if you have terms available in your language that can convey this meaning in your translation.