JOB 40:19 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. This view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=unclear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) It’s at the beginning of God’s paths. ???
⇔ The creator has let him bring his sword near. ???

40:19 Note: We read one or more accents in L differently than BHS. Often this notation indicates a typographical error in BHS.

Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT It is the first of the ways of God.
⇔ Its Maker has brought near its sword.

UST Hippopotamuses are among the strongest animals that I made.
⇔ I gave them tusks so they could cut down plants and eat them.

BSB He is the foremost of God’s works;[fn]
⇔ only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

40:19 Hebrew ways

OEB He is chief of the ways of God,
⇔ Made to lord it over his fellows.

WEB ⇔ He is the chief of the ways of God.
⇔ He who made him gives him his sword.

WMB (Same as above)

MSG ^(15-24)“Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you.
  Grazing on grass, docile as a cow—
Just look at the strength of his back,
  the powerful muscles of his belly.
His tail sways like a cedar in the wind;
  his huge legs are like beech trees.
His skeleton is made of steel,
  every bone in his body hard as steel.
Most magnificent of all my creatures,
  but I still lead him around like a lamb!
The grass-covered hills serve him meals,
  while field mice frolic in his shadow.
He takes afternoon naps under shade trees,
  cools himself in the reedy swamps,
Lazily cool in the leafy shadows
  as the breeze moves through the willows.
And when the river rages he doesn’t budge,
  stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild.
But you’d never want him for a pet—
  you’d never be able to housebreak him!”

NET It ranks first among the works of God,
⇔ the One who made it
⇔ has furnished it with a sword.

LSV He [is] a beginning of the ways of God,
His Maker [alone] brings His sword near;

FBV It is the most important example of what God can do; only the one who made it can approach it with a sword.[fn]

40:19 The Hebrew is unclear. The verse may mean that only its Creator can defeat it.

T4T They are among the strongest of the animals that I made,
⇔ and I, who created them, am the only one who can kill them.

LEB • is the first of God’s actions; the one who made him furnishes it with his sword.[fn]

?:? See NET; nearly all other English translations: “Only his Maker can draw the sword against him” (NJPS; compare NLT), or “only its Maker can approach it with the sword” (NRSV, NIV, ESV, HCSB, NASU)

BBE He is the chief of the ways of God, made by him for his pleasure.

Moff No Moff JOB book available

JPS He is the beginning of the ways of God; He only that made him can make His sword to approach unto him.

ASV ⇔ He is the chief of the ways of God:
⇔ He only that made him giveth him his sword.

DRA In his eyes as with a hook he shall take him, and bore through his nostrils with stakes.

YLT He [is] a beginning of the ways of God, His Maker bringeth nigh his sword;

Drby He is the chief of [fn]God's ways: he that made him gave him his sword.

40.19 El

RV He is the chief of the ways of God: he only that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

Wbstr He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach him .

KJB-1769 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

KJB-1611 Hee is the chiefe of the wayes of God: he that made him, can make his sword to approach vnto him.
(He is the chiefe of the ways of God: he that made him, can make his sword to approach vnto him.)

Bshps He is the chiefe of the wayes of God, he that made him wyl make his sword to approche vnto him.
(He is the chiefe of the ways of God, he that made him will make his sword to approche unto him.)

Gnva Hee taketh it with his eyes, and thrusteth his nose through whatsoeuer meeteth him.
(He taketh it with his eyes, and thrusteth his nose through whatsoever meeteth him.)

Cvdl First when God made him, he ordened the wyldernesse for him,
(First when God made him, he ordened the wilderness for him,)

Wyc He schal take hem bi `the iyen of hym, as bi an hook; and bi scharpe schaftis he schal perse hise nosethirlis.
(He shall take them by `the iyen of him, as by an hook; and by scharpe schaftis he shall perse his nosethirlis.)

Luth Er ist der Anfang der Wege Gottes; der ihn gemacht hat, der greift ihn an mit seinem Schwert.
(He is the/of_the beginning the/of_the Wege God’s; the/of_the him/it made has, the/of_the greift him/it at with his Schwert.)

ClVg In oculis ejus quasi hamo capiet eum, et in sudibus perforabit nares ejus.
(In oculis his as_if hamo capiet him, and in sudibus perforabit nares his.)

BrTr This is the chief of the creation of the Lord; made to be played with by his angels.

BrLXX Τουτέστιν ἀρχὴ πλάσματος Κυρίου· πεποιημένον ἐγκαταπαίζεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ.
(Toutestin arⱪaʸ plasmatos Kuriou; pepoiaʸmenon egkatapaizesthai hupo tōn angelōn autou.)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

ה֭וּא רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכֵי־אֵ֑ל

he/it beginning_of works god

Yahweh is speaking about himself in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this in the first person. Alternate translation: “It is the first of my ways”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ה֭וּא רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכֵי־אֵ֑ל

he/it beginning_of works god

Yahweh is speaking of the things that a person has done as if those were ways or paths that the person had walked along. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “It is the first of my works”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ה֭וּא רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכֵי־אֵ֑ל

he/it beginning_of works god

Yahweh is using the word first in a particular sense to mean “chief” or “greatest.” He does not mean that he created Behemoth before he created any other animal. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “It is my greatest creature”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

ה֭וּא רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכֵי־אֵ֑ל

he/it beginning_of works god

Yahweh is likely using the word first, meaning “greatest,” as an overstatement for emphasis. If it would be clearer in your language, you could express the emphasis in a different way. Alternate translation: “It is one of my most powerful creatures”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

הָ֝⁠עֹשׂ⁠וֹ יַגֵּ֥שׁ חַרְבּֽ⁠וֹ

the,maker,his approach sword,his

Yahweh is once again speaking about himself in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this in the first person. Alternate translation: “When I made it, I provided it with a sword”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

הָ֝⁠עֹשׂ⁠וֹ יַגֵּ֥שׁ חַרְבּֽ⁠וֹ

the,maker,his approach sword,his

Yahweh is speaking of Behemoth as if it literally had a sword. The following verse suggests that he is most likely referring to the long, sharp tusks that it used to shear the plants that it ate. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “When I made it, I provided it with long, sharp tusks”

Parallel JOB 40:19