11' God out of the Whirlwind: Job 3842

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11. God out of the Whirlwind Job 38-42
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1. Form Criticism

• Considered from the standpoint of its form,
  Gods answer is a disputation speech. It is
  expressly introduced as such (38.2-3 40.1, 2,
  6,7). Although expanded and varied in many ways,
  it is couched as a grand question to Job (I will
  question you, and you shall declare to me!
  38.3b), and a question remains to the very
  end. All the participants in the drama the
  friends, Job, and God employ this disputation
  form. Westermann, 105

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1. Form Criticism

• Our starting point is that recognition that the
  speeches of God in chaps. 38-41 are a development
  of only one motif, namely, praise of the creator,
  transposed into interrogative form in the mouth
  of God. Westermann, 108

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2. Structure Part 1

• I. The Creator
• A. 38.4-15 God created the world
• 38.4-7 He laid the foundations of the earth
• 38.8-11 He caused the sea to break forth and set
  bound for it
• 38.12-15 He let it become light
• B. 38.16-24 God alone knows and oversees the
  whole creation
• 38.16-17 The depths
• 38.18-21 The wide places
• 38.22-24 The heights

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2. Structure Part 1

• C. 38.24-41.34 26 God directs and governs his
  creation
• 1. 38.25-38 In heaven
• 38.25-28 God lets it rain, creates the rain
• 38.29-30 God creates frost, ice, hail
• 38.31-33 God directs the stars
• 38.34-38 God creates the thunder (except v. 36)

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2. Structure Part 1

• 2. 38.39-41.34 On earth (within which is
  contained Part II the Lord of History)
• 38.39-41 God nourishes the animals (lion, raven)
• 39.1-4 He determines their times (mountain goat)
• 39.5-8 He determines for (gives to) them their
  space (wild ass)
• 39.9-12 Addition intractability (wild ox)
• 39.13-18 Speed (ostrich beginning is missing)
• 39.19-25 Ardent strength (horse)
• 39.26-30 Ability to fly (hawk, eagle)

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2. Structure Part 2

• II. The Lord of History
• 40.6-7 Repetition of the challenge of Job
• 40.8-10 The Majesty of God, Ruler of the World
• 40.11-13 He brings down the mighty in his wrath
• 40.15-24 Behemoth
• 41.1-34 Leviathan

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38.1-3 The Introduction

• Yahweh used in the prologue epilogue, but not
  in the dialogues and Elihu speeches. N.B. 40.1,
  3, 6 42.1 also.
• Whirlwind
• The most common natural form of divine
  appearance in Israelite literature is the
  thunderstorm, with its dark storm cloud
  representing the divine chariot or throne (Hab
  38 Ezekiel 1), its thunder representing Gods
  voice (Exod 1916, 19 Ps 1814Eng 1813), and
  its fiery lightning bolts Gods weapons (Hab
  311 Ps 1815Eng 1814). The thunderstorm is
  the predominant form of theophany in Israels

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38.1-3 The Introduction

• older literature, the early poetry and epic
  (J/E) sources, and in the psalms. While not as
  frequent or explicit, it also lies behind the
  major theophanies in the literature of Israels
  later historians, prophets, and apocalyptic
  writers. Theophany in OT, ABD, CD-Rom
  Edition
• Thunder (Ps 77.18-1917-18), dark clouds (Ps
  18.10-139-12 97.2), earthquake (Judg 5.4 Ps
  19.87), and fire (Isa 30.27 Ps 50.3).
• Counsel divine purpose
• Gird up your loins like a man - for a hard task
  (Jer. 1.17), or for battle (Isa. 5.27), or for
  running (1 Kgs 18.46).

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38.1-3 The Introduction

• With the first element of Gods speech being a
  rebuke (38.2 40.2, 8), Job is here reproved for
  one of the strands in his discourse, namely, that
  line in which he thinks he can talk to God on an
  equal footing, summon him to a lawsuit, confront
  him as a legal opponent (Will you condemn me
  that you may be justified? 40.8b).
  Westermann, 106

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38.4-7 He laid the foundations of the earth

• 38.4 n.b. Eliphaz (15.7-8) Elihu (37.18)
• 38.7 Morning stars sons of God

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38.8-11 He caused the sea to break forth and set
bound for it

• The present allusion presents an otherwise
  unknown motif, the birth of the sea-god and the
  use of swaddling bands to restrain the violent
  infant. In the Ugaritic Text BH (75 I.18-19)
  there is mention of swaddling-bands in the birth
  of the bovine monsters called Eaters and
  Devourers. . . . Pope, 293

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38.12-15 He let it become light

• Whereas darkness is associated with primordial
  powers of evil, light, the source o life,
  represents God (cf. Ps 27.1 Isa 60.19-20). On
  the first day of creation God commanded the light
  into existence. And each dawn thereafter is an
  reenactment of that first day. Hartley, 498
• These verses speak directly to Jobs concern
  that the wicked prosper unchecked (chs 21, 24).
  Yahweh counters Jobs complaint with the position
  that his own command of the light confines the
  work of the wicked. Hartley, 499

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38.16-17 The depths

• Job is challenged to show his knowledge, not
  only of the origins of things, but of the range
  and extent of things not visible to the human
  eye. Rowley, 243

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38.18-21 The wide places

• After light and darkness have completed their
  days or nights work, they go home as does a
  laborer. The challenge is sarcastically put to
  Job to direct light and darkness to their
  respective homes. Pope, 296
• The sarcasm and irony become sharper. Job must
  surely know these secrets, since, like the
  personification of Wisdom in Prov viii.22f., he
  was born before creation and was an observer of
  the arrangements cf. xv.7. Pope, 296
• Since he is not so ancient, his position before
  God must be that of a contrite servant.
  Hartley, 499

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38.22-24 The heights

• Snow and hail are thought of as being kept in
  store by God, ready to be brought out as
  required, in times of crisis (cf. Sir. 39.29),
  and especially of battle. For hail in battle cf.
  Jos 10.11 cf. also Exod. 9.22ff. Isa 28.17
  Ezek. 13.13. For the thought of hail as a weapon
  of God, cf. Isa 30.30 and for its use in
  theophanies, cf. Ps 18.12f. (MT 13f.) Isa
  30.30f. Rowley, 244

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38.25-28 God lets it rain, creates the rain

• Gods providence extends to more than man. His
  rain falls on lands where no human beings are
  found. It is not merely Jobs ignorance of things
  he could not known, it is his narrow outlook . .
  . for which Yahweh rebukes him. Rowley, 244
• Some interpreters consider this verse an
  important point in the poets answer to Jobs
  doubts about the goodness of God. The beneficent
  rains fall beyond the areas of human habitation,
  hence God cares also for his sub-human creatures,
  event the denizens of the desert. Job had imputed
  to the beasts, birds, and fish knowledge that God
  is responsible for injustice in the world,
  xii.6-10. He had also given a description of the
  misery of human beings forced to subsist in the
  wilderness, xxiv.4b-5, xxx.2-8. Pope, 298

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38.29-30 God creates frost, ice, hail

• The phenomenon of how water changes into many
  different forms bears witness to Gods creative
  genius (Ps 147.16-18). This picture discounts the
  pagan belief in the natural generation of these
  elements. Yahweh alone brings them forth.
  Hartley, 502

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38.31-33 God directs the stars

• Yahweh questions Job as to his authority over
  these constellations. Can he affect their rising,
  their setting, or their movements? Does Job know,
  i.e., determine or decree, the statutes that
  these heavenly bodies obey? Is he in a position
  to establish their dominion over earth? If so, he
  might be able to alter the course of earthly
  affairs, including his own distress. If he cannot
  answer these questions, it means that his
  inexplicable suffering falls within Gods wise
  governance of the world. Hartley, 503

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38.34-38 God creates the thunder (except v. 36)

• Job is asked if he can interfere with the
  weather which the elements bring upon earth.
  Rowley, 245

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38.39-41 God nourishes the animals (lion, raven)

• Does Job provide the lion with its prey, while
  it waits in its den? The lion is more capable of
  securing its own prey than any man could be on
  its behalf, and no man would be interested in
  serving it in this way. Yet God cares for it and
  has given it its strength and cunning in stalking
  its prey, and causes its prey to come into its
  vicinity. Cf. Ps 104.21. Rowley, 247

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38.39-41 God nourishes the animals (lion, raven)

• Placing these helpless birds next to the
  rapacious lion brings out the benevolence of God
  towards all His creatures. A man may then learn
  to take his place beside these other children of
  God. Andersen, 280
• N.B. Ravens are considered ritually unclean

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39.1-4 He determines their times (mountain goat)

• The point that is made is simple, but quite
  marvelous. Removed from men, who supervise the
  breeding of their own flocks, these animals have
  their young unobserved and unsheltered. Job is
  invited to reflect on the mystery of instinct
  (the Bible would more truthfully call this a
  wisdom of divine origin implanted in animals) by
  which mother gives birth and kid quickly learns
  self-preservation. Andersen, 280

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39.5-8 He determines for (gives to) them their
space (wild ass)

• The thought is not far off that the Lord has His
  own rich flocks and herds (Ps 50.10). It is God
  who has set his beast free, forgoing the
  legitimate claims He might have on its service.
  Andersen, 281

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39.9-12 Addition intractability (wild ox)

• Whereas the ox serves mankind willingly, the
  aurochs defies any attempt to tame it. No human
  being can harness its massive strength. . . .
  From a human perspective, its strength, being
  available only for its own needs, goes to waste.
  God, however, is its master and its sustainer.
  Hartley, 508

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39.13-18 Speed (ostrich)

• From the sublime to the ridiculous. It is hard
  to argue that this hilarious sketch of the
  ostrich serves any solemn didactic purpose. It is
  what it is, a silly bird, because God made it so.
  Why? This comical account suggests that amid the
  profusion of creatures some were made to be
  useful to men, but some are there just for Gods
  entertainment and ours. Andersen, 281
• This description of the ostrich was omitted in
  the original LXX and is rejected as an
  interpolation by some critics. Certainly the
  ostrich is a remarkable bird and its bizarre and
  grotesque appearance and behavior is bound to
  impress anyone who sees it. The seeming stupidity
  of this creature proves the wisdom and
  providential care of its Creator. Pope, 308

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39.19-25 Ardent strength (horse)

• Anyone who has been carried away watching the
  performance of a magnificent charger might feel
  that the impact of this incomparable poem is
  quite enough, without searching for a lesson in
  it. But two questions are applicable to Job. Can
  you make such an animal? Can you control him?
  Even the well-broken and best-trained mount might
  break from the restraints of the most skilled
  rider, so that even the one domesticated animal
  included in the list is not completely under the
  control of man. And is man, more free than any
  beast, to be understood as struggling against the
  reins of God when stirred up as Job was? If so,
  we have an allegory. Andersen, 283-284

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39.26-30 Ability to fly (hawk, eagle)

• The question to Job is whether the bird does
  this by your wisdom (the word is actually
  discernment, as used in 38.4, 36). Does God ask
  if Job endowed the creature with this instinct?
  But this would mean that Job was the Creator,
  which is not the issue. Does God ask if the
  birds movements are under Jobs control? The
  immense difference between a mans limited
  mastery of his environment and Gods total
  sovereignty is certainly one of the themes of
  these speeches. Or does God ask Job a more
  intellectual question (suggested by the word
  understanding), whether he comprehends how the
  bird responds to the seasons and flies so
  gracefully? Perhaps the last two are interwoven
  in the idea of knowledge which enables a man to
  control nature. Andersen, 284

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40.1-2 Gods Challenge to Job

• Faultfinder Either Job must show his competence
  to criticize God by answering the questions that
  have been put to him or he must forfeit his right
  to criticize. Rowley, 253
• Job is being given the opportunity to correct God.

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40.3-5 Jobs First Answer

• See, I am of small worth what can I answer You?
  I clap my hand to my mouth. I have spoken once,
  and will not reply Twice, and will do so no
  more.
• Job is defeated by the power of Yahwehs
  rhetoric.
• While he does not wish to take up a new line of
  argument or to introduce other matters, he does
  not yet renounce the position he has taken once,
  yea even twice (cf. 33.14). He is saying that he
  continues to stand behind his avowal of
  innocence. However that he does not want to add
  to the case shows that he feels the impact of
  Yahwehs speech. Hartley, 518

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Yahwehs 2nd Answer Form

• Yahwehs second speech is also a disputation of
  rhetorical questions, imperatives and descriptive
  praise, designed not merely to humble Job, but to
  re-establish a structure of meaning by which dumb
  lips may become articulate. However, there is
  both a formal shift from a predominance of
  questions to an emphasis on imperatives and
  descriptive praise and a thematic shift from
  Yahwehs own creation and rule of the cosmos to
  the extending of challenge to Job to ascend the
  throne and rule as the head of the divine
  council. If Job cannot or will not construct his
  own language of faithful discourse, if he
  attempts to continue indict God for misrule
  within a discredited system of retribution, then
  let him assume Gods throne and reorder the
  world. Questions eliciting praise are not
  replaced with imperatives nuanced by taunt. If a
  hubris-filled Job wishes to join the mighty
  heroes of mythic tragedy, let him experience
  their ignoble fall in his own. Perdue, Leo G.,
  Wisdom in Revolt Metaphorical Theology in the
  Book of Job, 218

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40.6-7 Repetition of the challenge of Job

• Then the LORD replied to Job out of the tempest
  and said Gird your loins like a man I will
  ask, and you will inform Me.
• Identical with 38.1 (expect for omission of the
  article before se6(a4ra4h, storm), introducing
  a second speech of Yahweh from the storm. Many
  critics assume that originally there was a single
  speech by Yahweh (38.2-39.30, 40.2) and a single
  submissive reply by Job (40.4-5, 42.2-6). Pope,
  318
• The Use of Repetition in Hebrew Narrative

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40.8-9 The Majesty of God, Ruler of the World

• The initial rhetorical question responds to the
  charge of divine misrule of the cosmos, a charge
  based on the mistaken belief that the
  condemnation (yvrh) of God would necessitate
  Jobs own exoneration (qdc). This question
  neither explicitly nor implicitly accuses Job of
  wrong. Rather it denies that the innocence of Job
  depends upon the just guilt of God. jpvm
  (justice) in this context of royal language
  refers to the just rule of the cosmos by God, a
  rule which both undergirds the ordinances of
  creation and provides for the necessary needs of
  living creatures to exist. Jobs assault on
  divine governance is more than simply denying
  Gods justice. It is the attempt to annul (rrp)
  the righteous rule of God which sustains
  creation. This verb describes the splitting of
  the chaos dragon in half, the first act in
  constituting creation. Perdue, 219

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40.8-9 The Majesty of God, Ruler of the World

• The images conveying power (wrz strong arm,
  and lwq thunder are those of the storm god
  who comes in theophanic judgment to do battle
  with the forces of chaos. Perdue, 219

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40.10-14 He brings down the mighty in his wrath

• In vv. 10-14, the language changes from question
  to imperative, as Yahweh taunts Job to dress in
  the royal vestments of greatness, exaltation,
  majesty, and splendor, terms describing the
  glory of divine sovereignty expressed in creation
  and history (Pss 21.6 45.5 104.1 111.3). In
  the mythic pattern, enthronement and/or other
  ritual moments (temple building, festivals)
  follow the defeat of the chaos monster. And the
  first action of the newly-installed king is to
  sentence the wicked to destruction. . . .
  Perdue, 220

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40.10-14 He brings down the mighty in his wrath

• 40.14 Then even I would praise you For the
  triumph your right hand won you.
• If Job can pour out his wrath to bring the
  arrogant wicked into the dust of Sheol, then
  Yahweh will praise him (hdwa), a technical term
  in the Psalter for worship which acknowledges and
  glorifies divine rule (see Pss 18.50 30.13
  35.18 43.4 44.9 54.8 99.3). Yahweh would not
  become inarticulate, as has Job, in responding to
  these marvelous deeds. Perdue, 220

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2 Beasts

• To persuade Job that he must abandon his
  complaint in order to keep from committing the
  fundamental sin of usurping Gods place (Gen.
  34-7), Yahweh quizzes Job about two ominous
  beasts, Behemoth and Leviathan. Yahwehs purpose
  in these long animal portraits, patterned after
  animal sketches found in nature wisdom (cf.
  3839-3930), is to convince Job to submit to his
  lordship. In these two portraits he uses irony
  and absurd arguments as bold tactics intended to
  awaken Job to the dire implications of his
  stance. Rightly used, irony penetrates a persons
  self-defense and wakens him to the danger of his
  present stance. Yahweh is laying bare the pride
  that underlies Jobs def-me of his innocence. If
  Job realizes his own creatureliness, he may
  humble himself and admit anew Gods
  authenticating presence into his life. Gods hard
  questioning of Job is a witness to his grace
  (Weiser). Hartley, 521

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40.15-24 Behemoth

• Perhaps the best parallel for the identity and
  meaning of Behemoth comes from the mythological
  and ritual character of the red hippopotamus in
  Egyptian religion. Beginning as early as the
  First Dynasty and continuing into the New
  Kingdom, the motif of the royal hunt of the red
  hippopotamus is found in texts, grave scenes, and
  seals. The scenes, well represented in Theban
  grave from the New Kingdom, and especially the
  temple of Horus in Edfu, portray an Egyptian
  King, gigantic in size and armed with a net and
  harpoon, doing battle with a read hippopotamus.
  By harpooning the nose the nasal passages are
  destroyed, and the beast, unable to submerged
  (cf. Job 40.24), is killed. These grave scenes
  reenact the mythological struggle between Seth
  and Horus. Osiris, the father of Horus, is killed

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40.15-24 Behemoth

• by Seth, the god of chaos. When Horus comes to
  contest the throne of Egypt, Seth takes the form
  of a red hippopotamus and is harpooned by Horus.
  With the victorious Horus assuming the throne of
  Egypt, well-being is guaranteed for the kingdom.
  The myth was enacted at the time of enthronement.
  The ritual defeat of the red hippopotamus,
  symbolizing the historical and mythological
  forces of chaos threatening the rule of the new
  king, ensured order and prosperity during his
  reign. Perdue, 225

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40.15-24 Behemoth

• 40.15-18 Behemoths Strength Bodily Form
• Behemoth, like Job is Gods creation and servant.
• 40.19-20 Behemoths Prominence
• Literally He is the first of the ways of God.
  Peake and Szold supposed that the allusion is to
  the creation of cattle (be6he4ma4h) as first in
  order among the animals created on the fifth day,
  Gen 1.23. Dahoods suggestion that way means
  power He is the finest manifestation of
  Gods power is attractive but not convincing.
  The same expression is used in Prov 8.22 of
  wisdom as the first of Gods creative acts before
  the formation of the world. . . . the natural
  implication of the present line is that Behemoth
  was a special creation of God (El). This appears
  to be the strongest point in favor of the
  mythological interpretation. Pope, 324

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40.15-24 Behemoth

• 40.21-23 Behemoths Habits
• . . . Jordan may be used symbolically for any
  river with a strong current, here it represents
  the Nile at flood stage. Hartley, 526
• 40.24 Rhetorical Question
• Can he be taken by his eyes? Can his nose be
  pierced by hooks?
• Job dare not hunt the Behemoth, especially alone.

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40.25-41.26/41.1-34 Leviathan

• What is the Leviathan?
• . . . Often identified as the crocodile.
  Crocodiles were numerous in Egypt, and there is
  evidence of crocodiles in Israel, e.g., along the
  coastal streams such as the Yarkon and the
  Kishon. According to Strabo (6.27), a town north
  of Caesarea bore the name Crocodilopolis.
  Hartley, 532
• The name of a mythological sea serpent or
  dragon, personifying the chaos waters, mentioned
  in the Ugaritic texts, in the OT, and in later
  Jewish literature. Etymologically the name means
  twisting one, as befits a serpent. Day, John,
  Leviathan, ABD

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40.25-41.26/41.1-34 Leviathan

• When you smote Lotan, the swift serpent,
• Destroyed the serpent Twisty,
• The Tyrant with seven heads . . . .
• What foe has risen against Baal?
• What enemy against the Cloud Rider?
• Did I not smite Els darling Sea?
• Did I not annihilate River the great god,
• Did I not muzzle the Dragon? I muzzled him.
• I smote the tortuous serpent,
• The tyrant (?) with seven heads.
• I smote Els darling ---
• Vanquished the monstrous, ferocious bullock,
• Smote Els bitch Fire,
• Annihilated Els daughter Flame ((nt III.34-43)

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40.25-41.26/41.1-34 Leviathan

• Major Biblical Texts
• Ps 89.10-14 (9-13)
• Ps 74.12-17
• Isa 27.1
• Psa 104.26
• Job 3.8

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40.25-41.26/41.1-34 Leviathan

• 40.25-26 (41.1-2)
• Yahweh questions Jobs ability to capture this
  creature and make it his perpetual servant.
  Hartley, 532
• 41.11
• "Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine this
  again has nothing to do with Leviathan, but is
  held to mean that none can have claim against God
  since he is the owner of all that is. But the
  context is not about the legal invalidity of
  challenging Leviathan, but of the physical
  inequality of the conflict." Rowley, 260

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Conclusion to 2 Beasts

• By questioning Job about the primordial monsters
  Behemoth and Leviathan, Yahweh is trying to
  persuade Job that he is Master of all powers in
  the world, both earthly and cosmic. Certainly
  then he is Lord of all forces, earthly and
  cosmic, that brought on Jobs affliction.
  Therefore, if Job is to find Yahwehs favor
  again, he must submit to Yahweh as his Lord by
  relinquishing his avowal of innocence and by
  conceding his complaints against Yahwehs just
  governance of the world. Yahweh is thus calling
  Job to decide whether to argue his case and lose
  or submit to Yahweh, accepting in trust the
  blessing and the curse, the riches and the ash
  heap. Hartley, 534