욥기 40:37의 주석

Will one who contends with the Almighty make himself master? May a man make himself master to contend with the Almighty?

Though Job had voiced no reply to God’s oration, God knew that there were still things on his mind that he wanted to ask. During the debate with his companions, Job had shown little or no reticence despite his suffering and had spoken freely, demanding that God answer his suit. His health and vigor had now been restored him and so God calls upon him to speak up and express his thoughts.

He who argues with God, let him answer it He who comes to argue, let him answer his words.

Job answers that his silence had denoted his surrender. He had been chastened by God’s oration and now recognized the insignificance of his own suffering. Furthermore, he acknowledges that the thesis he had proposed at the opening of the debate, namely, that the suffering of the righteous denies the existence of Providence, had been totally demolished by God’s revelation and oration.

I said one [thing i.e., I have spoken little and I will add no more. Others explain: I said one What I said (above 9:22), “[It is all one; therefore I said,] ‘He destroys both the innocent and the wicked,’” I will no longer answer.

and two What I said (above 13:20), “Do not do two things to me,” I will not add.

However, the debate had also considered a second thesis, namely, that the prosperity of the wicked denies the existence of Providence and this had yet to be addressed by God.

Accepting Job’s point, God now turns to the question of the prosperity of the wicked. The gist of His reply is that the wicked are to mankind as the predators are to the animal kingdom. That just as God has provided means for the weaker and smaller animals to survive and prosper despite being hunted down by the predators, so has He endowed mankind with the intelligence and the social, judicial and civil attributes needed to deal with all the dangers surrounding him including those that come from the wicked members of his own species.

(God’s answer from the tempest)
Will you even make void My judgment Will you even prove with your words to make My judgment void and to show that it is perverted?

Would Job, if he had God’s powers, do it any differently? Would his governance be better than God’s?

Bedeck yourself Heb. עדה, an expression of an ornament (עדי) and decoration.

Job had asked why God tolerates the existence and prosperity of wicked and arrogant evil-doers; why, if He indeed governs, does He not crush or eradicate them? God now invites Job to imagine that he is in charge of the universe and can do all those things he thinks God should be doing. He could then deal with the evil-doers as he sees fit: bringing them low or even wiping them out. This would certainly make an impression and put the world in awe of him. But what sort of god does he think he would then be? Would he warrant the designation 'Creator' or 'Maker'? A creator’s creations are his glory. What sort of creator creates only weak and feeble things?

and crush Heb. והדך, an expression of (Num. 11:8), “or crushed (דכו) it in mortars.”

behemoth Prepared for the future.

Continuing the charade, God asks Job how he intends to deal with the two most powerful and imperious beasts He created: the Behemoth, that consumes all vegetation leaving nothing behind for the other land-beasts, and the Leviathan which preys on all the other sea-creatures.³⁶According to Malbim's interpretation the Behemoth and Leviathan are archetypes of the beings that exploit their power over others for their own purposes. Whether they are actual or mythological beasts is irrelevant; the question is whether Job has room for such beings and their ilk in his world. Job’s campaign of extermination should start with them.

his strength is in his loins His testicles are squashed and concealed, and have not been completely torn off.

in the navel Heb. בשרירי, like (Song 7:3), “Your navel (שררך).”

hardens Heb. יחפץ like יַחְפּוֹז, hardens. Similarly, in the language of the Sages: דַחַפִּיזָא כִּי אוּפְתָּא (Hullin 47b), hard as wood.

his testicles Heb. פַחֲדָיו.

are knit together Heb. ישרגו, twisted cords, like (Lam. 1:14), “they are knit together (ישתרגו),” or the webbing (שריגי) of a bed in the language of the Mishnah, (Moed Katan 1:8), and it is an expression of twisted cords.

as a load Heb. כִּמְטִיל, as a burden of iron.

He is the first of God’s ways He was created at the beginning to be the chief of all animals.

his Maker The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself will slaughter him.

For the mountains bear food for him And it is written in the Book of Psalms (50:10): “Behemoth upon a thousand mountains.” A thousand mountains bear food for him. He feeds on all of them every day, [and they are grown again the next day].

the shadows the shades of trees.

Do the shadows cover him as his shadow [Does] the shadow of the covert of the reeds and the swamp, which is entangled [or surrounded—Berechiah] and hedged around with [many] trees.

Behold, he plunders the river, and [he] does not harden The Euphrates, which is a large river whose waters increase, he oppresses and plunders from the creatures by his drinking.

The second mighty beast that Job should put down is the Leviathan. Beyond discipline or training, the Leviathan is the embodiment of ferocious and ungovernable violence; and it knows it and does not care. Many desperate attempts have been made to catch this rampaging sea-monster but all have been in vain. And even were it caught alive it would never submit; and if dead, its carcass would be of no use, as its flesh is too tough to be butchered.

and [he] does not harden [His belly does not harden from his drinking, like (verse 17), “His tail hardens.”

he trusts that he will draw the Jordan He is confident [of his ability] to draw the whole Jordan into his mouth were he to drink there: like (Ps. 22: 10), “Who drew me (גחי) from the womb.”

With His eyes He will take him The Omnipresent will take him by looking at him, and he quakes from fear of Him.

with snares Fishermen’s tools, with which they catch fish.

Can you pull the leviathan etc. When you pull him with a harpoon and insert a fishhook into his nose, will he offer much supplication to you? It means that you are unable to approach him with fishing implements.

or press down his tongue Let the rope down (on his tongue) to draw him out of his place.

a fishhook Heb. התשים. It is bent, like (Isa. 9:13), “a large arch and a small arch (אגמן), and it is made of iron to catch fish with it.

Can you insert Will you insert a fishhook into his nose to take him out of the sea?

or...with a barb A fishermen’s implement.

or pierce Heb. תִּקּב, like תִּנְקֹב.

Will he offer much supplication to you Will he offer much supplication to you and beseech you to spare his life?

or will he speak This is a repetitious word.

soft words Words of supplication.

Will he make a covenant with you Will he make a covenant to serve you, that you will take him as a lifelong slave?

Will you play Will you play and stroll with him as though he were a small bird,

and will you tie him to the necks of (other editions: for the sake of) your young lads, that they should stroll with him as with small birds that they give children to stroll and to placate him?

Will charmers dig pits for him Will charmers and sorcerers dig pits to hunt him? To take him out of the sea by means of sorcery [so] that they can divide him and share him among the merchants, as the sea fishermen do? That is, they catch large fish with their cunning, and the merchants come and purchase from them.

dig pits Heb. יכרו, an expression of (Jer. 18:22), digging a pit (כורה שוחה).

charmers Heb. חַבָרִים, an expression of (Deut. 18:11), “a charmer (וְחבֵר חָבֶר).”

Will you fulfill Will you fulfill your desire and make tents of his skin?

or a shade of fishes of his head Will you make from his head a shade of fish? This is a repetitious expression.

a shade Heb. צִלְצַל, a tent of fish. A tent made from his head is called a shade of fish because it is made from him.

צִלְצַל is ombre in French. It is an expression of shadow, and that is one of the double words, like: green (ירקרק), red (אדמדם) [both in Lev. 13:49], twisted (פתלתל) [Deut. 32:5], tattoo (קעקע) [Lev. 19:28].

Put your hand over him Strengthen yourself to wage battle against him, that you will put your hand over him to strike him.

Job had asserted that there is no place for such malevolent beings in creation. So God now challenges him to use the power he has been given over creation to make an end to the Leviathan once and for all. He only has to touch him and he will be gone, and the battle will be over.

remember the battle, do not stop And do not stop. Remember your might to wage war against him.

and do not [rest] תּוֹסַף is derived from יסף, like (Gen.38:26), “and he did not cease (יָסַף) being intimate with her” (regrettera in French), will regret. [In the expression] אַל-תּוֹסַף, the “sammech” is vowelized with a “pattah” because of the pause accent, as in (Gen. 49:4), “You shall not gain superiority (תּוֹתַר) “; (Ruth 2:14), “and she left over (וַתּתַר),” and many like it.