Bible Strands
Job 40:23
Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Job from the whirlwind, continuing His rhetorical challenge regarding the untamable creature Behemoth. The speech occurs after God has dismantled Job’s arguments and immediately precedes the description of Leviathan.
The words — The Hebrew יַעֲשֹׁק (ya'ashok) literally means "it is violent" or "it rages," describing the river’s force, while יִבְטַח (yivtach) translates to "it is confident" or "remains secure." These terms directly contrast the water’s aggression with Behemoth’s unshaken posture.
The thread — The surging Jordan appears in Genesis 13:10 as a well-watered plain and in Joshua 3:15 when it overflows its banks during harvest. Both passages establish the river’s seasonal power, which Job 40:23 uses to underscore Behemoth’s immunity to natural chaos.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that no earthly force, not even a flooding river, can disturb the creature’s stability. It asks the reader to acknowledge the limits of human control when confronted with created power that operates beyond human management.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
Cross-references
- Genesis 13:10 And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
- Joshua 3:15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
- Psalms 55:8 I would hurry to my shelter, far from this raging tempest.”
- Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- Isaiah 37:25 I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”