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19 It ranks first among the works of God,[a]
the One who made it
has furnished it with a sword.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 40:19 tn Heb “the ways of God.”sn This may be a reference to Gen 1:24, where the first of the animal creation was the cattle—behemah (בְּהֵמָה).
  2. Job 40:19 tc The literal reading of the MT is “let the one who made him draw near [with] his sword.” The sword is apparently a reference to the teeth or tusks of the animal, which cut vegetation like a sword. But the idea of a weapon is easier to see, and so the people who favor the mythological background see here a reference to God’s slaying the Beast. There are again many suggestions on how to read the line. The RV probably has the safest: “He that made him has furnished him with his sword” (the sword being a reference to the sharp tusks with which he can attack).

19 It ranks first among the works of God,(A)
    yet its Maker(B) can approach it with his sword.(C)

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