Job 40:23

Behold, he drinketh up a river, [and] hasteth not,.... The elephant is indeed a very thirsty animal, and drinks largely; the philosopher (l) says it drinks nine Macedonian bushels at a feeding, and

Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

He drinketh up; or, he snatcheth, or draweth, or drinketh up as it were with force and violence, as the word signifies. A river, i.e. a great quantity of water, hyperbolically called a river, as it is also 105:41. This may be fitly applied to the elephant, which because of its great bulk and vehement thirst drinks a great deal of water at one draught, as naturalists and historians have observed. Hasteth not; he drinks not with fear and caution, and sparingly, as the dogs do at Nilus, for fear of the crocodile; but such is his courage and self-confidence, that he fears no enemy, either by water or by land, but drinketh securely and liberally. He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth; he drinks as if he designed, or hoped, or desired to drink up the whole river. He mentions Jordan, either as a river well known in and nigh unto Job’ s land; or because possibly there were many elephants which used to drink at it; or as a river in some parts of it but small, which therefore might give more colour to the hyperbole, and to the elephant’ s fancy or expectation, than a vaster river, such as Euphrates, would have done. Bochart expounds this also of the hippopotamus, which though he cannot swim, and may be drowned, as naturalists report, yet will continue securely under water at the bottom of Nilus for some days together; and he renders the verse thus, Behold, if a river oppress or cover him, he fears not; he is confident or secure, though Jordan (which is here put for any river) should break forth or overflow above his mouth, i.e. should overwhelm him. But the judgment of this I leave to the reader.

Job 40:23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, [and] hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.Ver. 23. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not] viz. Through fear, tanquam canis ad Nilum, as the dogs that drink at Nile fear the crocodile; or as they of this land anciently drank in fear of their lives the while, and were, therefore, wont to have some friend to undertake for their safety: whence that expression of him who is drunk to, I’ ll pledge for you. The elephant, as he drinks huge draughts (beyond that of the camel, who drinketh, saith Pliny, lib. 8, cap. 18, Et in praeteritum, et in futurum, for both the time past and the time to come), so he drinks without disturbance, for who dare deal with him? Other cattle, through the frightfulness of their disposition, break their draughts to stare about them. Not so the elephant, who drinks as if he would exhaust and drain dry the river, and steps into it with such a big body as if he would stop the course of it; therefore some read the words thus, He hindereth the river, that it hasteth not. Some by he hasteth not understand that custom of the elephant, not to drink till he have first, by going into and stirring the water, made it puddly, for he loveth not clear waters, as Aelian writeth. Neither yet doth he at any time enter higher into a river than he can breathe through his large snout, for swim he cannot by reason of the weightiness of his body, saith Aristotle (Hist. Anim. l. 9, cap. 46). He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth] In the vast imagination of his fancy he conceits that he can devour and drink up the whole Jordan at once. Jordan is the greatest river of Canaan, running along the land, and falling into the Dead Sea, which yet grows no bigger by swallowing it. Hereunto some think that this text alludeth. But better by Jordan here (which ariseth from the root of Libanus, and, as some say, from a double fountain, the one on the right side, called Dan, and the other on the left, called Jor) we may understand, by a synecdoche, any river; and so these words are nothing else but a hyperbolic repetition of the former. A figure by which a more comprehensive term is used for a less comprehensive or vice versa; as whole for part or part for whole, genus for species or species for genus, etc.

(23) Behold, he drinketh up a river.—This verse is better rendered, Behold, if a river overflow (or, is violent), he trembleth not (or, hasteneth not); he is confident, though Jordan swell up to his mouth.

Verse 23. Behold, he drinketh up a river] A similar mode of expression, and of precisely the same meaning, as that in Job 39:24: "He swalloweth the ground with fierceness." No river can stop his course: he wades through all; stems every tide and torrent; and hurries not as though he were in danger. He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan] Even when the river overflows its banks, it is no stoppage to him: though the whole impetuosity of its stream rush against his mouth, he is not afraid. Mr. Good has seized the true idea in his translation of this verse: - "If the stream rage, he revileth not: He is unmoved, though Jordan rush against his mouth." From this mention of Jordan it is probable that the behemoth was once an inhabitant of the mountains, marshes, and woods, of the land of Palestine.

23. The verse means, Behold the stream swelleth, he trembleth not; He is careless, though Jordan break forth upon his mouth. The word “swelleth” means lit. oppresses, that is, rushes violently against him. The term “Jordan,” or “a Jordan,” is used by way of example, meaning a violent outbreak of water. The term “break forth” is that used of the sea, ch. Job 38:8.

Behold he drinketh up a river - Margin, “oppresseth.” The margin expresses the proper meaning of the Hebrew word, עשׁק ‛âshaq. It usually means to oppress, to treat with violence and injustice; and to defraud, or extort.

23. Behold, he drinketh… Jordan into his mouth — Behold the river swelleth, he trembleth not: he trusteth, though a Jordan rush to his mouth.