Again we must renew our awareness that the text says Job did not sin, but that he went too far in his use of parabolic expression. He is not condemned here but corrected. Job got too wrapped up in answering the trio’s charge that he had sinned, and was seduced into verbally suggesting that he could win a dispute with God. While such a blasphemous notion is heartily affirmed in some other ancient texts of perverted teaching, God slaps that down quickly.
God asks just who it was that dared contend with Him. Job immediately denied having any standing to do so. He confessed regret at opening his mouth previously. What Job had said was that if God called him to account, he would stand innocent. God warned that this left open the dangerous idea that any human might be fit to question divine justice. God challenged Job to correct Him. The measure of Job’s righteousness was sufficient for God to hear his cry for mercy, but just barely. To stand and call God to account was ludicrous. Job’s righteousness was a robe granted by God, not Job’s by right. It would not be sufficient to judge any other man.
Then the Lord launches into a poetic description of Behemoth, a term that could mean almost any large dangerous animal. In Job’s world, it would have been most likely a reference to the water buffalo. These could be found in the Lower Jordan Valley and were undisturbed by the likes of seasonal flooding when other animals and people avoided the surging flow. But the rushing waters would hardly have swept away water buffalo, and humans were unable to capture them without serious risk to life and limb. Could Job tame one, much less create such a beast?
