Job 40:10

Job 40:10 Deck thyself now [with] majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.

Ver. 10. Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency] Or, with magnificence and sublimity, &c., i.e. Deum age, show thyself as God; for he thus decks himself, Psa 93:1; Psa 96:6; Psa 104:1-2; Job 29:14.

And array thyself with glory and beauty] That thou mayest appear, Os humerosque Deo similis; as Herod afterwards in his cloth of silver, which being beaten upon by the sunbeams, saith Josephus, dazzled the people’s eyes, and drew from them that fond acclamation, "It is the voice of a god," Act 12:22.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 40:10-14. Deck thyself with majesty, &c. — Seeing thou makest thyself equal, yea, superior to me, take to thyself thy great power, come and sit in my throne, and display thy divine perfections in the sight of the world. These and the following are ironical expressions, to make Job more sensible of his distance from, and subjection to God. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath — Inflict heavy judgments on thy enemies, the Chaldeans, and Sabeans, and others who have injured or provoked thee. Behold every one that is proud, and abase him — Destroy him with an angry look, as I can do, and delight to do, with such persons. Tread down the wicked in their place — Either, 1st, Wherever they are; or, 2d, Where they are in their greatest strength and glory, and therefore are most secure and confident; or, 3d, Forthwith upon the spot, that the quickness and immediateness of the stroke may discover that it comes from a divine hand. Hide them in the dust together — Kill every one of them at one blow. Bind their faces — Condemn or destroy them. He alludes to the manner of covering the faces of condemned persons and of dead men. In secret — Either secretly, with a secret and invisible stroke, that it may appear to come from the hand of God, or in a secret place: that is, bury them in their graves. Then will I confess unto thee, &c. — That thou art my equal, and mayest venture to contend with me.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strophe b. Job’s practical denial of God’s righteousness, and presumptuous readiness to supersede the righteousness of God by that of his own, leads to a challenge without parallel in all literature: that once and for all, instead of indulging in chimerical schemes of divine government, man should array himself in the attributes of Deity, and assume the summary punishment of the wicked in this and in the next world, Job_40:10-14.

The nearest classical approach to the sublime conception of the text is the fatal aspiration of Phaethon to drive the chariot of his father, Helios, the sun. OVID, Metamor., 2. 1-337.

10. Array… glory and beauty — The Hebrew words re-appear in the same order as attributes of Deity in Psa_104:1, that short but magnificent prelude to what has been called the “inspired oratorio of creation.” If Job be equal to God in righteousness and wisdom, let him attire himself in the essential splendour and glory of Deity.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This commendeth the providence of God toward man: for if he were given to devour as a lion, nothing were able to resist him, or content him.

This beast is thought to be the elephant, or some other, which is unknown.

Whom I made as well as thee.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

See, hast thou power and majesty like God's, to enable thee to judge and govern the world?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. Deck thyself now with majesty] Act like God, seeing thou hast been assuming to thyself perfections that belong to him alone.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. This verse reads literally,

Deck thyself now with excellency and loftiness;

And array thyself with honour and majesty.

The two words in the second clause are so translated, Psa_21:5; Psa_96:6; Psa_104:1.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency,.... With excellent majesty, as I am decked and clothed, Psa 93:1;

and array thyself with glory and beauty; appear in the most glorious and splendid manner thou canst, make the best figure thou art able, put on royal robes, and take thy seat and throne, and sit as a king or judge in state and pomp, and exert thyself to do the following things; or take my seat and throne as the judge of the whole earth, and try if thou canst govern the world better than I do; for these and the expressions following are said in an ironic manner.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency - That is, such as God has. Put on everything which you can, which would indicate rank, wealth, power, and see whether it could all be compared with the majesty of God; compare Psa 104:1, “O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Behemoth; the elephant, (Challoner) "as some think." (Protestants’ marginal note) (Haydock) --- This is the most common opinion, though Sanchez explains it of the bull; and Bochart, after Beza and Diodati, declares in favour of the hippopotamus, (Calmet) or "river horse." Parkhurst even thinks Bochart has proved this "to a demonstration." The sea or river horse, (Haydock) is an amphibious animal, (Calmet) found in the Nile and Indus, and said to have the feet of an ox and the teeth of a boar, but not quite so sharp, while the neighing , back, mane, and tail, resemble those of a horse. Its hide, when dry, is said to resist even a musket-ball. (Button; Dict.) --- We find a good description of this animal in Watson, p. 91. But the plural Bemoth, female (Haydock) "beasts," seems more applicable to the elephant, on account of its great size, as it is designated by Greek: theria, or Bellua, by the Greek and Roman authors. (Suidas.) (1 Machabees vi. 35.) (Pliny, [Natural History?] viii. 3.) --- It may have received the name of elephant from (Calmet) alp, "to lead or teach," (Haydock) on account of its great sagacity and strength. All that Job says of behemoth, may be well explained of it. The Fathers have supposed, thta the devil is meant: but we stick to the literal sense. (Calmet) --- He may, however, (Haydock) have been hinted at by this name, (Worthington) as well as by that of leviathan. (Houbigant) --- With thee, on the same day, or as well as thee. (Amama) --- Grass. The elephant does so, and is by no means savage. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "Yet, behold, near thee wild beasts, equal to oxen, eat grass." (Haydock) --- The spontaneous productions of the earth, and branches of trees, afford the principal sustenance to satisfy the prodigious stomach of the elephant; which is frequently twelve feet high, and of a dark colour. A sword can pierce it in the back or sides. It has small eyes, eight teeth, and two tusks; which last are sometimes above a hundred weight each, and being cast every tenth year, (Button) afford ivory. The proboscis serves it instead of hands to collect the smallest grain, or to defend itself. (Haydock) --- The female goes with young a whole year, and the duration of its life is generally supposed to be above a hundred. Elephants inhabit warm climates, and were formerly much used in war, to carry wooden towers, from which twenty, or even thirty, men might throw darts, 1 Machabees vi. 37. (Button.) --- If this greatest and most temperate of all beasts be overcome by the unicorn, or led by the nose, how much more will God enable man to overcome the devil? (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Seeing thou makest thyself equal, yea, superior to me in justice, and consequently in power and majesty, take to thyself thy great power, come and sit in my throne, and display thy divine perfections in the sight of the world. These and the following are ironical expressions, to make Job more sensible of his distance from and subjection to God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. God is at all times "clothed with majesty and strength", (Psa_93:1) "with glory and beauty". (Psa_104:1) He "decks himself with light as with a garment". (Psa_104:2) Job is challenged to array himself similarly.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deck - Seeing thou makest thyself equal, yea, superior to me, take to thyself thy great power, come and sit in my throne, and display thy Divine perfections in the sight of the world.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

10 Deck thyself then with pomp and dignity,

And in glory and majesty clothe thyself!

11 Let the overflowings of thy wrath pour forth,

And behold all pride, and abase it!

12 Behold all pride, bring it low,

And cast down the evil-doers in their place;

13 Hide them in the dust together,

Bind their faces in secret:

14 Then I also will praise thee,

That thy right hand obtaineth thee help.

He is for once to put on the robes of the King of kings (עדה, comp. עטח, to wrap round, Psa 104:2), and send forth his wrath over pride and evil-doing, for their complete removal. הפיץ, effundere, diffundere, as Arab. afâda, vid., Job 37:11. עברות, or rather, according to the reading of Ben-Ascher, עברות ,rehcsA, in its prop. signif. oversteppings, i.e., overflowings. In connection with Job 40:11, one is directly reminded of the judgment on everything that is high and exalted in Isa 2, where beטמנם בּעפר also has its parallel (Isa 2:10). Not less, however, does Job 40:14 recall Isa 59:16; Isa 63:5 (comp. Psa 98:1); Isaiah I and II have similar descriptions to the book of Job. The ἁπ. λεγ. הדך is Hebraeo-Arab.; hadaka signifies, like hadama, to tear, pull to the ground. In connection with תמוּן (from טמן; Aram., Arab., טמר), the lower world, including the grave, is thought of (comp. Arab. mat-murât, subterranean places); חבשׁ signifies, like Arab. ḥbs IV, to chain and to imprison. Try it only for once - this is the collective thought - to act like Me in the execution of penal justice, I would praise thee. That he cannot do it, and yet venture with his short-sightedness and feebleness to charge God's rule with injustice, the following pictures of foreign animals are now further intended to make evident to him: -

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

clothe yourself in glory and dignity; array yourself in honor and majesty

The abstract nouns "glory," "dignity," "honor," and "majesty" are spoken of as if they were clothing that a person could put on. They can be translated as adjectives and verbs. AT: "make yourself glorious; do something great so people will respect you and honor you; make people think you are a great king" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns)

Scatter around the excess of your anger

The abstract noun "anger" is spoken of as it it were something that usually could be held in a container, but in this situation there is so much of it that what does not fit needs to be spread around. It is also a metonym for the actions a person takes when he is angry. You may need to make explicit why the person is angry. AT: "Be angry because people are proud, and punish them" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns and Metonymy)

bring him down

"take away everything he is proud of"

translationWords

clothe

glory

honor

majesty

anger

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

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

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.