Job 40:22

Job 40:22 The shady trees cover him [with] their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.

Ver. 22. The shady trees cover him with their shadow, &c.] He leaneth against those trees and sleepeth, for lie down and rise again he cannot, for want of joints in his limbs. And why may not we conceive the trees in those parts big enough to overshade the elephant, when, as in America, but especially in Brazil, the trees are so huge that it is reported of them that several families have lived in several arms of one tree, to such a number as are in some petty village or parish among us? (Abbot’s Geog., p. 271.)

The willows of the brook compass him about] To shelter him from the wind and cold. And although they cannot swim, they are so big, yet they love to be about pools and brooks for shade, and to ease their thirst; for the elephant drinketh off fourteen firkins of water in a morning, saith Aristotle, and eight at night, as it followeth,

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.

shady trees--Translate: "lotus bushes."

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 22. The willows of the brook compass him] This would agree well enough with the hippopotamus.

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

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 that it will drink fourteen Macedonian measures of water at once, and eight more at noon; but to drink up a river seems to be too great an hyperbole; wherefore the words may be rendered, "Behold, let a river oppress him", or "bear" ever so hard upon him, and come with the greatest force and pressure on him (m), "he hasteth not" to get out of it; or he is not frightened or troubled, as the Targum; which agrees with the river horse, who walks into the river, and proceeds on in it, with the greatest ease and unconcernedness imaginable; now and then lifting up his head above water to take breath, which he can hold a long time; whereas the elephant cannot wade in the water any longer than his trunk is above it, as the philosopher observes (n); and Livy (o) speaks of fear and trembling seizing an elephant, when about to be carried over a river in boats;

he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan in his mouth; so bold and confident he is, and not at all disturbed with its rapidity; or "though Jordan", or rather any descending flowing stream, "gushes into his mouth", so Mr. Broughton: for perhaps Jordan might not be known by Job; nor does it seem to have any connection with the Nile, the seat of the river horse; which has such large holes in its nostrils, and out of which, water being swallowed down, he can throw it with great force. Diodorus Siculus (p) represents it as lying all day in the water, and employing itself at the bottom of it, easy, careless, and unconcerned.

(l) Aristot. ut supra. (l. 9. c. 56.) (m) Vid. Bochart. ut supra, (Apud Hierozic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 14.) col. 766. (n) Aristot. ut supra. (l. 9. c. 56.) Vid Aelian. l. 7. c. 15. (o) Hist. l. 21. c. 28. (p) Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 31. Isidor. Origin. l. 12. c. 6.

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

The shady trees - Probably the “lote-trees;” see the note at Job 40:21. The same word is used here.

The willow-trees of the brook - Of the “stream,” or “rivulet.” The Hebrew word (נחל nachal) means rather “a wady;” a gorge or gulley, which is swollen with torrents in the winter, but which is frequently dry in summer; see the notes at Job 6:15. Willows grew commonly on the banks of rivers. They could not be cultivated in the desert; Isa 15:7.

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

Will it lay aside its ferocity, (Haydock) and flatter thee? (Menochius)

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).

Of the brook; or, of Nilus, of which this word is oft used in Scripture. And this seems to be the chief argument by which the learned Bochart proves this to be meant of the hippopotamus, whose constant residence is in or near the river of Nilus, or the willows that grow by it. But it is well alleged by our learned and judicious Caryl, that this word Naal is never used to express Nilus when it is put by itself, as here it is, but only where the word Egypt is added to it, as it is in all the places which Bochart produceth. And this very phrase,

the willows of the brook, is used of other brooks or rivers besides Nilus, as Lev 23:40; compare Isa 15:7.

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

22. The willows — A kind of weeping willow, (salix Babylonica,) same as in Psa_137:2. Of the new Israel, Isaiah tenderly says, they shall spring up as “willows (ibid.) by the water courses.” Chap. Job 44:4.

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

The shady trees (or, the lotus trees) cover him with their shadow (see the comment on ver. 21); the willows of the brook compass him round about. The "willow of the brook" (Lev_23:40) is probably the Saliz Aegyptiaca" or safsaf" which grows plentifully in the Nile valley, fringing the course both of the Nile itself and of the many streams derived from it. The Saliz Babylonica" or "weeping willow," is less likely.

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

Brook - Or, of the Nile, of which this word is often used in scripture. His constant residence is in or near this river, or the willows that grow by it.

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

lotus plants

flowering plants that float on the water in swampy areas. See how you translated this in Job 40:19.

willows of the brook

Willows are large trees that grow in damp ground. If they are unknown in your culture, you can use a general term for trees that grow near water.

banks

sides of the river

though the Jordan should surge up to his mouth

"even if the flood of the Jordan should come up to his mouth"

Can anyone capture him with a hook ... snare?

This can be translated as a statement. AT: "No one can capture him with a hook or pierce his nose through with a snare." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

Jordan River

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

Do the shadows cover him as his shadow [Does] the shadow of the covert of the reeds and the swamp, which is entangled [or surrounded—Berechiah] and hedged around with [many] trees.

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.