“He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.”
God continues 'He is the first of the works of God; only his Maker can approach his sword.' This verse introduces a crucial claim: Behemoth is the first (or chief) of God's works. The assertion that 'only his Maker can approach his sword' suggests that Behemoth is so powerful that no creature except God can come near him with a weapon. The verse establishes Behemoth as the supreme creature, closest to God in power. Only God, Behemoth's Maker, can approach this creature with a weapon. The verse's assertion that Behemoth is the 'first of God's works' raises questions: if Behemoth is supreme among creatures, what does this suggest about the nature of creation and divine purposes? Is Behemoth's power and inaccessibility admirable, or does it suggest that creation is ordered according to sheer dominance and power?
Church Fathers on Job 40:19
His bones are as pipes of brass. In the body they are bones which hold the members together, and members which are held together. This beast then has flesh, it has bones also; because there are some wicked persons, who are yet retained in error by others, and others still more wicked who retain others also in error. What else then do we understand by the bones of Antichrist, but some more powerful persons in his body? in whose hearts while iniquity has become greatly…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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