Job 40:21

21 He shall lie down under the shade, in the covert of the reeds and of the damp places.

Job 40:21 Meaning and Commentary

Job 40:21

He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed,
and fens.
] This may be thought to agree very well with the river horse, the inhabitant of the Nile, where reeds in great plenty grew, and adjoining to which were fenny and marshy places, and shady trees; and, as historians relate ^F5, this creature takes its lodging among high reeds, and in shady places; yea, the reeds and sugar canes, and the leaves of the papyrus, are part of the food on which it lives; and hence the hunters of them sometimes cover their bait with a reed to take them; though it must be allowed that the elephant delights to be about rivers, and in clayey and fenny places ^F6, and therefore Aelianus ^F7 says it may be called the fenny animal.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F5 Ammian. Marcellin. l. 22. Bellonius & Achilles Tatius apud Bochart ut supra. (Apud Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 14. col. 760.)
F6 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 46. Plin. l. 8. c. 10. Aelian. de Animal. l. 9. c. 56.
F7 lbid. l. 9. c. 24.

Job 40:21 In-Context

19 He is the beginning of the ways of God; he that made him shall make his sword draw near unto him.

20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.

21 He shall lie down under the shade, in the covert of the reeds and of the damp places.

22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.

23 Behold, he shall drink up a river and not change; he trusts that he can draw up the Jordan into his mouth.