Job 40:21

21 He sleepeth under shadow, in the private of a reed, in moist places. (He sleepeth under a shadow, hidden among the reeds of the marshes.)

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.

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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 set his sword to him. (He is the chief of God's works; but he, who made him, shall set his sword against him.)

20 Hills bear herbs to this behemoth (The hills grow grass for this behemoth); all the beasts of the field play there.

21 He sleepeth under shadow, in the private of a reed, in moist places. (He sleepeth under a shadow, hidden among the reeds of the marshes.)

22 Shadows cover his shadow; the sallows of the river compass him (about). (Shady trees cover him with their shadows; the willows of the river surround him.)

23 He shall swallow up the flood, and he shall not wonder (He shall swallow up the river, and he shall not be afraid); he hath trust, that (the) Jordan shall flow into his mouth.