Fathers

Job 40

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Moreover Yahweh answered Job, “Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Then Job answered Yahweh, “Behold, I am of small account. What will I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.” Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, “Now brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and you will answer me. Will you even annul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be justified? Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him? “Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity. Array yourself with honor and majesty. Pour out the fury of your anger. Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low. Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place. Then I will also admit to you that your own right hand can save you. “See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox. Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly. He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are like tubes of bronze. His limbs are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword. Surely the mountains produce food for him, where all the animals of the field play. He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the marsh. The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him. Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn’t tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth. Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?

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What the Fathers say

Job 40:17

Western Saints

Gregory the Dialogist

He setteth fast his tail, like a cedar. 22. There are in these words many points, to be brought forward for moral instruction. But we examine in the first place the violences of this Behemoth, in order afterwards to detect more accurately his crafts. In Holy Scripture under the name 'cedar,' sometimes the lofty excellence of heavenly glory is expressed; but sometimes the stubborn pride of the wicked is designated. …

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXII ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Animals who perform coitus of this kind press the tail between their legs when they perform the sexual act, and so he says, "He stiffens his tail like a cedar," which he says because of its great size. Third, he describes the organs serving coitus when he says, "the sinews of his testicles are joined together," that is, they twist, as the Philosopher says in The History of Animals III about the testicles of all animals who walk and generate other animals. …

Commentary on Job ↗

Bonaventure

In the twelfth mystery, the opening of scriptures, the Antichrist is symbolized by the beast from the depth, the one that comes up out of the abyss, who will crush all things. For he will be consummate in every form of malice; he will have seven heads, that is, every kind of temptation and every method, working at times through riches, at other times through false miracles, at others again through fear. Hence in Job: "He carries his tail like a cedar," for in him every form of malice will be inflated. …

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 15 ↗