What Does Job 40:22 Mean in the King James?
The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb “cover,” חָפָה (ḥāp̄āh, to cover), shares its root with חֻפָּה (ḥuppāh, canopy), making the trees a living roof over Behemoth.
THE MEANING
Behemoth’s immense body is pictured inside a habitat: trees cast shade over him, and brookside willows encircle him. The verse places strength within shelter and a living landscape.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Strength means standing outside dependence. Here even Behemoth is surrounded by canopy and streamside trees.
THE ROOT
יְחֻפְּהוּ
yechuppehu
GROWS FROM
חפה
ḥ-p-h
To cover or roof over.
The verb יְחֻפְּהוּ (yechuppehu, covers him) shares the root חפה (ḥ-p-h, to cover) with חֻפָּה (ḥuppāh, canopy). The trees are more than a patch of shade: they form a covering over the creature.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāp̄āh: To cover or overlay.
חָפָה
This verb names the action the trees perform over Behemoth.
ḥuppāh: Canopy, covering.
חֻפָּה
This related noun makes the verse’s shade feel roof-like: branches cover the creature overhead.
צִלֲלוֹ
tsillô
GROWS FROM
צלל
ṣ-l-l
To cast shade or grow dark.
The Hebrew צִלֲלוֹ (tsillô, his shadow) sits beside צֶאֱלִים (tse’elim, trees), linking tree and shadow through sound as well as image. The shade is not separate from the tree; the line lets them echo together.
ALSO GROWS
tsel: Shadow, shade.
צֵל
This noun names the shelter cast by the trees in the verse.
tsalal: To grow dark or become shaded.
צָלַל
This verbal form holds the movement into shade that the tree’s covering creates.
יְסֻבּוּהוּ
yesubuhu
GROWS FROM
סבב
s-b-b
To turn or go around; by extension, to surround.
The word rendered “compass about” comes from a root of going around. The willows do not merely stand nearby; they form a ring around Behemoth.
ALSO GROWS
sābab: To turn or go around; to encircle.
סָבַב
This verb gives the surrounding action its circular shape.
saviv: Around, all around.
סָבִיב
This related form makes the willow growth feel like an encircling boundary.
THE PATTERN
Living trees form shelter where other creatures dwell.
By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.THE THREAD
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.Job’s צִלֲלוֹ (tsillô, his shadow) and Psalm’s בְּצֵל (b’tsel, in the shadow) draw on the Hebrew shadow-root צלל (ṣ-l-l, to cast shade or grow dark). In Job, trees cast the shade; in the Psalm, a person abides under the Almighty’s shadow, carrying the same shelter-image from landscape into relationship.
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