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Job 41

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The Untamable Power of Leviathan 1–11

1
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? ​
2
Canst thou put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
3
Will he make many supplications unto thee? Or will he speak soft words unto thee?
4
Will he make a covenant with thee, That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever? ​
5
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6
Will the bands of fishermen make traffic of him? Will they part him among the merchants?
7
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, Or his head with fish-spears?
8
Lay thy hand upon him; Remember the battle, and do so no more. ​
9
Behold, the hope of him is in vain: Will not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
10
None is so fierce that he dare stir him up; Who then is he that can stand before me? ​
11
Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. ​

Leviathan's Formidable Structure 12–17

12
I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
13
Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall come within his jaws?
14
Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror.
15
Hisstrong scales are his pride, Shut up together as with a close seal. ​
16
One is so near to another, That no air can come between them.
17
They are joined one to another; They stick together, so that they cannot be sundered.

The Creature's Fiery Weapons 18–21

18
His sneezings flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. ​
19
Out of his mouth go burning torches, And sparks of fire leap forth.
20
Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth, As of a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21
His breath kindleth coals, And a flame goeth forth from his mouth. ​

Invulnerability and Supreme Strength 22–34

22
In his neck abideth strength, And terror danceth before him.
23
The flakes of his flesh are joined together: They are firm upon him; they cannot be moved.
24
His heart is as firm as a stone; Yea, firm as the nether millstone. ​
25
When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid: By reason of consternation they are beside themselves.
26
If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail; Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
27
He counteth iron as straw, And brass as rotten wood. ​
28
The arrow cannot make him flee: Sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.
29
Clubs are counted as stubble: He laugheth at the rushing of the javelin.
30
His underparts are like sharp potsherds: He spreadeth as it were a threshing-wain upon the mire.
31
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. ​
32
He maketh a path to shine after him; One would think the deep to be hoary.
33
Upon earth there is not his like, That is made without fear. ​
34
He beholdeth everything that is high: He is king over all the sons of pride. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 41

Verse 1

leviathan — Livyathan, 'a wreathed animal', is the creature of the sea 'whom thou hast made to play therein' (Ps 104:26), whose heads God broke (Ps 74:14), and the serpent the LORD will punish with his sword (Isa 27:1). Vv.1–2 open with the angler's tackle: a hook (chakkah) and a cord that Job cannot use on it.

Verse 4

a covenant — The Hebrew says 'cut' (karath) a covenant, the verb of Gen 15:18, 'the LORD made a covenant with Abram'. 'A servant for ever' (ebed olam) is the phrase of the bondman whose ear is pierced at the door: 'he shall be thy servant for ever' (Deut 15:17). Leviathan will neither sue for terms nor be bound for life.

Verse 8

Lay thine hand upon him — The verb is sum, to put or set, the one Job used when he said, 'I will lay mine hand upon my mouth' (Job 40:4). The one who lays a hand on the creature will 'remember the battle', and 'do no more' (yasaph, add) means there is no second attempt.

Verse 10

who then is able to stand before me? — Here the LORD speaks of himself as the Maker of the creature. 'Stir him up' is 'ur, to rouse from sleep; if no one is fierce enough to wake this animal, no one can 'stand' (yatsab, take a stand) before the face (panim) of the One who made it. Verse 11 states the claim behind it.

Verse 11

Who hath prevented me — 'Prevented' is the older sense of 'went before' (qadam): no one has given first, so that God must repay. 'The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof' (Ps 24:1). Paul's question in Romans 11 echoes it: 'Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?' (Rom 11:35).

Verse 15

His scales are his pride — The KJV 'scales' stands for two Hebrew words, aphiq (a channel) and magen (a shield): rows of shields. 'Pride' is ga'avah, which can also mean majesty. 'Seal' is chotham, a signet; the plates are 'shut up together' (sagar) with no opening between them.

Verse 18

By his neesings a light doth shine — 'Neesings' are sneezings ('atishah), a word found only here. 'The eyelids of the morning' ('aph'appe shachar) is the phrase of Job 3:9, 'neither let it see the dawning of the day', where Job wished the night never to see it. Here the creature's eyes are likened to it.

Verse 21

His breath kindleth coals — 'Breath' is nephesh, usually rendered 'soul' or 'life'; here it is the breathing of the animal. Fire from the mouth and kindled coals are used of the LORD's coming in anger: 'the earth shook… because he was wroth… fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it' (Ps 18:7–8).

Verse 24

as hard as a piece of the nether millstone — The one Hebrew verb yatsaq, to pour or cast, stands behind both 'firm' and 'hard'; it is the verb of the 'molten sea' (1 Kings 7:23). The 'nether' millstone is the lower stone of the hand-mill, which the law forbade taking in pledge (Deut 24:6).

Verse 27

iron as straw — Teben, chopped straw, the stuff Israel was made to gather for brick in Egypt: 'let them go and gather straw for themselves' (Ex 5:7). 'Brass' (nechushah) is copper or bronze, and 'rotten' (riqqabon) is decay. The weapons listed in vv.26–29 are of no more account than these to him.

Verse 31

the deep to boil like a pot — Metsolah, 'the deep', is the sea-bottom where Pharaoh's host 'sank… as a stone' (Ex 15:5). The 'pot' (sir) is a cooking vessel, and 'ointment' (merqachah) is a spiced compound: the sea is stirred up like one.

Verse 33

Upon earth there is not his like — 'Upon earth' is literally 'upon the dust' ('aphar). 'Made without fear' uses asah, to make: the fearlessness is something given by the Maker, as with behemoth, 'which I made with thee' (Job 40:15). The creature has no equal, and its Maker has no rival.

Verse 34

king over all the children of pride — 'Pride' is shachats, haughtiness, found only here and in Job 28:8, where 'the lion's whelps' are literally 'sons of pride'. The LORD had told Job, 'behold every one that is proud, and abase him' (Job 40:11); the beast that is king of the proud is itself a creature of the LORD.