Job 41:34

He beholdeth all high [things],.... Or "who beholdeth all high [things]"; even he that made leviathan, that is, God, as the above interpreter: he does that which Job was bid to do, and could not;

He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride. Beheldeth - as their superior. Children of pride - the proud and fierce beasts. So Job 28:8; Hebrew, sons of pride.

He doth not turn his back upon nor hide his face from the highest and proudest creatures, but looks upon them with a bold and undaunted countenance, as being without any fear of them, as was now said. He carries himself with princely majesty and courage towards the stoutest and loftiest creatures; which, though of far higher stature than himself, he striketh down with one stroke of his tail, as he commonly doth cows, and horses, and sometimes elephants.

Job 41:34 He beholdeth all high [things]: he [is] a king over all the children of pride.Ver. 34. He beholdeth all high things] As far below him (be they never so excellent) both for bulk of body and stoutness of mind. He is a king over all the children of pride] Or, over all the wild creatures (so Tremellius and Buxtorf interpret it), which are proud, and do domineer over the tame ones, no less than leviathan, if he were among them, would do over them.

(33, 34) Upon earth there is not his like.—Some have proposed to take away the last two verses of Job 41 from their connection with the crocodile, and to transpose them, referring them to man, so as to come before Job 41:8, understanding them thus: “There is one whose like is not upon earth, who is made without dread. He seeth every high thing, and is king over all the proud beasts. To Him then I say (Job 41:8), Lay thine hand upon him; remember the battle, and do so no more. Lo! his hope is deceived. Is he indeed cast down at the very eight of him? He is not so cruel to himself that he should rouse him up. Who then can stand before me? Who hath first given to me, that I should have to repay him? That which is under the whole heavens is mine.” It cannot be denied that this makes very good sense, but it seems to be too great a liberty to take with the text as we find it to adopt this as the true order of the verses; for in that case, what is there that we might not deal with in a like manner? Those who advocate this transposition in the order of the verses would also place Job 40:1-5 so as to follow Job 40:6, in this manner: “Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no purpose can be withholden from thee, or that no purpose of thine can be restrained.” Then the next words come in as the implied answer of God: “Who is this that hideth my counsel for want of knowledge?” To which Job replies: “Therefore (I confess that) I have uttered without understanding things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” Again God replies, as in Job 38:3; Job 40:7 : “Hear, I beseech thee and I will speak, I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me; to which Job answers: “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor what I have said, and repent it in dust and ashes.” Then the Lord answered Job and said, “Is he that contended with the Almighty reproved? Does he acknowledge his discomfiture? He that argueth with God, let him answer this question.” Then Job answered the Lord and said, “Behold I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I lay my hand before my mouth; once I have spoken, but I will not answer; yea twice, but I will not do so again.” There is a certain amount of sharpness and point obtained in thus making this confession the climax of the poem, and a kind of formal consistency is secured in regarding this resolution as Job’s last utterance instead of making him speak again, as he does, according to the present order, in Job 42:2.

Verse 34. He is a king over all the children of pride.] There is no animal in the waters that does not fear and fly from him. Hence the Chaldee renders it, all the offspring of FISHES. Calmet says, that by the children of pride the Egyptians are meant; that the crocodile is called their king, because he was one of their principal divinities; that the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh, which signifies a crocodile; and that the Egyptians were proverbial for their pride, as may be seen in Ezekiel 32:12. And it is very natural to say that Job, wishing to point out a cruel animal, adored by the Egyptians, and considered by them as their chief divinity, should describe him under the name of king of all the children of pride. Houbigant considers the לויתן livyathan, the coupled dragon, to be emblematical of Satan: "He lifts his proud look to God, and aspires to the high heavens; and is king over all the sons of pride." He is, in effect, the governor of every proud, haughty, impious man. What a king! What laws! What subjects! Others think that MEN are intended by the sons of pride; and that it is with the design to abate their pride, and confound them in the high notions they have of their own importance, that God produces and describes an animal of whom they are all afraid, and whom none of them can conquer. AFTER all, what is leviathan? I have strong doubts whether either whale or crocodile be meant. I think even the crocodile overrated by this description. He is too great, too powerful, too important, in this representation. No beast, terrestrial or aquatic, deserves the high character here given, though that character only considers him as unconquerably strong, ferociously cruel, and wonderfully made. Perhaps leviathan was some extinct mammoth of the waters, as behemoth was of the land. However, I have followed the general opinion by treating him as the crocodile throughout these notes; but could not finish without stating my doubts on the subject, though I have nothing better to offer in the place of the animal in behalf of which almost all learned men and critics argue, and concerning which they generally agree. As to its being an emblem either of Pharaoh or the devil, I can say little more than, I doubt. The description is extremely dignified; and were we sure of the animal, I have no doubt we should find it in every instance correct. But after all that has been said, we have yet to learn what leviathan is!

34. he beholdeth all high things] Or, he looketh on all that is high; he looks them boldly in the face without terror. the children of pride] That is, the proud beasts; comp. ch. Job 28:8.

He beholdeth all high things - That is, he looks down on everything as inferior to him.

34. He beholdeth all high things — Without fear he looks in the face of man, the monarch, here standing in contradistinction to the king of beasts, in the second clause. Comp. Job 40:11-12.