Job 41

Ch. 41. Leviathan, that is, the crocodile

Job 41:1-9

1–9. The impossibility of capturing the animal.

Job 41:2

2. a hook] lit. a cord of rush. a thorn] That is, a spike. The reference in the first clause may be to the habit of passing a cord through the gills of fish when caught, and letting them down into the water again, to preserve them in freshness.

Job 41:3

3. Ironical question whether Leviathan will beg to be spared or treated kindly.

Job 41:4

4. Will he consent to be one of thy domesticated animals, and serve thee?

Job 41:5

5. Wilt thou make a pet thing of him? The commentators quote Catullus, passer, deliciœ meœ puellœ.

Job 41:6

6. The first clause reads, Will the partners bargain over him? This sense is sustained by the second clause; comp. ch. Job 6:27. By “the partners” is meant the company of fishermen; comp. Luke 5:7; Luke 5:10. the merchants] lit. the Canaanites. The Phoenicians were the great merchants of antiquity; comp. Isaiah 23:8; Zechariah 14:21; Proverbs 31:24.

Job 41:8

8. The verse is ironical, Lay thine hand upon him! Think of the battle: thou shalt do so no more. The last words, thou shalt do so no more (so the Geneva), refer to the ironical advice given in the first clause, “lay thine hand upon him”! The thought of the “battle,” that is, the conflict, will be sufficient to deter from any attempt to renew it.

Job 41:9

9. the hope of him is in vain] Rather, behold, one’s hope is belied; lit. his hope. The hope of the assailant to overcome Leviathan is disappointed.

Job 41:10-11

10, 11. In these verses the speaker turns aside from describing the invincibility of Leviathan to impress the moral which he intends to teach by introducing the monster. If none dare stir up this creature, which God has made, who will stand before God who created him, or venture to contend with Him?

Job 41:11

11. who hath prevented me] Rather, who hath first given to me? So Tyndale, Or who hathe geven me anye thinge afore hand, that I am bounde to reward him agayne? As none dare contend with God (Job 41:10), so none have any ground of contention with Him. None hath given aught to God, so as to have a claim against Him, for all things under the heavens are His; comp. Psalms 50:10 seq.

Job 41:12-34

12–34. Description of the parts of Leviathan.

Job 41:13-14

13, 14. The terrible jaws of the animal.

Job 41:14

14. who can open] Or, who hath opened. The “doors of his face” is an expression for his “mouth” which has something artificial and forced in it. his teeth are terrible] The jaws of the crocodile are very extended; the two rows of long, pointed teeth, thirty-six, it is said, above, and thirty beneath, being bare, as the mouth has no lips, present a formidable appearance.

Job 41:15-17

15–17. His armour of scales.

Job 41:16-17

16, 17. These verses refer to the close coherence of the scales to one another.

Job 41:18-21

18–21. The monster breathes smoke and flame.

Job 41:19-21

19–21. These verses refer probably to the animal’s emergence from the water, when the long-repressed hot breath is blown out along with water from his mouth, and shines in the sun like a fiery stream.

Job 41:20

20. as out of a seething pot or caldron] Rather perhaps, like a seething pot with rushes, i. e. with a fire of rushes.

Job 41:22-24

22–24. His strength and hardness of muscle.

Job 41:23

23. The verse reads, The flakes of his flesh cleave fast together; It is firm upon him, it is not moved. The “flakes” of his flesh are the parts beneath the neck and belly, which in most animals are soft and pendulous; in him they are firm and hard. In the second clause it refers to his flesh, which is “firm,” lit. cast or molten, and does not move, or shake, with the motions of his body.

Job 41:24

24. The second clause reads, Yea, firm as the nether millstone. Gen. “as hard as the nether millstone.” The term “firm,” lit. cast, is repeated from the first clause (cf. Job 41:23). The nether millstone, bearing all the pressure upon it, needs to be harder even than the upper stone.

Job 41:25

25. With his “firmness” of heart there naturally goes a corresponding courage and fierceness. by reason of breakings] Rather, by reason of terrors they are beside themselves; lit. they lose themselves. The Geneva has: for fear they faint in themselves. The expression “lose themselves” seems more naturally said of mental confusion from terror, than of literally losing their way in their attempts to escape (Gesen.).

Job 41:26-29

26–29. He can be subdued by no weapon.

Job 41:29

29. darts are counted] Rather, clubs.

Job 41:30

30. The impression left where he has lien. Under him he hath sharp potsherds, He spreadeth a threshing-sledge upon the mire. The scales of the belly, though smoother than those on the back, still are sharp, particularly those under the tail, and leave an impression on the mire where he has lien as if a sharp threshing-sledge with teeth had stood on it or gone over it (Isaiah 41:15).

Job 41:31

31. The commotion he raises in the deep. The second clause of the verse hardly refers to fermentation in the pot of ointment, but rather to the foaming mixture of ingredients.

Job 41:32

32. The verse refers to the shining track which his swift darting through the water leaves behind him.

Job 41:33-34

33, 34. He has no rival, he is king among the proud beasts.

Job 41:34

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.