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41 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
His back is made of rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
His breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
On earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the sons of pride.”
(ESV)
Job 41 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
It is the mystery of the Leviathan…
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.
Adam Clarke
It’s true most commentaries regard the Leviathan to be a crocodile, but I wholeheartedly agree with Clarke’s analysis that by the description we get from God, the assumption of a crocodile is highly overrated.
The point was to contrast the most fearsome beast with the power of God. Man would look at the Leviathan as an unstoppable force to be feared. To God, it was another one of his created creatures that would submit to Him. The illustration puts into perspective the power and sovereignty of God.
Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. 16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. 17 Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.
Colossians 1:15-17 GNB
What do we really know about the spiritual realm? What do we really know about the human body? What do we really know about dinosaurs? Compared to other human beings, we might know a lot. Compared to God, we know nothing.
Most honest experts will tell you they are just beginning to learn about their field of study. This is because the detail of God’s creation goes far beyond the capacity of our brains. What do you know about the Leviathan, Job? The question itself is consistent with how our God taught when He took on the flesh of a human body. The questioning is non-threatening but it leads us to a place of absolute humility.
The answer is nothing. And because the answer is nothing, we come to the realization that we have misspoke about things we know nothing about. We question what God permits with a tiny sliver of information. But when He speaks (and questions us), we, like Job, discover that we were never really qualified to weigh in on how God decides to rule this world.
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!
Adam Clarke