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Job41

World English Bible · Public Domain

1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

2Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

3Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you?

4Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?

5Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls?

6Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants?

7Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears?

8Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.

9Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him?

10None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.

12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.

13Who can strip off his outer garment? Who will come within his jaws?

14Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.

15Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal.

16One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

17They are joined to one another. They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart.

18His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap out.

20Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

21His breath kindles coals. A flame goes out of his mouth.

22There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him.

23The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can’t be moved.

24His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone.

25When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing.

26If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

27He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

28The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him.

29Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.

30His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

31He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair.

33On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear.

34He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 41.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Concerning Leviathan. (1-34).

vv1-34

—The description of the Leviathan, is yet further to convince Job of his own weakness, and of God's almighty power. Whether this Leviathan be a whale or a crocodile, is disputed. The Lord, having showed Job how unable he was to deal with the Leviathan, sets forth his own power in that mighty creature. If such language describes the terrible force of Leviathan, what words can express the power of God's wrath? Under a humbling sense of our own vileness, let us revere the Divine Majesty; take and fill our allotted place, cease from our own wisdom, and give all glory to our gracious God and Saviour. Remembering from whom every good gift cometh, and for what end it was given, let us walk humbly with the Lord.

Key Words

draw outH4900Hebrew

מָשַׁךְ: to draw, used in a great variety of applications (including to sow, to sound, to prolong, to develop, to march, to remove, to delay, to be tall, etc.)

LeviathanH3882Hebrew

לִוְיָתָן: a wreathed animal, i.e. a serpent (especially the crocodile or some other large sea-monster); figuratively, the constellation of the dragon; also as a symbol of Babylon

fishhookH2443Hebrew

חַכָּה: a hook (as adhering)

press downH8257Hebrew

שָׁקַע: to subside; by implication, to be overflowed, cease; causatively, to abate, subdue

tongueH3956Hebrew

לָשׁוֹן: the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water)

cordH2256Hebrew

חֶבֶל: a rope (as twisted), especially a measuring line; by implication, a district or inheritance (as measured); or a noose (as of cords); figuratively, a company (as if tied together); also a throe (especially of parturition); also ruin

putH7760Hebrew

שׂוּם: to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)

ropeH100Hebrew

אַגְמוֹן: a bulrush (as growing there); collectively a rope of bulrushes

noseH639Hebrew

אַף: properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ire

pierceH5344Hebrew

נָקַב: to puncture, literally (to perforate, with more or less violence) or figuratively (to specify, designate, libel)

Cross References

Job 41
v11Romans 11:35thematic

Paul echoes this verse to show God is under obligation to no man for his sovereign gifts.

Supported by JFB

v1Psalms 104:26thematic

Explicit biblical mention of Leviathan playing in the deep, showing God's creative design.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v1Psalms 74:14thematic

Identifies Leviathan as a symbol/type of oppressive worldly powers (like Egypt's Pharaoh) crushed by God.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v1Isaiah 27:1thematic

Leviathan depicted as the piercing, crooked serpent that the Lord will punish with His sore sword.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v1Ezekiel 29:4thematic

Prophetic imagery of putting hooks in the jaws of the great river monster (Pharaoh/Egypt).

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v2Isaiah 37:29thematic

God puts His hook in Sennacherib's nose, treating a proud king like a subdued beast.

Supported by JFB

v34Ezekiel 29:3thematic

Pharaoh is compared to the great dragon (crocodile) in the rivers, embodying pride and sovereignty.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v1Job 3:8thematic

Refers to those skilled in mourning who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.

Supported by JFB

v10Genesis 49:9thematic

Parallel warning against rousing a fierce, sleeping beast (a lion), illustrating the danger of Leviathan.

Supported by JFB

v11Exodus 19:5thematic

Affirms God's absolute ownership of the whole earth, establishing His sovereign authority over creation.

Supported by JFB

v19Psalms 18:8thematic

Poetic imagery of smoke and consuming fire from the nostrils/mouth of God in His wrath.

Supported by JFB

The law of taking a servant 'for ever', contrasting with Leviathan's absolute untamability.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v5Job 39:10thematic

Similar rhetorical question about binding a wild beast (the unicorn) to serve human purposes.

Supported by JFB

v3Proverbs 18:23contrast

The poor use entreaties, but the mighty beast will never make soft supplications.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v10Psalms 2:11thematic

If a mere creature cannot be opposed, how much more must men serve God with fear.

Supported by JFB

v33Job 40:19thematic

Compares Leviathan's unique supremacy to Behemoth as the chief of the ways of God.

Supported by JFB