Jobchapter 41
34 verses · unknown · 10th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?
Introduction
unknown, Wisdom and poetry, Job Overview.
This chapter completes the LORD's second speech with Leviathan, the great armoured creature of the waters. It opens with fishing questions put to a man who could never land such a catch. His hearers lived among nations whose stories told of sea monsters the gods had to fight. Here the monster is one of God's creatures, described with evident pleasure. Listen for the armour described piece by piece, and for the line near the start in which God says that everything under heaven is His. The speeches of God end with this chapter.
Context
- Who
- Hearers for whom the sea and its monsters stood for everything beyond human control
- What
- The close of the LORD's second speech, a description of Leviathan, which has no equal on the earth.
- Where
- The rivers and deep waters where Leviathan lives.
- When
- The book sets Job in the age of the patriarchs, commonly placed about 2000 to 1800 BC, and it gives no date.
- Why
- To show Job that God rules even the creature no man can capture, and that He owes no one an account.
Historical context
The chapter opens as a fishing question, and the joke is deadpan. Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord? Canst thou put a hook into his nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Those are the ordinary tools, line, reed cord, and a thorn pushed through the gill of a catch to carry it home. Then: will he make many supplications to thee? will he make a covenant with thee to be thy servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, or bind him for thy maidens? Shall the traders make a banquet of him and part him among the merchants?
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The description that follows is armour, weapon by weapon. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal, so near one another that no air comes between; they are joined and cannot be sundered. His teeth are terrible round about. His sneezings flash light and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning, spray thrown up in sunlight, and eyes just breaking the waterline at dawn. Out of his mouth go burning lamps and sparks of fire; smoke goes out of his nostrils as out of a seething pot. His breath kindles coals. The scales of his belly are like sharp potsherds, and he leaves a shining wake behind him and makes the deep boil like a pot.
As with Behemoth, the identification is contested and the text supports the argument rather than settling it. The common reading is the Nile crocodile, armoured, unhookable, hunted only with harpoons, and known across the ancient world; Greek writers described the Egyptian methods for taking one. Others hold that the fire and smoke language and the sheer terror of the passage point past any surviving animal. The house reading takes the description at face value and does not force it into a species.
The closing lines are why the chapter is there. He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood; the arrow cannot make him flee; darts are counted as stubble; he laughs at the shaking of a spear. Upon earth there is not his like, made without fear; he beholds all high things, and is a king over all the children of pride.
Significance
Every neighbouring culture had a sea-monster its gods had to fight. Here the monster is one of God's creatures, described with obvious relish, and the only question asked about it is whether Job can put it on a leash.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The line that lands the whole speech comes just before the description: who has ever given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the whole heaven is mine. God owes nobody an explanation, and hearers were meant to notice that he came and spoke anyway.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter has no place in the synagogue year. The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts printed parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0 for the book of Job, and no festival reading.
The corpus joins it to the study of the Torah portions through the Midrash arranged by them. Under the third verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Emor 10:1. Under the third verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Kedoshim 15:1. Under the fourth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 10:1. Under the eighth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayigash 3:1. Under the eighth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Re'eh 6:1. Under the seventeenth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 4:1. Under the seventeenth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Shmini 7:1. Under the twenty-sixth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vaera 8:1. Under the twenty-sixth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 9:5. Under the twenty-sixth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 9:7.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. The verse numbers below are the ones the corpus prints, which follow the Hebrew text.
Rashi reads the opening verses of the leviathan, the topic he names again at the fifth verse. At the first verse he speaks of a hope that is vain, with no strength to wage war or to move from its place (Rashi on Job 41:1:1). No one is fierce enough to rouse it from its sleep (Rashi on Job 41:2:1).
At the third and fourth verses Rashi turns aside to reward. God asks who came to meet Him by taking up His worship and His commandments, and He will pay that man his reward (Rashi on Job 41:3:1). The fourth verse he reads of the sons of a righteous man who walked before God sincerely. "his sons will be paid the good reward of their father, and they will find good in his merit" (Rashi on Job 41:4:1). At the fifth verse Rashi marks the return himself, saying the text goes back to the previous topic of the leviathan (Rashi on Job 41:5:1).
The rest of his notes follow the beast part by part. The garment of the fifth verse is its scales, and the double bridle is its lips, one above and one below, which no creature dares to enter (Rashi on Job 41:5:1). Its shields are the scales that guard it, and they are joined so closely that they never part (Rashi on Job 41:7:1 and Rashi on Job 41:9:1). Light flashes with every sneeze (Rashi on Job 41:10:1). Flame comes from its mouth and smoke from its nostrils, like a bubbling pot on the fire (Rashi on Job 41:11:1 and Rashi on Job 41:12:1).
At the fifteenth verse Rashi explains the flakes of its flesh from the kitchen. A large fish is made of many pieces, and they show when it is cooked. He adds that the text moves in order, from the scales to the flesh to the heart (Rashi on Job 41:15:1). The heart is as firm as a foundation stone set in a building (Rashi on Job 41:16:1).
No weapon holds against it in Rashi's reading. A sword that reaches it breaks (Rashi on Job 41:18:1). Iron is straw to it and copper is rotten wood (Rashi on Job 41:19:1). The fins on its belly shine like the sun (Rashi on Job 41:22:1). Its path shines because it swims so fast that no water is left in its wake (Rashi on Job 41:24:1).
The corpus carries one further note on this chapter without an English text, marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. It stands cited by ref and unquoted. One stands at Metzudat David on Job 41:8:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the third verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 58:1, Bamidbar Rabbah 14:2, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Emor 10:1 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Kedoshim 15:1. On the fourth verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 22:2, Bereshit Rabbah 41:8, Bereshit Rabbah 49:10 and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 10:1. On the fifth verse it holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 9:7. On the seventh verse it holds Ein Yaakov, Eiruvin 6:10, Ein Yaakov, Khullin 3:24, Eruvin 65a:5 and Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 43:31:3.
On the eighth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 93:2, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 44:17:44, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayigash 3:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Re'eh 6:1. On the tenth verse it holds Bava Batra 74b:3, Berakhot 57b:14 and Bereshit Rabbah 20:10. On the eleventh verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 76:4. On the twelfth verse it holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 16:29:160. On the fourteenth verse it holds Pesikta DeRav Kahana 20:4 and Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:4:7. On the sixteenth verse it holds Sifrei Zuta; Midrashah shel Lod, Place of Compilation of Sifrei Zuta and Its Final Redactor 69.
On the seventeenth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 4:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Shmini 7:1. On the eighteenth verse it holds Introductions to Tanaitic Literature, Introductions to Tractates of the Mishnah, Kelim 230. On the twenty-first verse it holds Sifrei Zuta; Midrashah shel Lod, Mishnayot in Sifrei Zuta 22. On the twenty-second verse it holds Chullin 67b:15, Sifra, Shemini, Section 3 5 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 653:4. On the twenty-third verse it holds Bava Batra 75a:2, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bava Batra 5:23 and Ein Yaakov, Bava Batra 5:17.
On the twenty-fourth verse it holds Bava Batra 75a:3 and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 13:1. On the twenty-sixth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vaera 8:1, Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 9:5 and Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 9:7. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Job 41:1:1 to 41:24:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Job 41:8:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/job/41.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion, no Haftarah and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Jehovah: Canst Thou Draw Out Leviathan With a Fishhook?
Job 41:1-4
God asks whether anyone can hook Leviathan, and Scripture names him again at Psalm 74:14, Psalm 104:26 and Isaiah 27:1. Barnes, with most nineteenth-century commentators, takes him as the Nile crocodile. Gregory the Great in the Morals reads him as a figure of the devil.
Job 41:1
“This the Lord openly indicates to blessed Job, saying: "Will you catch Leviathan with a hook?" By Leviathan, which means "their addition," that whale who devours the human race is designated. For while he promised to add divinity to man, he took away immortality. And the guilt of transgression, which he gave the first man to drink, he multiplies to those who follow him through the worst persuasion, heaping punishments upon them without end. On a hook, however, the bait is shown while the barb is hidden.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 25patristic
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Job 41:1
“Canst thou draw out - As a fish is drawn out of the water. The usual method by which fish were taken was with a hook; and the meaning here is, that it was not possible to take the leviathan in this manner. The whole description here is of an animal that lived in the water. Leviathan - Much has been written respecting this animal, and the opinions which have been entertained have been very various. Schultens enumerates the following classes of opinions in regard to the animal intended here.”
Job 41:1
“Leviathan - Several particulars in the following description, agree far better with the crocodile, than the whale. It is highly probable, that this is the creature here spoken of.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
put a cord through his nose: The cord is agmon in Hebrew, Barnes notes, a reed and so a rope of reeds put through the nose. Clarke recalls the ring that led oxen in the East.
Job 41:2
“Canst thou put a hook onto his nose? - Canst thou put a ring in his nose, and lead him about as thou dost thine ox? In the East they frequently lead thy oxen and buffaloes with a ring in their noses. So they do bulls and oxen in this country. Bore his jaw through with a thorn? - Some have thought that this means, Canst thou deal with him as with one of those little fish which thou stringest on a rush by means of the thorn at its end?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
beg you for mercy: Barnes pictures a captive who begs for mercy and speaks softly to save his life. Professor Lee heard in it the cries of a dolphin when taken. Gill sees a creature too proud to beg.
Job 41:3
“Will he make many supplications unto thee? - In the manner of a captive begging for his life. That is, will he quietly submit to you? Prof. Lee supposes that there is an allusion here to the well-known cries of the dolphin when taken; but it is not necessary to suppose such an allusion. The idea is, that the animal here referred to would not tamely submit to his captor. Will he speak soft words unto thee? - Pleading for his life in tones of tender and plaintive supplication.”
make a covenant with you: Clarke hears the law of Exodus 21:1 to 6. There a servant had his ear bored and served his master for life. Barnes asks whether Leviathan would make a covenant with you and take a slave's place for life.
Job 41:4
“Will he make a covenant - Canst thou hire him as thou wouldst a servant, who is to be so attached to thy family as to have his ear bored, that he may abide in thy house for ever? Is not this an allusion to the law, Exo 21:1-6?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 41:5-8
Can you pet him like a bird: God asks whether Job can keep Leviathan as a pet. Henry reads this string of questions as building toward the warning of verse 8. Clarke takes “you will remember the battle and never repeat it” as blunt counsel, that one encounter with this creature settles the question for good.
Job 41:5
“Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 30. Why is it that our adversary is first called Behemoth, afterwards Leviathan, but is now compared to a 'bird,' in ridicule at his destruction? For Behemoth, as we have said, is interpreted 'monster,' ['bellua'] and it is shewn to be a quadruped, when it is said to eat hay as an ox. But Leviathan, as he is taken with a hook is doubtless set before us as a serpent in the waters.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIIIpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Job 41:5
“Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?.... In the hand or cage: leviathan plays in the sea, but there is no playing with him by land, Psa 104:26; or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? or young girls, as Mr. Broughton renders it; tie him in a string, as birds are for children to play with?”
Job 41:5
“Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? - A bird that is tamed. The art of taming birds was doubtless early practiced, and they were kept for amusement. But the leviathan could not thus be tamed. Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? - For their amusement. For such purposes doubtless, birds were caught and caged. There is great force in this question, on the supposition that the crocodile is intended. Nothing could be more incongruous than the idea of securing so rough and unsightly a monster for the amusement of tender and delicate females.”
divide him among the merchants?: Traders who barter for him may be partners in fishing, and the merchants who divide him are literally Canaanites, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note. Clarke asks whether his flesh could be sold like an ox's.
Job 41:6
“Shall thy companions make a banquet - Canst thou and thy friends feast on him as ye were wont to do on a camel sacrificed for this purpose? Or, canst thou dispose of his flesh to the merchants - to buyers, as thou wouldst do that of a camel or an ox? It is certain, according to Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 70, that they killed and ate crocodiles at Apollonople and Elephantis, in Egypt.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:6
“Rather, "partners" (namely, in fishing). make a banquet--The parallelism rather supports UMBREIT, "Do partners (in trade) desire to purchase him?" So the Hebrew (De 2:6). merchants--literally, "Canaanites," who were great merchants (Ho 12:7, Margin).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
fill his hide with harpoons: Barnes points to a hide too thick for spears. Gill notes that whalers pierce the whale with harpoons, so the verse fits the whale poorly. Origen read Leviathan as the dragon, whose hide all the ships together could not lift.
Job 41:7
“Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? - Referring to its thickness and impenetrability. A common method of taking fish is by the spear; but it is here said that the leviathan could not be caught in this manner. The common method of taking the crocodile now is by shooting him; see the notes at Job 41:1. Nothing is more remarkable in the crocodile than the thick and impenetrable skin with which it is covered; and the description here will agree better with this animal than with any other.”
you will remember the battle: Once you lay a hand on him, Clarke warns, the first blow must strike home. A miss means death and no chance to repeat it. Henry hears a warning to Job to remember how such a battle ends.
Job 41:8
“Lay thine hand upon him,.... If thou canst or darest. It is dangerous so to do, either to the whale or crocodile; remember the battle; or "look for war", as Mr. Broughton renders it; expect a fight will ensue, in which thou wilt have no share with this creature: do no more; if thou canst by any means escape, take care never to do the like again; or thou wilt never do so any more, thou wilt certainly die for it.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:8
“Lay thine hand upon him? - Mr. Heath translates, “Be sure thou strike home. Mind thy blow: rely not upon a second stroke.” Mr. Good translates: - “Make ready thy hand against him. Dare the contest: be firm.” He is a dangerous animal; when thou attackest him, be sure of thy advantage; if thou miss, thou art ruined. Depend not on other advantages, if thou miss the first. Kill him at once, or he will kill thee.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 41:9-11
Surely hope of overcoming him is false: The argument turns at “Then who is able to stand against Me”, from a man's power over one animal to God's ownership of all creation. Henry reads this turn as the speech's purpose, a beast no hook can catch standing for a Maker no argument can catch.
Job 41:9
“Behold, his hope shall disappoint him. And in the sight of all he shall be cast down. 37. But this ought to be so understood, as to be referred to his body also; because all wicked men who fear not the strictness of Divine justice, flatter themselves in vain on His compassion. And He presently returns to console us, and foretels his coming destruction at the last judgment, saying; And in the sight of all he shall be cast down.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIIIpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:9
“Behold, the hope of him is in vain - That is, the hope of taking him is vain. Shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? - So formidable is his appearance, that the courage of him who would attack him is daunted, and his resolution fails. This agrees well also with the crocodile. There is perhaps scarcely any animal whose appearance would be more likely to deter one from attacking him.”
No one is so fierce: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call this the main drift of the whole description of Leviathan. A man who dares not rouse a creature cannot stand against its Creator. Gill thinks of a crocodile woken from sleep.
Job 41:10
“None is so fierce that dare stir him up,.... This seems best to agree with the crocodile, who frequently lies down and sleeps on the ground (q), and in the water by night (r); see Eze 29:3; when it is very dangerous to arouse him; and few, if any so daring, have courage enough to do it: though whales have been seen lying near shore asleep, and looked like rocks, even forty of them together (s); who then is able to stand before me?”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:10
“If a man dare attack one of My creatures (Ge 49:9; Nu 24:9), who will dare (as Job has wished) oppose himself (Ps 2:2) to Me, the Creator? This is the main drift of the description of leviathan.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Everything under heaven is Mine: answers any claim that God must repay. Gill hears the question again at Romans 11:35. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown apply it to Job, for no one has given to God first, and none can call him unjust.
Job 41:11
“Who hath prevented me? - As this verse is here rendered, its meaning, and the reason why it is introduced, are not very apparent. It almost looks, indeed, as if it were an interpolation, or had been introduced from some other place, and torn from its proper connection. Dr. Harris proposes to remove the principal difficulty by translating it, “Who will stand before me, yea, presumptuously? Whatsoever is beneath the whole heaven is mine.”
Jehovah: His Scales Are Shut Up Close as With a Seal
Job 41:12-21
I cannot keep silent about his limbs: Verse 12 opens an inventory of armor. Gill takes the bridle of verse 13 as a warhorse's gear, dressing Leviathan for battle. Delitzsch reads the snorting that “flashes with light” and the smoke “as from a boiling pot” as poetry built on the crocodile surfacing and spouting.
Job 41:12
“I will not conceal his parts - This is most certainly no just translation of the original. The Vulgate is to this effect: I will not spare him: nor yield to his powerful words, framed for the purpose of entreaty. Mr. Good applies it to leviathan: - “I cannot be confounded at his limbs and violence; The strength and structure of his frame.” The Creator cannot be intimidated at the most formidable of his own works: man may and should tremble; God cannot.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:12
“I will not conceal--a resumption of the description broken off by the digression, which formed an agreeable change. his power--literally, "the way," that is, true proportion or expression of his strength (so Hebrew, De 19:4). comely proportion--literally, "the comeliness of his structure" (his apparatus: so "suit of apparel" Jud 17:10) [MAURER].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
strip off his outer coat?: The outer coat is his skin, Barnes notes, hard and rough as armor. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see a hard outer coat laid over an inner skin, and take the bridle as his double row of teeth. Wesley asks who would dare even to touch it.
Job 41:13
“Who can discover the face of his garment?.... Or rather uncover it? Not the sea, which Mr. Broughton represents as the garment of the whale; who can strip him of it, or take him out of that, and bring him to land? which, though not impossible, is difficult: but either the garment of his face, the large bulk or prominence that hangs over his eyes; or rather his skin.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:13
“Who can discern the face of his garment? - literally, “Who can reveal the face, that is, the appearance, of his garment?” This “garment” is undoubtedly his skin. The meaning seems to be, “His hard and rough skin is his defense, and no one can so strip off that as to have access to him.” The word rendered “discover” (גלה gâlâh) means “to make naked”; then “to reveal”; and the idea is, that he cannot be made naked of that covering, or deprived of it so that one could attack him.”
ringed by his fearsome teeth?: Barnes finds the jaws and fearsome teeth true to the crocodile. Sixty teeth ring the open jaws, say Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, some jagged and fitting together like a comb.
Job 41:14
“Who can open the doors of his face?.... Of his mouth, the jaws thereof, which are like a pair of folding doors: the jaws of a crocodile have a prodigious opening. Peter Martyr (u) speaks of one, whose jaws opened seven feet broad; and Leo Africanus (w) affirms he saw some, whose jaws, when opened, would hold a whole cow.”
His rows of scales are his pride: Barnes renders the Hebrew as pride, the strong of shields, the scales tightly sealed together. Wesley gives these scales to the crocodile. The whale has smooth skin.
Job 41:15
“Rather, his "furrows of shields" (as "tubes," "channels," see on Job 40:18), are, &c., that is, the rows of scales, like shields covering him: he has seventeen such rows. shut up--firmly closed together.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:15
“Shut - Closely compacted together, as things that are fastened together by a seal. This likewise is true of the crocodile, but the skin of the whale is smooth and entire without any scales at all.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
no air can pass between them: Clarke reports that a musket ball cannot pass these scales. Gregory the Dialogist read the scales as sinners joined so close that no breath of life from the mouth of preachers can reach them.
Job 41:16
“One is so near to another - It has already been stated, that a musket-ball fired at him in any direction cannot make a passage through his scales.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:16
“One is joined to another, and not even a breath comes between them. 54. These scales of sinners are both hardened and joined together, so as not to be penetrated by any breath of life from the mouth of preachers. For those whom a like guilt associates, the same does a perverse defence also crowd together in obstinate agreement, in order that they may protect each other with mutual defence for their sins.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIIIpatristic
They are joined to one another: Joined to one another is literally a man with his brother. Barnes adds that the scales have no fastening and lie so near they cannot be separated. Gregory read them as sinners joined together in stubborn union.
Job 41:17
“They are joined one to another,.... One scale to another, or "a man in his brother" (h): which may seem to favour the notion of the whale's teeth in the sockets, which exactly answer to one another; but the next clause will by no means agree with them; they stick together, that they cannot be sundered: whereas they easily be, at least by the creature itself; but the scales of a crocodile are so closely joined and sealed together, that there is no parting them. (h) איש באחיהו "vir in fratre suo"; Montanus.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:17
“They are joined one to another - literally, “A man with his brother;” that is, each one is connected with another. There is no natural fastening of one scale with another, but they lie so close and compact that they seem thus to be fastened down on one another; see Bochart on this verse. It is this which makes the crocodile so difficult to be killed. A musket-ball will penetrate the skin under the belly, which is there less firmly protected; and accordingly the efforts of those who attempt to secure them are directed to that part of the body.”
like the rays of dawn: Clarke takes the light literally, spray from the nostrils forming a rainbow in the sun. Wesley compares the crocodile's eyes, dull under water and bright the moment they surface, like the rays of dawn. Olympiodorus read the light as the devil disguised.
Job 41:18
“By his neesings a light doth shine,.... The philosopher (i) observes, that those who look to the sun are more apt to sneeze: and it is taken notice of by various writers (k), that the crocodile delights to be sunning itself, and lying yawning in the sun and looking at it, as quoted by Bochart; and so frequently sneeze: which sneezings, through the rays of the sun, may seem to shine and give light.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:18
“By his neesings a light doth shine - It is very likely that this may be taken literally. When he spurts up the water out of his nostrils, the drops form a sort of iris or rainbow. We have seen this effect produced when, in certain situations and state of the atmosphere, water was thrown up forcibly, so as to be broken into small drops, which has occasioned an appearance like the rainbow.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Firebrands stream from his mouth: Gill calls the firebrands and sparks hyperbole, drawn from spray thrown up in the sun. Wesley gives the fiery mouth to the crocodile. Origen read the mouth as false teachers.
Job 41:19
“Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Which, though hyperbolical expressions, have some foundation for them in the latter; in the vast quantities of water thrown out by the whale, through its mouth or hole in its frontispiece, which in the sun may look like lamps and sparks of fire, as before observed; and especially in the "orcae", or whales with teeth, which eject in the same way an oily mucus, or the fat liquor of the brain, commonly called spermaceti, which may appear more bright and glittering.”
2 more voices on this verse
Job 41:19
“I believe that all the impious teachers of immoral doctrines are properly the limbs of the dragon. What are the names, if you want to listen, of the limbs of the dragon? The mouth of the dragon can be metaphorically interpreted as the main limb, because all the dangerous speeches come from it. "From his mouth go flaming torches." From it you hear the insulting speech under the guise of Christianity, the speech vilifying the Creator, or on the other hand that openly supports the theories of Marcion, Basilides and Valentinus.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Fragments on Job 28.114patristic
Job 41:19
“Lamps - This also better agrees with the crocodile, which breathes like the river-horse, of which ancient authors affirm, that his nostrils are very large, and he breathes forth a fiery smoke like that of a furnace.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Smoke billows from his nostrils: Barnes notes that this smoke from the nostrils of the crocodile has often been seen, and cites Bartram's travels. Aquinas says the creature breathes like a dolphin. Gregory read the smoke as doubt that clouds the eyes.
Job 41:20
“Out of his nostrils goeth smoke. As of a heated and boiling pot. 61. For the sight of the eyes is pained by smoke. Smoke is therefore said to go out of his nostrils; because by the craft of his miracles a darkening doubt is generated for an instant even in the heart of the Elect. A smoke goes out of the mouth of Leviathan, because, on account of his lying wonders, a mist of alarm confuses the eyes even of good minds.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIIIpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:20
“Out of his nostrils goeth forth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. In which flesh or anything else is boiling. It is observed that there is a likeness between the crocodile and the river horse, and particularly in their breathing (u): and of the former it is remarked (w), that its nostrils are very large and open, and that they breathe out a fiery smoke, as out of a furnace. (u) Plin. l. 48. c. 8. Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 2. (w) Achilles Statius & Eustathius, apud Scheuchzer: ut supra. (vol. 4. p. 849.)”
His breath sets coals ablaze: Barnes sets the breath that sets coals ablaze beside Hesiod's Chimera, breathing fire from its mouth. Gill calls the flames hyperbole. Gregory read the coals as hearts burning with earthly desire.
Job 41:21
“His breath kindleth coals. And a flame goeth out of his mouth. 67. For what does He call 'coals,' but the minds of reprobate men, kindled with earthly desires. For they are on fire when they seek after any temporal object; doubtless because their longings, which suffer not their mind to be quiet and whole ['integrum'], inflame them. The breath of Leviathan therefore kindles the coals, as often as his secret suggestion allures the minds of men to unlawful pleasures.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIIIpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:21
“His breath kindleth coals - It seems to be a flame, and to set on fire all around it. So Hesiod, “Theog.” i. 319, describing the creation of the Chimera, speaks of it as πνέουσαν ἀμαισάκετον πῦρ pneousan amaimaketon pur. “Breathing unquenchable fire,” So Virgil, “Georg.” ii.”
Job 41:22-29
Strength resides in his neck: His chest is “as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone”, a doubled figure Barnes reads as courage nothing within can shake. Every weapon fails, “the spear or dart or arrow”. Clarke hears in these useless weapons an answer to Job's demand for legal means against God.
Job 41:22
“In his neck remaineth strength,.... This is thought to be an argument against the whale, which is said to have no neck: but whatever joins the head and body may be called the neck, though ever so small; and the shorter the neck is, the stronger it is.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:22
“In his neck remaineth strength - Literally, “strength has its dwelling in his neck.” The neck is the seat of strength of most animals; but the head and shoulders must be here meant, as the crocodile has no neck, being shaped nearly like a lizard. And sorrow is turned into joy before him - ולפניו תדוץ דאבה ulephanaiv taduts deabah; “And destruction exulteth before him.” This is as fine an image as can well be conceived. It is in the true spirit of poetry, the legitimate offspring of the genie createur. Our translation is simply insignificant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The folds of his flesh: are literally its fallings, Barnes notes, parts that would hang loose. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call them dewlaps, firm and tightly joined. Henry sets this flesh against Job's complaint in chapter 6.
Job 41:23
“The flakes of his flesh are joined together - Margin, “fallings.” The Hebrew word used here means anything “falling,” or “pendulous,” and the reference here is, probably, to the pendulous parts of the flesh of the animal; the flabby parts; the dew-laps. In animals commonly these parts about the neck and belly are soft, pendulous, and contribute little to their strength. The meaning here is, that in the leviathan, instead of being thus flabby and pendulous, they were compact and firm. This is strikingly true of the crocodile.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:23
“The flakes of it are joined so closely together, and are so firm, that it is hard to pierce it; he is as if he were all bone. His flesh is of brass, which Job had complained his was not, ch. vi.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
as hard as a lower millstone!: Older versions call the chest his heart. Bochart, cited by Barnes, took it literally, and Gill as courage. The lower millstone, on which the upper turns, is especially hard, as hard as a rock.
Job 41:24
“His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. Which must be understood not of the substance but of the qualities of it, being bold, courageous, undaunted, and unmerciful; which is true both of the whale and crocodile, and particularly of the crocodile: Aelianus (z) relates of one sort of them that they are unmerciful, though elsewhere (a), he represents them as fearful. (z) De Animal. l. 12. c. 41. (a) Ibid. l. 10. c. 24.”
2 more voices on this verse
Job 41:24
“His heart is as firm as a stone - As hard; as solid. Bochart remarks that the word “heart” here is not to be regarded as denoting the “courage” of the animal, as it sometimes does, but the heart literally. The statement occurs in the description of the various parts of the animal, and the object is to show that there was special firmness or solidity in every one of his members.”
Job 41:24
“His heart shall be hardened as a stone, and he will be bound as the anvil of the hammerer. 11. For the heart of the ancient enemy will be hardened as a stone, because it will never be softened by any penitence of conversion. And because he will be fitted only for the blows of eternal punishment, it is rightly immediately added; And he will be bound as the anvil of the hammerer. For the hammerer puts up an anvil fitted to receive blows only. For an anvil is erected for the very purpose of being struck with frequent blows.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
Jehovah: Upon Earth There Is Not His Like: King Over the Sons of Pride
the mighty are terrified: When Leviathan rises, older versions have the mighty purify themselves, and Wesley read that as the terrified crying out. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read that they withdraw in bewildered flight. Henry sees the mighty terrified for their ships.
Job 41:25
“Mighty - Even the stout- hearted. Breakings - By reason of their great danger and distress; which is expressed by this very word, Psalm lx, 2 Jonah ii, 4. Purify - Those who ordinarily live in the neglect of God, they cry unto God in their trouble, and endeavour to purge their consciences from the guilt of their sins.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:25
“When he shall be taken away, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall be purified. 12. Holy Scripture often so mixes up past and future times, as sometimes to use the future for the past, sometimes the past for the future.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
The sword that reaches him: Barnes takes the sword here as a harpoon. Wesley says no sword, dart or bullet can pierce a crocodile's skin. Gregory the Dialogist lists the senses a sword carries in Scripture, from holy preaching to eternal judgment.
Job 41:26
“The sword of him that layeth at him - The word “sword” here (חרב chereb) means undoubtedly “harpoon,” or a sharp instrument by which an attempt is made to pierce the skin of the monster. Cannot hold - That is, in the hard skin. It does not penetrate it. The spear, the dart - These were doubtless often used in the attempt to take the animal. The meaning is, that “they” would not hold or stick to the animal. They flew off when hurled at him. Nor the habergeon - Margin, “breastplate.” Noyes, “javelin.” Prof.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:26
“When a sword has reached him, it will not be able to remain, nor a spear, nor a breastplate. 17. In Holy Scripture by a 'sword' is sometimes designated holy preaching, sometimes eternal damnation, sometimes temporal tribulation, sometimes the wrath or persuasion of the ancient enemy.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
He regards iron as straw: Gill cites Eustathius, who wrote that the sharpest iron glances off Leviathan and is blunted. Barnes gives the verse to the crocodile. Olympiodorus read it of the devil, who regards every weapon as straw and rotten wood.
Job 41:27
“For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 19. That which above He called a 'spear,' he mentioned again below under the appellation of 'iron:' and that which He spoke of as a 'breastplate,' He again designated by mentioning it as 'brass.' For iron is sharpened, that the adversary may be wounded; but brass is hardly destroyed by any rust.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:27
“He esteemeth iron as straw,.... You may as well cast a straw at him as a bar of iron; it will make no impression on his steeled back, which is as a coat of mail to him; so Eustathius affirms (d) that the sharpest iron is rebounded and blunted by him; and brass as rotten wood; or steel, any instrument made of it, though ever so strong or piercing. (d) Apud ibid. (Bochard. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 17. col. 785.)”
No arrow can make him flee: The arrow is the son of the bow, Barnes notes, as at Lamentations 3:13. Slingstones served in war, yet to Leviathan they are chaff. Gregory read each arrow as the word of a preacher.
Job 41:28
“The archer shall not put him to flight. The stones of the sling are turned with him into stubble. 21. For what do we understand by 'arrows' but the words of preachers? For when they are drawn forth by the voice of holy livers, they transfix the hearts of the hearers. With these arrows Holy Church had been struck, who was saying, I am wounded with love. [Cant.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:28
“The arrow - Hebrew “the son of the bow.” So Lam 3:13, margin. This use of the word son is common in the Scriptures and in all Oriental poetry. Sling-stones - The sling was early used in war and in hunting, and by skill and practice it could be so employed as to be a formidable weapon; see Jdg 20:16; 1Sa 17:40, 1Sa 17:49. As one of the weapons of attack on a foe it is mentioned here, though there is no evidence that the sling was ever actually used in endeavoring to destroy the crocodile.”
A club is regarded as straw: The club regarded as straw is a word found only here, Barnes notes, from a root meaning to beat. Ben Gersom took it as an engine for hurling stones. Gill adds that the crocodile laughs at the sound of the lance.
Job 41:29
“Darts are counted as stubble - The word rendered “darts” (תותח tôthâch) occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. It is from יתח, obsolete root, “to beat with a club.” The word here probably means clubs. Darts and spears are mentioned before, and the object seems to be to enumerate all the usual, instruments of attack. The singular is used here with a plural verb in a collective sense.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:29
“Darts are counted as stubble,.... Darts being mentioned before, perhaps something else is meant here, and, according to Ben Gersom, the word signifies an engine out of which stones are cast to batter down walls; but these are of no avail against the leviathan; he laugheth at the shaking of a spear; at him, knowing it cannot hurt him; the crocodile, as Thevenot says (g), is proof against the halberd.”
Job 41:30-32
His undersides are jagged potsherds: He “makes the depths seethe like a cauldron”. Delitzsch reads the “glistening wake”, as if “the deep had white hair”, as an honest picture of a wake cut through water at night. Gill takes it as the trail any great creature leaves, drawn at its largest scale.
Job 41:30
“The rays of the sun will be under him. He will strew gold under him like clay. 25. For in Holy Scripture when the 'sun' is used figuratively, there is designated sometimes the Lord, sometimes persecution, sometimes the display of an open sight of any thing, but sometimes the understanding of the wise.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:30
“Sharp stones are under him - So hard and impenetrable are his scales, that splinters of flint are the same to him as the softest reeds.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
makes the depths seethe like a cauldron: Gill thinks the seething sea suits the whale, for the crocodile keeps to the Nile. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the sea as the Nile, as at Isaiah 19:5, and the jar of ointment as the crocodile's musky smell. The readings divide.
Job 41:31
“He will make the deep sea to boil like a pot. He will make it as when ointments boil. 31. What is expressed by the 'sea' but the life of the worldly, what by the 'deep' ['profundum'] but their deep and hidden thoughts? And this deep sea this Leviathan makes to boil like a pot, because it is doubtless quite plain, that in the time of the last persecution he studies to excite the minds of the reprobate against the life of the Elect by the flame of cruelty.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:31
“He maketh the deep to boil (k) like a pot,.... Which is all in a from through the violent agitation and motion of the waves, caused by its tossing and tumbling about; which better suits with the whale than the crocodile, whose motion in the water is not so vehement; he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment; this also seems to make against the crocodile, which is a river fish, and is chiefly in the Nile.”
He leaves a glistening wake behind him: Barnes takes the glistening wake as white foam. Clarke adds the sparks of light a fast ship stirs up at night, which he watched from the stern. Gill offers foam or the oil a whale leaves behind.
Job 41:32
“A path will shine after him. He will esteem the deep as growing old. 33. For a 'path' is said to shine after Leviathan, because wherever he passes along, he leaves behind him great astonishment from the brightness of his miracles, and wherever he goes forth, either by himself or by his ministers, he glitters with lying wonders.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:32
“He maketh a path to shine after him - In certain states of the weather a rapid motion through the water disengages many sparks of phosphoric fire. I have seen this at sea; once particularly, on a fine clear night, with a good breeze, in a fast-sailing vessel, I leaned over the stern, and watched this phenomenon for hours.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Job 41:33-34
The last line gives the portrait's title, “he is king over all the proud”. Most older commentators read it of the mightiest beast, while followers of Gregory the Great in the Morals read it of pride itself. Henry notes the speeches end here, and Job's answer opens the next chapter.
Job 41:33
“Upon earth there is not his like - Hebrew, “Upon the dust.” The meaning is, that no other animal can be compared with him; or the land does not produce such a monster as this. For size, strength, ferocity, courage, and formidableness, no animal will hear a comparison with him. This can be true only of some such fierce creature as the crocodile. Who is made without fear - Margin, “Or, behave themselves with fear.” The meaning is, that he is created not to be afraid; he has no dread of others In this respect he is unlike other animals.”
1 more voice on this verse
Job 41:33
“There is no power upon earth, which can be compared to him. Who was made to fear no one. 39. His power upon earth is said to be preeminent over all, because though he has fallen below men by the merit of his doings, yet he transcends the whole human race by the condition of his angelic nature.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIVpatristic
He looks down on all the haughty: Gill reads he looks down on all the haughty as said of God, who humbles the proud, the task Job was set at Job 40:11. Wesley draws the same link. Calmet, cited by Clarke, took the proud as Egypt with the crocodile as king.
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist; Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria; Origen of Alexandria and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.