Job 41:10
in Job 41No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
None is so fierce that he dare stir him up; Who then is he that can stand before me?
KJV
None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
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This verse in Job 41
Commentary
11 notes on this verseNone 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?
This site's exposition
Surely hope of overcoming him is false
on Job 41:9-11
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"All that is under heaven belongs to me. And I will not be silent." These words indicate the devil, whose prodigious nature is described in these two beasts, who is destined to be conquered by the power of Christ when the fullness of time will …
The Medieval Church2 voices
After the Lord had enumerated the power of Leviathan, in that man cannot conquer him but only God, now he tells of his power respecting his ability to act against others. Since "there is no power unless it comes from God," (Rom. 13:1), someone could …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
For who can resist My countenance? and who hath first given to Me that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are Mine. 38. In which two verses He fully stated both the might of His own power, and the whole weight of the reason. For on account of His power He said, For who can resist My countenance? And on account of the reason He added; Who hath first given to Me, that I should repay him?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who can stand before him when once he is angry? 11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:88%@v10-12
To convince Job of God's power and terrible majesty several particular instances are here given of the strength and terror of the leviathan, which is no more than what God has given him, nor more than he has under his check,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
None is so fierce that dare stir him up - The most courageous of men dare not provoke the crocodile to fight, or even attempt to rouse him, when, sated with fish, he takes his repose among the reeds. The strongest of men cannot match him. Who then is able - If thou canst not stand against the crocodile, one of the creatures of my hand, how canst thou resist me, who am his Maker? This is the use which God makes of the formidable description which he has thus far given of this terrible animal.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
None is so fierce that dare stir him up - No one has courage to rouse and provoke him. Who then is able to stand before me? - The meaning of this is plain. It is, “If one of my creatures is so formidable that man dare not attack it, how can he contend with the great Creator? This may perhaps be designed as a reproof of Job. He had expressed a desire to carry his cause before God, and to urge argument before him in vindication of himself. God here shows him how hopeless must be a contest with the Almighty. Man trembles and is disarmed of his courage by even the sight of one of the creatures of God. Overpowered with fear, he retires from the contemplated contest, and flees away. How then could he presume to contend with God? What hope could he have in a contest with him?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
His sneezes flash forth light With every sneeze that he sneezes, light flashes forth and shines.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
From his mouth From the flame that goes forth from his mouth.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אַ֭כְזָר | ʾakhzor | fierce | H393 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְעוּרֶ֑נּוּ | yeurenu | he will rouse it | H5782 → | 80 times |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| ה֝֗וּא | hu' | that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לְפָנַ֥י | lefanai | <to> before me | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יִתְיַצָּֽב׃ | yityatzav | will he take his stand | H3320 → | 48 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אַ֭כְזָרfierce
ʾakhzorH393 →
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
יְעוּרֶ֑נּוּhe will rouse it
yeurenuH5782 →80 times
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
ה֝֗וּאthat
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לְפָנַ֥י<to> before me
lefanaiH6440 →2123 times
יִתְיַצָּֽב׃will he take his stand
yityatzavH3320 →48 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 12:5“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- Proverbs 24:10
If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
- Hebrews 12:3–4
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Psalms 69:1–2
Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- Jeremiah 49:19
Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one…
- 1 Peter 4:12
Through
Numbers 24:9He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”
it leads to
- Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Genesis 27:29
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you…
- Genesis 12:3
Through
1 Corinthians 10:22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will…
- Deuteronomy 32:21
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 41:2-3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.