Job 41:20
in Job 41Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth, As of a boiling pot and burning rushes.
KJV
Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
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This verse in Job 41
Commentary
7 notes on this verseOut 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.
This site's exposition
I cannot keep silent about his limbs
on Job 41:12-21
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fourth, he discusses the operation of his nostrils. For this animal has a lung and breathes like a dolphin, and to show this he says, "From his nostrils," which are principal organs needed for breathing, "comes forth," by breathing, "smoke," that is, a burning air …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.)
Probably these hyperbolical expressions are used concerning the leviathan to intimate the terror of the wrath of God, for that is it which all this is designed to convince us of.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Out of his nostrils goeth smoke - See the quotations on Job 41:19. This appearance of the crocodile, or alligator, has been often noticed. Bertram, in his “Travels in North and South Carolina,” p. 116, says, “While I was seeking a place of rest, I encountered an alligator that in the neighboring lake rushed through the canes that grew on its banks. He inflated his enormous body, and swung his tail high in the air. A thick smoke streamed from his wide-open nostrils, with a sound that made the earth tremble.” Rosenmuller, “Alte u. neue Morgenland,” No. 7
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֭נְּחִירָיו | minechirav | from nostrils its | H5156 → | |
| יֵצֵ֣א | yetze' | it goes forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| עָשָׁ֑ן | ʾashan | smoke | H6227 → | |
| כְּד֖וּד | kedud | like a pot | H1731 → | |
| נָפ֣וּחַ | nafuach | blown upon | H5301 → | 12 times |
| וְאַגְמֹֽן׃ | veagmon | and bulrush[es] | H100 → |
מִ֭נְּחִירָיוfrom nostrils its
minechiravH5156 →
יֵצֵ֣אit goes forth
yetze'H3318 →1067 times
עָשָׁ֑ןsmoke
ʾashanH6227 →
כְּד֖וּדlike a pot
kedudH1731 →
נָפ֣וּחַblown upon
nafuachH5301 →12 times
וְאַגְמֹֽן׃and bulrush[es]
veagmonH100 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Job
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.