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Job 41:34

in Job 41

He looks down on all the haughty; he is king over all the proud.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

He beholdeth everything that is high: He is king over all the sons of pride.

KJV

He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

This verse in Job 41

Commentary

11 notes on this verse
He beholdeth all high things,.... Or "who beholdeth all high things"; even he that made leviathan, that is, God, as the above interpreter: he does that which Job was bid to do, and could not; beholds everyone that is proud, and abases him, Job 40:11; and therefore he ought to acknowledge his sovereignty and superiority over him, and submit to him; he is a king over all the children of pride: the proud angels that fell, and all the proud sons of men; proud monarchs and potentates of the earth, such as Nebuchadnezzar and others, Dan 4:

This site's exposition

Nothing on earth is his equal

on 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.

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIV · Written before 604.

proposed

He beholdeth every high thing. He is a king over all the children of pride. 42. That is, he looks down as if from above on all, who are, as it were, placed beneath him; because while he strives in his intention against his Maker, he scorns to think any one like himself. And this fitly suits his members also, because all the wicked, elated through swelling of heart, despise with the haughtiness of pride all whom they behold.

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

Another is that Leviathan has the power to do great and powerful actions, and he explains this saying, "he sees everything which is sublime," that is, the intention of the devil is to attach himself to whatever is sublime. As these properties are characteristic of …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

King, &c. - He can tame both the behemoth and leviathan, as strong and stout-hearted as they are. This discourse concerning them was brought in, to prove that it is God only, who can look upon proud men and abase them, bring them low, and hide them in the dust, he it is that beholdeth all high things, and wherein men dealt proudly, he is above them.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. 9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The rolling waves, the impending rocks, the hovering clouds, and the ships under sail with top and top-gallant, this mighty animal beholds with contempt, for he does not think they either lessen him or threaten him. Those that are great are apt to be scornful. (4.) That he is a king over all the children of pride, that is, he is the proudest of all proud ones.
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

He is a king over all the children of pride - There is no animal in the waters that does not fear and fly from him. Hence the Chaldee renders it, all the offspring of Fishes. Calmet says, that by the children of pride the Egyptians are meant; that the crocodile is called their king, because he was one of their principal divinities; that the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh, which signifies a crocodile; and that the Egyptians were proverbial for their pride, as may be seen in Eze 32:

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

beholdeth--as their superior. children of pride--the proud and fierce beasts. Hebrew, "sons of pride." To humble the pride of man and to teach implicit submission, is the aim of Jehovah's speech and of the book; therefore with this as to leviathan, the type of God in His lordship over creation, He closes.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

He beholdeth all high things - That is, he looks down on everything as inferior to him. He is a king over all the children of pride - Referring, by “the children of pride,” to the animals that are bold, proud, courageous - as the lion, the panther, etc. The lion is often spoken of as “the king of the forest,” or “the king of beasts,” and in a similar sense the leviathan is here spoken of as at the head of the animal creation. He is afraid of none of them; he is subdued by none of them; he is the prey of none of them. The whole argument, therefore, closes with this statement, that he is at the head of the animal creation; and it was by this magnificent description of the power of the creatures which God had made, that it was intended to impress the mind of Job with a sense of the majesty and power of the Creator. It had the effect. He was overawed with a conviction of the greatness of God, and he saw how wrong it had been for him to presume to call in question the justice, or sit in judgment on the doings, of such a Being. God did not, indeed, go into an examination of the various points which had been the subject of controversy; he did not explain the nature of his moral administration so as to relieve the mind from perplexity; but he evidently meant to leave the impression that he was vast and incomprehensible in his government, infinite in power, and had a right to dispose of his creation as he pleased. No one can doubt that God could with infinite ease have so explained the nature of his administration as to free the mind from perplexity, and so as to have resolved the difficulties which hung over the various subjects which had come into debate between Job and his friends. “Why” he did not do this, is nowhere stated, and can only be the subject of conjecture. […]

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Job 26:12

    By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 51:15

      For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name.

    • Jeremiah 31:35

      Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the…

    • Isaiah 51:9

      Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…

    • Job 12:13

      Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

    • Psalms 89:9–10

      You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.

  • Through

    Psalms 73:6

    Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 109:18

      The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 29:3

    Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 27:1

      In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

    • Ezekiel 32:2

      “Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIV; Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.