Job Forty One

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

leviathan. Leviathan was evidently the greatest of the marine reptiles, or dinosaurs, something like a plesiosaur, perhaps, although modern commentators tend to call it a crocodile. Isaiah says that leviathan was “the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1), and the psalmist said that leviathan “played” in the “great and wide sea” (Psalm 104:25, 26).

Job 41:2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?

Job 41:3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

Job 41:5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

Job 41:6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?

Job 41:7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

Job 41:8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.

Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

Job 41:10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

dare stir him up. Although no man could overcome the leviathan, God could do so, just as He could overcome the behemoth.

Job 41:11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

Job 41:12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.

Job 41:13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?

Job 41:14 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

Job 41:15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.

Job 41:16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

Job 41:17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

Job 41:18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

neesings. That is, “sneezings.”

Job 41:19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.

Job 41:20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.

Job 41:21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.

a flame. Whatever the leviathan was, it was not a crocodile! Many of the dragon legends indicate they could breathe fire, and there are indications that at least certain dinosaurs may have been able to produce and expel combustible gases which, upon coming in contact with oxygen, could have ignited.

Job 41:22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.

Job 41:23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.

Job 41:24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.

Job 41:25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.

Job 41:26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.

habergeon. A sleeveless jacket of armor.

Job 41:27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

Job 41:28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.

Job 41:29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.

Job 41:30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.

Job 41:31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

Job 41:32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.

Job 41:33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.

Job 41:34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

children of pride. Such a statement could be literally true only of Satan himself! This concluding statement in the divine monologue seems to confirm that these two great reptiles, behemoth and leviathan, were brought to Job's attention to suggest that the great Serpent was the cause of his sufferings. God was well able to defeat Satan. Furthermore, if God was so careful to provide for all the animals, He surely would not forget His faithful servant Job.