JOB CHAPTER 41 God's kingly power and authority above all the children of pride seen in the leviathan. Canst thou take him with a hook and a line, as anglers take ordinary fishes? Surely no. QUEST. What is this LEVIATHAN? ANSW. This is granted on all hands, that it is a great and terrible monster, l... [ Continue Reading ]
AN HOOK, Heb. _a bulrush_, i.e. a hook like a bulrush, with its head hanging down, as is expressed, ISAIAH 58:5. INTO HIS NOSE, to hang him up by it for sale, or to carry him home for use, after thou hast drawn him out of the sea or river, of which he spake in the former verse. WITH A THORN; or, wit... [ Continue Reading ]
Doth he dread thine anger or power? or will he humbly and earnestly beg thy favour, that thou wouldst spare him, and not pursue him, or release him out of prison? It is a metaphor from men in distress and misery, who use these means to them to whose power they are subject.... [ Continue Reading ]
A COVENANT, to wit, to do thee faithful service, as the next words explain it. Canst thou bring him into bondage, and force him to serve thee?... [ Continue Reading ]
AS WITH A BIRD; as children play with little birds kept in cages, or tied with strings, which they do at their pleasure, and without any fear? FOR THY MAIDENS; for thy little daughters; which he mentions rather than little sons, because such are most subject to fear.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY COMPANIONS; thy friends or assistants in the taking of him. MAKE A BANQUET OF HIM, i.e. feed upon him. Or, _for him_, i.e. for joy that thou hast taken him. SHALL THEY PART HIM AMONG THE MERCHANTS? as is usual in such cases, that all who are partners in the labour amid hazard may partake of the... [ Continue Reading ]
This may be understood, either, 1. Of the whale. And whereas it is objected that the whales at this day are taken in this manner, and therefore this cannot be understood of them; it may be replied, both that this art and way of taking whales is a late invention, and was not known in Job's time; and... [ Continue Reading ]
LAY THINE HAND UPON HIM; either, 1. In a familiar and friendly manner, that thou mayst catch him by deceit, when thou canst not do it by force. Or rather, 2. In way of hostility, seize upon him and take him by a strong hand, if thou darest do so. REMEMBER THE BATTLE; but ere thou do attempt that, c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOPE OF HIM; either, 1. Of the fish, i.e. the hope of taking or conquering him. Or rather, 2. Of the man who laid hands upon him, as hoping to take him by force, but in vain. SHALL NOT; the prefix _he_ being put for _halo_, as it is ofttimes in the Hebrew text, as GENESIS 27:36 1 SAMUEL 2:28 JE... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT DARE STIR HIM UP, when he sleepeth or is quiet. None dare provoke him to the battle. TO STAND BEFORE ME; to contend with me his Creator, as thou, Job, dost, when one of my creatures is too hard for him.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH PREVENTED ME, to wit, with offices or service done for me, by which he hath laid the first obligation upon me, for which I am indebted to him? Who can be beforehand with me in kindnesses, since not only the leviathan, but all men, and, as it follows, all things under heaven, are mine, made... [ Continue Reading ]
i.e. I will particularly speak of them. Here is a meiosis, as there is JOB 14:11, JOB 15:18, and oft elsewhere. HIS PARTS, Heb. _His bars_, i.e. the members of his body, which are strong, like bars of iron. HIS COMELY PROPORTION, which is more amiable and admirable in so vast a bulk.... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOVER, or, _uncover_, or take off from him. THE FACE OF HIS GARMENT; the upper or outward part of his garment, or the garment itself; the word face being oft redundant, as GENESIS 1:2, GENESIS 23:3, and oft elsewhere. And by the garment is meant the skin, which covers the whole body, and may be t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DOORS OF HIS FACE, to wit, his mouth. If it be open, none dare enter within it, as he now said; and here he adds, that if it be shut, none dare open it. HIS TEETH ARE TERRIBLE ROUND ABOUT: this is true of some kinds of whales, though others are said to have either none, or no terrible teeth; but... [ Continue Reading ]
He prides and pleaseth himself in his strong and mighty scales. Heb. _His strong shields_ (i.e. scales) are _his pride_. Or, (as other, both ancient and modern, interpreters render it,)_ his body_, (or _his back_, as this word is used, ISAIAH 38:17; which, if meant of the crocodile, is emphatical, b... [ Continue Reading ]
Which plainly shows that the shields or scales are several; which agrees better to the crocodile than to the whale, whose skin is all one entire piece, unless there were a sort of whales having thick and strong scales, which some have affirmed, but is not yet known and proved.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is exceeding difficult, and almost impossible by any power of art, to sever them one front another.... [ Continue Reading ]
BY HIS NEESINGS; which may be understood either, 1. Of any commotion or agitation of the body, like that which is in neezing, as when the whale stirreth himself and casteth or shooteth up great spouts of water into the air by the pipes which God hath planted in his head for this use; which water be... [ Continue Reading ]
i.e. His breathings and blowings are very hot, or flaming, as the following verses explain this. This also may seem better to agree to the crocodile, which breathes (as Aristotle affirms) like the hippopotamus, of which ancient authors affirm, _that his nostrils are very large, and he breathes forth... [ Continue Reading ]
Heb. _pool_. So a great caldron is called, because it sends forth a great smoke, as a pool doth vapours; as in like manner the great brazen laver in the temple is called a sea, for the great quantity of water which it held.... [ Continue Reading ]
An hyperbolical expression, noting only extraordinary heat.... [ Continue Reading ]
His neck is exceeding strong. This is meant either 1. Of the whale, who though he hath no neck no more than other fishes have, yet he hath a part in some sort answerable to it, where the head and body are joined together. Or, 2. Of the crocodile, whom Aristotle, (who made it his business to search... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FLAKES, or _parts_, which stick out, or hang loose, and are ready to fall from other fishes or creatures. OF HIS FLESH: the word _flesh_ is used of fishes also, as LEVITICUS 11:11 1 CORINTHIANS 15:39. THEY CANNOT, without difficulty, BE MOVED, to wit, out of their place, or from the other member... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS HEART; either, 1. That part of the body is most firm, and hard, and strong. Or, 2. His courage is invincible; he is void of fear for himself, and of compassion to others, which is oft called _hardness of heart_. HARD AS A PIECE OF THE NETHER MILLSTONE; which being to bear the weight of the upp... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE RAISETH UP HIMSELF; showing himself upon the top of the waters. Or, _because of his height_, or _greatness_, or _majesty_; for he is represented as a king, JOB 41:31. _The mighty_; even the stout-hearted mariners or passengers, who use to be above fear. BY REASON OF BREAKINGS; either, 1. Of... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT LAYETH AT HIM; that approacheth to him, and dare strike at him. CANNOT HOLD, Heb. _cannot stand_, i.e. either, 1. Cannot endure the stroke, but will be broken by it. Or rather, 2. Cannot abide or take hold of him, or be fixed in him; but is instantly beaten back by the excessive hardness of th... [ Continue Reading ]
He neither fears nor feels the blows of the one more than of the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ARROW, Heb. _the son of the bow_; as it is elsewhere called _the son of the quiver_, LAMENTATIONS 3:13; the quiver being as it were the mother or womb that bears it, and the bow as the father that begets it, or sendeth it forth. SLING-STONES; great stones cast out of slings, which have a great f... [ Continue Reading ]
So far is he from fearing it, and fleeing from it, that he scorns and defies it.... [ Continue Reading ]
According to this translation the sense is, his skin is so hard and impenetrable, that the sharpest stones are as easy to him as the mire, and make no more impression upon him. But the words are and may be otherwise rendered, as continuing the former sense, They (to wit, the arrows, darts, or stones... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DEEP; the deep waters, or the sea, which is called _the deep_, PSALMS 107:24 JONAH 2:3, as it is explained in the next clause. TO BOIL LIKE A POT; to swell, and foam, and froth by his strong and vehement motion, as any liquor doth when it is boiled in a pot. THE SEA; either the great sea, the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
When he raiseth himself to the top of the waters, he doth as it were plough it up, and make large furrows, and causeth a white froth or foam upon the waters.... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON EARTH; either, 1. Strictly so called, as it is distinguished from the sea or rivers. There is no land creature comparable to him for strength and courage. Or, 2. Largely taken. No creature equals him in all points. Or, _upon the dust_, as the word properly signifies, i.e. among the things tha... [ Continue Reading ]
He doth not turn his back upon nor hide his face from the highest and proudest creatures, but looks upon them with a bold and undaunted countenance, as being without any fear of them, as was now said. He carries himself with princely majesty and courage towards the stoutest and loftiest creatures; w... [ Continue Reading ]