INTRODUCTION TO JOB 41
A large description is here given of the leviathan, from the
difficulty and danger of taking it, from whence it is inferred that
none can stand before God, Job 41:1; from the several parts of him,
his face, teeth, scales, eyes, mouth and neck, flesh and heart, Job
41:11; and... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU DRAW OUT LEVIATHAN WITH AN HOOK?.... That is, draw it out
of the sea or river as anglers draw out smaller fishes with a line or
hook? the question suggests it cannot be done; whether by the
"leviathan" is meant the whale, which was the most generally received
notion; or the crocodile, as... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU PUT AN HOOK INTO HIS NOSE?.... Or a rush, that is, a rope
made of rushes; for of such ropes were made, as Pliny g affirms;
OR BORE HIS JAW THROUGH WITH A THORN? as men do herrings, or such like
small fish, for the convenience of carrying them, or hanging them up
to dry; the whale is not... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL HE MAKE MANY SUPPLICATIONS UNTO THEE?.... To cease pursuing him,
or to let him go when taken, or to use him well and not take away his
life; no, he is too spirited and stouthearted to ask any favour, it is
below him;
WILL HE SPEAK SOFT [WORDS] UNTO THEE? smooth and flattering ones, for
the abo... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL HE MAKE A COVENANT WITH THEE?.... To live in friendship or
servitude, as follows;
WILT THOU TAKE HIM FOR A SERVANT FOR EVER? oblige him to serve thee
for life, or reduce him to perpetual bondage; signifying, that he is
not to be tamed or brought into subjection; which is true of the
whale, but... [ Continue Reading ]
WILT THOU PLAY WITH HIM AS [WITH] A BIRD?.... In the hand or cage:
leviathan plays in the sea, but there is no playing with him by land,
Psalms 104:26;
OR WILT THOU BIND HIM FOR THY MAIDENS? or young girls, as Mr.
Broughton renders it; tie him in a string, as birds are for children
to play with? No... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL THY COMPANIONS MAKE A BANQUET OF HIM?.... The fishermen that
join together in catching fish, shall they make a feast for joy at
taking the leviathan? which suggests that he is not to be taken by
them, and so they have no opportunity or occasion for a feast: or will
they feed on him? the flesh... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU FILL HIS SKIN WITH BARBED IRONS? OR HIS HEAD WITH FISH
SPEARS?] This seems not so well to agree with the whale; whose skin,
and the several parts of his body, are to be pierced with harpoons and
lances, such as fishermen use in taking whales; and their flesh to be
cut in pieces with their... [ Continue Reading ]
LAY THINE HAND UPON HIM,.... If thou canst or darest. It is dangerous
so to do, either to the whale or crocodile;
REMEMBER THE BATTLE; or "look for war", as Mr. Broughton renders it;
expect a fight will ensue, in which thou wilt have no share with this
creature:
DO NO MORE; if thou canst by any me... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE HOPE OF HIM IS IN VAIN,.... Of getting the mastery over
him, or of taking him; and yet both crocodiles and whales have been
taken; nor is the taking of them to be despaired of; but it seems the
"orca", or the whale with many teeth, has never been taken and killed
o;
SHALL NOT [ONE] BE C... [ Continue Reading ]
NONE [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 Ezekiel 29:3; when it is
very dangerous to arouse him; and few, if any so daring, have courage
enough to do it: though wha... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH PREVENTED ME, THAT ONE SHOULD REPAY [HIM]?.... First given me
something that was not my own, and so laid me under an obligation to
him to make a return. The apostle seems to have respect to this
passage, Romans 11:35;
[WHATSOEVER IS] UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN IS MINE; the fowls of the air,
th... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL NOT CONCEAL HIS PARTS,.... The parts of the leviathan; or "his
bars", the members of his body, which are like bars of iron:
NOR HIS POWER; which is very great, whether of the crocodile or the
whale:
NOR HIS COMELY PROPORTION; the symmetry of his body, and the members
of it; which, though la... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO CAN DISCOVER THE FACE OF HIS GARMENT?.... Or rather uncover it?
Not the sea, which Mr. Broughton represents as the garment of the
whale; who can strip him of it, or take him out of that, and bring him
to land? which, though not impossible, is difficult: but either the
garment of his face, the la... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO CAN OPEN THE DOORS OF HIS FACE?.... Of his mouth, the jaws
thereof, which are like a pair of folding doors: the jaws of a
crocodile have a prodigious opening. Peter Martyr u speaks of one,
whose jaws opened seven feet broad; and Leo Africanus w affirms he saw
some, whose jaws, when opened, would... [ Continue Reading ]
[HIS] SCALES [ARE HIS] PRIDE, SHUT UP TOGETHER [AS WITH] A CLOSE SEAL.
This is notoriously true of the crocodile, whose back and tail are
covered with scales, which are in a measure impenetrable and
invincible: which all writers concerning it, and travellers that have
seen it, agree in; Ezekiel 29:4... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE IS SO NEAR TO ANOTHER, THAT NO AIR CAN COME BETWEEN THEM. This
shows that it cannot be understood of the skin of the whale, and the
hardness and strength of that, which is alike and of a piece; whereas
those scales, or be they what they may, though closely joined, yet are
distinct: those who int... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE JOINED ONE TO ANOTHER,.... One scale to another, or "a man in
his brother" h: which may seem to favour the notion of the whale's
teeth in the sockets, which exactly answer to one another; but the
next clause will by no means agree with them;
THEY STICK TOGETHER, THAT THEY CANNOT BE SUNDERE... [ Continue Reading ]
BY HIS NEESINGS A LIGHT DOTH SHINE,.... The philosopher i observes,
that those who look to the sun are more apt to sneeze: and it is taken
notice of by various writers k, that the crocodile delights to be
sunning itself, and lying yawning in the sun and looking at it, as
quoted by Bochart; and so fr... [ Continue Reading ]
OUT OF HIS MOUTH GO BURNING LAMPS, [AND] SPARKS OF FIRE LEAP OUT.
Which, though hyperbolical expressions, have some foundation for them
in the latter; in the vast quantities of water thrown out by the
whale, through its mouth or hole in its frontispiece, which in the sun
may look like lamps and spar... [ Continue Reading ]
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 ar... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS BREATH KINDLES COALS, AND A FLAME GOETH OUT OF HIS MOUTH.
Hyperbolical expressions, which the above observations may seem to
justify.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN HIS NECK REMAINETH STRENGTH,.... This is thought to be an argument
against the whale, which is said to have no neck: but whatever joins
the head and body may be called the neck, though ever so small; and
the shorter the neck is, the stronger it is. It is also said by some,
that the crocodile has... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FLAKES OF HIS FLESH ARE JOINED TOGETHER,.... The muscles of his
hefty are not flaccid and flabby, but solid and firmly compacted;
THEY ARE FIRM IN THEMSELVES; THEY CANNOT BE MOVED; that is, not very
easily, not without a large sharp cutting knife, and that used with
much strength.... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS HEART IS AS FIRM AS A STONE; YEA, AS HARD AS A PIECE OF THE NETHER
[MILLSTONE]. Which must be understood not of the substance but of the
qualities of it, being bold, courageous, undaunted, and unmerciful;
which is true both of the whale and crocodile, and particularly of the
crocodile: Aelianus... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE RAISETH UP HIMSELF,.... Not out of the waters, but above the
surface of them, so as that his large bulk, his terrible jaws and
teeth, are seem;
THE MIGHTY ARE AFRAID; not only fishes and other animals, but men, and
these the most stouthearted and courageous, as mariners and masters of
vesse... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SWORD OF HIM THAT LAYETH AT HIM CANNOT HOLD,.... It is either
broken by striking at him, or however cannot pierce him and stick in
him; but since a sword is not used in fishery, rather the harpagon or
harpoon may be meant, which cannot enter into the crocodile, being so
fenced with scales; but t... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ESTEEMETH IRON AS STRAW,.... You may as well cast a straw at him as
a bar of iron; it will make no impression on his steeled back, which
is as a coat of mail to him; so Eustathius affirms d that the sharpest
iron is rebounded and blunted by him;
[AND] BRASS AS ROTTEN WOOD; or steel, any instrume... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ARROW CANNOT MAKE HIM FLEE,.... The skin of the crocodile is so
hard, as Peter Martyr says, that it cannot be pierced with arrows, as
before observed; therefore it is not afraid of them, nor will flee
from them;
SLINGSTONES ARE TURNED WITH HIM INTO STUBBLE; are no more regarded by
him than if s... [ Continue Reading ]
DARTS ARE COUNTED AS STUBBLE,.... Darts being mentioned before,
perhaps something else is meant here, and, according to Ben Gersom,
the word signifies an engine out of which stones are cast to batter
down walls; but these are of no avail against the leviathan;
HE LAUGHETH AT THE SHAKING OF A SPEAR;... [ Continue Reading ]
SHARP STONES [ARE] UNDER HIM,.... And yet give him no pain nor
uneasiness;
HE SPREADETH SHARP POINTED THINGS UPON THE MIRE; and makes his bed of
them and lies upon them; as sharp stones, as before, shells of fishes,
broken pieces of darts, arrows, and javelins thrown at him, which fall
around him:... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MAKETH THE DEEP TO BOIL \K\ like a pot,.... Which is all in a from
through the violent agitation and motion of the waves, caused by its
tossing and tumbling about; which better suits with the whale than the
crocodile, whose motion in the water is not so vehement;
HE MAKETH THE SEA LIKE A POT OF... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MAKETH A PATH TO SHINE AFTER HIM,.... Upon the sea, by raising a
white from upon it, through its vehement motion as it passes along, or
by the spermaceti it casts out and leaves behind it. It is said s that
whales will cut and plough the sea in such a manner, as to leave a
shining glittering path... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON THE EARTH THERE IS NOT HIS LIKE,.... As to form and figure; in
most creatures there is some likeness between those in the sea and on
the land, as sea horses, calves, c. but there is no likeness between a
whale and any creature on earth there is between the crocodile and the
lizard; nor is any l... [ Continue Reading ]
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 sov... [ Continue Reading ]