Job 40:15 - 41:34

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• Dinosaur-like creatures, now apparently extinct. They belong to God, as does everything else.

Details and/or Comments

• Behemoth and Leviathan. The verses give actual descriptions of these creatures, communicating it with metaphors, similes and other figures of speech.

We can understand what is meant in these descriptions. When behemoth's tail is compared to a cedar, it conveys ideas such as strong and powerful... quite the opposite of a "twig"!

In later centuries, after leviathan had become extinct, its description "grew" to mythical proportions. But these later exaggerations do not nullify the earlier description that was given while it was still a living creature that Job could personally observe - from a distance, of course! (Psalm 74:14 refers to the mythical description, with leviathan being a sea monster with multiple heads - unlike the Job account, 41:7.)

• Today, these two animals appear to be extinct.

Scripture

Job 40:15 to 41:34

Note: Job 41:11 – God owns everything.

Behemoth

Scripture Passage

Comments and Links

Job 40:15 "See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox. Job 40:16 Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly. Job 40:17 He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together. Job 40:18 His bones are like tubes of brass. His limbs are like bars of iron. Job 40:19 He is the chief of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword. Job 40:20 Surely the mountains produce food for him, where all the animals of the field play. Job 40:21 He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the marsh. Job 40:22 The lotuses cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook surround him. Job 40:23 Behold, if a river overflows, he doesn't tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth. Job 40:24 Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?

A description of behemoth. God says he made behemoth, just like he made Job. He doesn't claim this creature is a mythical invention or a fictitious story! God claims that behemoth "is the chief of the ways of God" (v. 19). And concerning Job (and other humans), "Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?" (v. 24). Behemoth

Leviathan

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Job 41:1 "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord? Job 41:2 Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook? Job 41:3 Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you? Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? Job 41:5 Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls? Job 41:6 Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants? Job 41:7 Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears? Job 41:8 Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more. Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won't one be cast down even at the sight of him?	A description of leviathan. This first part focuses on the impossibility of a human to subdue it. Leviathan
Job 41:10 None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Job 41:11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.	In contrast, to the inability of humans, God is greater. The conclusion: If we dare not confront leviathan, how much less dare we confront God! God owes us nothing. Rather, he owns everything, and is debtor to none.
Job 41:12 "I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. Job 41:13 Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall come within his jaws? Job 41:14 Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. Job 41:15 Strong scales are his pride, shut up together 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, so that they can't be pulled apart. Job 41:18 His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Job 41:19 Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap forth. Job 41:20 Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. Job 41:21 His breath kindles coals. A flame goes forth from his mouth. Job 41:22 There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him. Job 41:23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can't be moved. Job 41:24 His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone. Job 41:25 When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing. Job 41:26 If one attacks him with the sword, it can't prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. Job 41:27 He counts iron as straw; and brass as rotten wood. Job 41:28 The arrow can't make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him. Job 41:29 Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. Job 41:30 His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. Job 41:31 He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Job 41:32 He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. Job 41:33 On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. Job 41:34 He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride."	Further description of leviathan's greatness: "On earth there is not his equal" - v. 33. From the standpoint of being a physical creature, Job is nothing, in comparison.

Scripture Passages (Only books that have relevance to this study have active links. The others are in italics.) Genesis  •  Exodus  •  Leviticus  •  Numbers  •  Deuteronomy  •  Joshua  •  Judges  •  Ruth  •  1 Samuel  •  2 Samuel  •  1 Kings  •  2 Kings  •  1 Chronicles  •  2 Chronicles  •  Ezra  •  Nehemiah  •  Esther  •  Job  •  Psalms  •  Proverbs  •  Ecclesiastes  •  Song of Solomon  •  Isaiah  •  Jeremiah  •  Lamentations  •  Ezekiel  •  Daniel  •  Hosea  •  Joel  •  Amos  •  Obadiah  •  Jonah  •  Micah  •  Nahum  •  Habakkuk  •  Zephaniah  •  Haggai  •  Zechariah  •  Malachi Matthew  •  Mark  •  Luke  •  John  •  Acts  •  Romans  •  1 Corinthians  •  2 Corinthians  •  Galatians  •  Ephesians  •  Philippians  •  Colossians  •  1 Thessalonians  •  2 Thessalonians  •  1 Timothy  •  2 Timothy  •  Titus  •  Philemon  •  Hebrews  •  James  •  1 Peter  •  2 Peter  •  1 John  •  2 John  •  3 John  •  Jude  •  Revelation

—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.