Job 41:1 - Meaning and Application

Whether this leviathan is a whale or a crocodile has long been debated by learned men, and I will not try to settle it. Some details fit one creature more easily, and some fit the other. Both are strong and fierce, and in both we see the power of the Creator.

Sir Richard Blackmore, a learned writer, accepted the common view that Behemoth means the elephant. But he agreed with Bochart, another scholar, that Leviathan here means the crocodile, a creature well known in the Nile River of Egypt. For my part, I am more inclined to think it is the whale. That is not only because the whale is much larger and more majestic, but because in the creation account God gives a special mention to great whales that he does not give to any other kind of creature (Genesis 1:21, God created great whales). This shows that whales were known in Moses’ time, not long after Job, and that their creation was seen as a striking proof of God’s eternal power and divinity.

It may even be that this is why Moses mentions whales so plainly there. God had just pressed Job with the size and strength of this creature as proof of divine power. Here, too, Leviathan is spoken of as a creature of the sea (Job 41:31), and the crocodile is not really a sea animal. Psalm 104:25-26 also speaks of Leviathan in the great and wide sea.

In these verses, the point is to show how helpless Job is before Leviathan. He cannot catch him as a fisherman catches a small fish. He has no bait to fool him, no hook to seize him, no line to draw him out of the water, and no thorn or spear to carry him home on. He cannot make him his prisoner, force him to beg for mercy, or make a bargain with him to become a servant in exchange for life (Job 41:1-4).

Job also cannot lure him into a cage and keep him there like a bird for children to play with (Job 41:5). Some creatures are so small and weak that this is easy, but Leviathan is not one of them. He is made to strike fear into people, not to be their toy. Job cannot even serve him at table, for he and his companions could not make a feast from him. His flesh is too tough for food, and even if it were fit to eat, he is not easy to catch.

Neither can they profit from him. They cannot divide him among the merchants, giving the bones to one and the oil to another. If they could catch him, they would do it, but it seems the art of hunting whales was not yet fully developed in that age. They also cannot destroy him or fill his head with fish-spears (Job 41:7). Their weapons cannot reach him properly, or, if they touch him, they do not pierce him deeply. It is useless to try. The hope of catching him is vain (Job 41:9). Even the sight of him would frighten bold men and make them faint. Job is told, in effect, to try it if he dares, but to remember the battle and what the outcome would be before he begins.

It is wise to think ahead before we enter a fight, and to lay aside our weapons in time if we see the struggle will be useless. Job is being warned not to continue his dispute with God, but to make peace with him. He should remember how the battle will surely end if he goes on to meet God in conflict (Isaiah 27:4-5).

From this, the argument is clear: if Job is too weak to challenge Leviathan, how much less can he contend with the Almighty? No one is bold enough to stir up Leviathan, because everyone knows Leviathan is too strong for them (Job 41:10). So who can stand before God, either to accuse his ways or to face down his anger? If the lower creatures, which are put under man’s feet, can make us afraid, how much more should we fear the majesty of our great Lord, who rules over us with complete authority and against whom people have long rebelled? Who can stand before him when he is angry?