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 41:1–10; from the several parts of him, his face, teeth, scales, eyes, mouth and neck, flesh and heart, Job 41:11–24; and from various…

Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? &c.] 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,…

Canst thou put an hook into his nose? &c.] Or a rush, that is, a rope made of rushes; for of such ropes were made, as Pliny [[6]] 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…

Will he make many supplications unto thee? &c.] 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…

Will he make a covenant with thee? &c.] 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,…

Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? &c.] In the hand or cage: leviathan plays in the sea, but there is no playing with him by land, ; or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? or young girls, as Mr.

Shall thy companions make a banquet of him? &c.] 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…

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…

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.

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 [[13]]; shall not one be…

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 [[15]], and in the water by night [[16]]; see ; when it is very dangerous to arouse him; and few, if any so daring, have courage enough to do it: though whales have…

Who hath prevented me, that one should repay him? &c.] First given me something that was not my own, and so laid me under an obligation to him to make a return.

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 large,…

Who can discover the face of his garment? &c.] 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…

Who can open the doors of his face? &c.] Of his mouth, the jaws thereof, which are like a pair of folding doors: the jaws of a crocodile have a prodigious opening.

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; (See Gill on…

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…

They are joined one to another One scale to another, or “a man in his brother” [[7]]: 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…

By his neesings a light doth shine The philosopher [[8]] observes, that those who look to the sun are more apt to sneeze: and it is taken notice of by various writers [[9]], that the crocodile delights to be sunning itself, and lying yawning in the sun and looking at it, as quoted by Bochart; and…

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…

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 [[19]]: and of the former it is remarked [[21]], that its…

His breath kindles coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. ] Hyperbolical expressions, which the above observations may seem to justify.

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.

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.

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…

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 vessels;…

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 the…

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 [[3]] that the sharpest iron is rebounded and blunted by him; and brass as rotten wood; or steel, any instrument…

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…

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; at…

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: this…

He maketh the deep to boil [[9]] 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…

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.

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 but there is no likeness between a whale and any creature on earth; there is between the crocodile and the lizard; nor is any like the…

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, Job 40:12) ; and therefore he ought to acknowledge…