411 Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with a fly rod and stuff him in your creel? 2 Can you lasso him with a rope, or snag him with an anchor? 3 Will he beg you over and over for mercy, or flatter you with flowery speech? 4 Will he apply for a job with you to run errands and serve you the rest of your life? 5 Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish? Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children? 6 Will you put him on display in the market and have shoppers haggle over the price? 7 Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion, or drive harpoons into his huge head?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 41:1-7
Chapter Contents
Concerning Leviathan.
The description of the Leviathan, is yet further to convince Job of his own weakness, and of God's almighty power. Whether this Leviathan be a whale or a crocodile, is disputed. The Lord, having showed Job how unable he was to deal with the Leviathan, sets forth his own power in that mighty creature. If such language describes the terrible force of Leviathan, what words can express the power of God's wrath? Under a humbling sense of our own vileness, let us revere the Divine Majesty; take and fill our allotted place, cease from our own wisdom, and give all glory to our gracious God and Saviour. Remembering from whom every good gift cometh, and for what end it was given, let us walk humbly with the Lord.