Job
Chapter 41
Any hope of overcoming him is futile, for just seeing him is overwhelming.
He becomes so fierce when aroused that no one dares face him.
Who has attacked him and escaped unharmed? No one under the sky.
I need hardly mention his limbs, nor describe his unmatched strength.
Who can remove his outer garment and uncover his double breastplate?
Who can dare to open the gates of his mouth and face the terror of his rows of teeth?
Rows of scales cover his back— rows of shields that are tightly sealed.
They fit so closely that no space remains;
so tightly joined that they stay fast and can’t be parted.
Light flashes when he sneezes; his eyes are like the dawn’s glow.
Flaming torches and sparks shoot from his mouth.
Smoke billows from his nostrils, like hot steam from a boiling pot.
His breath alone ignites coals, with flames pouring out of his mouth.
Strength is in his neck, and terror dances before him.
Tightly pressed are the folds of his flesh, firmly cast and immovable.
His heart is hard as stone, as hard as the lower millstone.
When he rises up, the mighty are terrified, the waves of the sea fall back.
Should the sword reach him, it will not pierce him, nor will the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
Iron is to him no more than straw; and bronze, no more than rotten wood.
Arrows will not put him to flight; a sling-stone tickles him like hay.
Clubs are as splinters to him; he laughs at the whirring javelin.
His belly is as sharp as pottery sherds; he moves across the mire like a harrow.
He churns the depths into a seething cauldron; he makes the sea fume like a burner.
Behind him he leaves a white gleaming wake, making the deep appear a hoary head of age.
He has no equal on earth: such a terrifying creature he was made!
He makes everything, no matter how lofty, afraid; he is king over all proud beasts.
Commentaries
Discourses of the Lord.
The Lord has been listening and taking note (35:13); now he speaks. Job’s friends thought there was no need for God to speak. Job, on the other hand, did; he has asked him for either a list of charges or a verdict. Everyone is surprised. The Lord enters the debate as one more participant and responds with two speeches (38:1-40:2; 40:6-41:26), to which Job, in turn, will react briefly with two others (40:3-5; 42:1-6). The Lord does not answer any of the questions raised; in fact, his words offer only a series of counter-questions intended to bring Job out of his narrow perspective and open him up to a broader horizon.
The Lord’s Second Speech.
The Lord presents another challenge. Is it really necessary for Job to condemn God just to prove his own innocence? (40:8). This section describes two mighty monsters: Behemoth (40:15-24) and, more extensively, Leviathan (40:25-41:26). Scholars interpret them as the hippopotamus and crocodile—and that’s how we have translated them—but in Middle Eastern culture, they also represent myths or symbols of ancient chaos, which the Lord, having created them, rules and controls. We are likely dealing with a blend of zoology and mythology. God challenges Job: Can you put a rope through their noses? Can you catch them? (40:24). Both monsters roam the world, charging and attacking to bring everything back to chaos, but they are not in charge—God is! And God does not destroy them; he controls them.