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Job 41 · a question people ask

What kind of creature is Leviathan?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say, beyond the LORD's own words. The WEB keeps the Hebrew name, and the LORD describes him: he asks whether Job can draw him out with a fish hook (41:1); "Strong scales are his pride" (41:15); "His sneezing flashes out light" (41:18); "Out of his mouth go burning torches" (41:19); and "On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear" (41:33). The verses don't name any other creature for him, and any answer would rest on things outside the text, so these notes don't give one. What the text does show is where the LORD turns next: after the questions of 41:1-9, he asks, "Who then is he who can stand before me?" (41:10).

The verses

“None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?”
Job 41:10 · World English Bible
“Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal.”
Job 41:15 · World English Bible
“His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap out.”
Job 41:18-19 · World English Bible
“On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear.”
Job 41:33 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Job 41

Job 41: Can you draw out Leviathan?

In the middle of Leviathan, the LORD asks, "Who then is he who can stand before me?" (41:10), and "Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?" (41:11), where first given is one Hebrew verb, which Strong's gives as "precede". And the pride Leviathan is king over (41:34) is a word the Hebrew Bible uses only there and in 28:8.

In Favor, questions like this come up right where they arise as you read, with the Hebrew and Greek behind the words and how the chapter leads to Jesus.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions