Job 41 - Introduction
_A.M. 2484. B.C. 1520._ To convince Job of his wickedness, he is here challenged to subdue and tame the leviathan, Job 41:1. A particular description of him, Job 41:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 2484. B.C. 1520._ To convince Job of his wickedness, he is here challenged to subdue and tame the leviathan, Job 41:1. A particular description of him, Job 41:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook?_ It is a great question among learned men, what creature is meant by לויתן, _leviathan._ Our translators were evidently uncertain respecting it, and therefore have given us here and elsewhere, where the word occurs, the original term itself, untranslated.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Canst thou put a hook_ Hebrew, אגמן, _agmon, a bulrush_, that is, a hook like a bulrush, with its head hanging down, as is expressed Isaiah 58:5; _into his nose?_ To hang him up by it for sale, or to carry him home for use, after thou hast drawn him out of the sea or river. _Or bore his jaw through... [ Continue Reading ]
_Will he make supplications unto thee?_ Doth he dread thy anger or power? Or will he earnestly beg thy favour? It is a metaphor from men in distress, who use these means to them to whose power they are subject. _Will he make a covenant with thee?_ Namely, to do thee faithful service, as the next wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons?_ A whale's skin you may; but the skin of a crocodile is so hard that an iron, or spear, will not pierce it. It may, however, be understood also of the whale, for though they are taken at this day by piercing their skin with barbed irons, this art and way... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, the hope of him is in vain_ That is, the hope of taking, or conquering him. _Shall not one be cast down, even at the sight of him?_ Not only the fight, but the sight of him is most frightful. Such is even the sight of the whale to mariners, who fear the overturning of their vessel. And such... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who hath prevented me?_ Namely, with offices or services done for me, and thereby hath laid the first obligation upon me, for which I am indebted to him? _That I should repay him?_ Should be engaged to requite his favours? Who came beforehand with me in kindnesses? inasmuch as all men, and all thin... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will not conceal his parts_ That is, I will particularly speak of them. Hebrew, בדיו, _bad-dav_, his bars, or the members of his body, which are strong like bars of iron. R. Levi interprets it of _his strength; nor his power_ ודבר גבורות, _udebar geburoth, nec verbum fortitudinum, nor the word_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who can discover_ מי גלה, _mi gillah, Quis retexit, vel nudavit_, Who _hath uncovered_, or _made naked_, or hath taken off from him, _the face of his garment?_ That is, his skin, which covers the whole body, and may be taken off from it like a garment. Who dare attempt to touch even his outward ski... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who can open the doors of his face?_ Namely, his mouth. If it be open, no one dares to enter within it, as he now said; and here he adds, none dare open it. _His teeth are terrible round about_ This is true of some kinds of whales, though others are said to have either none, or no terrible teeth; b... [ Continue Reading ]
_His scales are his pride_ He prides and pleases himself in his strong and mighty scales. Hebrew, אפיקי מגנים, _aphikee maginnim, robusta scutorum, the strength_, or _strong things, of his shields are his pride._ Or, _his body_, or _his back_, (as גאוה, _gaavah_, is rendered by many ancient and mode... [ Continue Reading ]
_By his neesings a light doth shine_ Literally, _His sneezing causes the light to sparkle._ If he sneeze, or spout up water, it is like a light shining, either with the froth, or the light of the sun shining through it. The crocodile, in particular, is said frequently to sneeze. _His eyes are like t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Out of his mouth go burning lamps_ “This,” says Dr. Young, “is nearer truth than at first view may be imagined. The crocodile, says the naturalists, lying long under water, and being there forced to hold its breath, when it emerges, the breath, long repressed, is hot, and bursts out so violently th... [ Continue Reading ]
_In his neck remaineth strength_, &c. Houbigant's translation of this is excellent; _Strength has its dwelling_ (so ילין עז, _jalin gnoz_, literally signifies) _on his neck_ His head and body are firmly joined together, and therefore what may be called his neck is exceeding strong. This is equally a... [ Continue Reading ]
_When he raiseth up himself_ Showing himself upon the top of the waters; _the mighty are afraid_ Even the stout-hearted, who used to be above fear. _By reason of breakings_ By reason of their great danger and distress; which is expressed by this very word, Psalms 60:2; Jonah 1:4. _They purify themse... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sword of him that layeth at him_ That approacheth to him, and dares to strike at him; _cannot hold_ Hebrew, בלי תקום, _beli takum, cannot stand._ Either, 1st, Cannot endure the stroke, but will be broken by it; or, 2d, Cannot take hold of him, or abide fixed in him; but is instantly beaten back... [ Continue Reading ]
_He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood_ He neither fears, nor feels, the blows of the one more than of the other. _The arrow cannot make him flee_ Hebrew, _the son of the bow_, as it is elsewhere called, _the son of the quiver, Lamentations 3:13_; the quiver being, as it were, the mot... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sharp stones_ חדודי חרשׂ, _chadudee chares, acumina testæ_, vel _testacea, sharp points of potsherds, are under him_ He can repose himself on rocks, or stones, whose edges, or points, are sharp, like those of shells, or broken potsherds; _and yet he is not sensible of them_, says R. Levi. and Ab. E... [ Continue Reading ]
_He maketh the deep_ The deep waters; _to boil like a pot _ To swell, and foam, and froth, by his strong and vehement motion, as any liquor does when it is boiled in a pot, especially boiling ointment. _The sea_ Either the great sea, the proper place of the whale, Psalms 104:25, or the great river N... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon the earth there is not his like_ No creature in this world is comparable to him for strength and terror. Or the earth is here distinguished from the sea; for the Hebrew, אין על עפר משׁלו, _een gnal gnapar mashelo_, may be properly rendered, _His dominion is not upon the earth;_ namely, _but up... [ Continue Reading ]
_He beholdeth all high things_ He looks about him with contempt and disdain on every thing he sees. He does not turn his back upon, or hide his face from, the highest and mightiest creatures, but beholds them with a bold and undaunted countenance, as being without any fear of them. _He is king over... [ Continue Reading ]