41 1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord? a a v1 Leviathan is the great untamable sea-creature — a picture of a power no human can master, but which our Father holds with ease. 2 Can you put a rope in his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? 3 Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak soft words to you? 4 Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him as your servant forever? 5 Will you play with him like a bird, or put him on a leash for your girls? 6 Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears? 8 Lay your hand on him; remember the battle — you will not do it again. 9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him will lay you low. 10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand before me? 11 Who has confronted me, that I must repay him? Everything under the whole heaven is mine. b b v11 Paul echoes this verse — no one has ever given to our Father so as to put him in their debt; everything is already his (Romans 11:35).
12 I will not keep silent about his limbs, his mighty strength, or his graceful frame. 13 Who can strip off his outer covering, or come at him with a double bridle? 14 Who can open the doors of his face? His ringed teeth are surrounded by terror. 15 His back is rows of shields, shut up tightly as with a seal. 16 One is so near to another that no air can pass between them. 17 They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be parted. 18 His sneezes flash with light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. c c v18 "Eyelids of the dawn" is a Hebrew image for the reddish shimmer of first light — his eyes glow red like a fiery sunrise. 19 Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap out. 20 Out of his nostrils comes smoke, as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. 21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and a flame leaps from his mouth. 22 Strength dwells in his neck, and terror dances before him. 23 The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast upon him and immovable. 24 His heart is hard as stone, hard as the lower millstone. 25 When he rises up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. 26 Though a sword reaches him, it does not hold, nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 27 He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. 28 The arrow cannot make him flee; for him, sling stones turn to stubble. 29 Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of the javelin. 30 His underside is like sharp pottery shards; he spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire. d d v30 A threshing sledge was a board studded with sharp stones, dragged over grain — Leviathan's belly leaves the same gouged trail. 31 He makes the deep boil like a pot; he stirs the sea like a churning kettle of ointment. 32 Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep had grown white hair. 33 On earth there is nothing like him, a creature made without fear. 34 He looks down on all that is lofty; he is king over all the proud.