Commentary for Job 41:29

Behold his hope is in vain Behold if his hope is in vain, for he will have no strength to wage war and to move from his place.

shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him if even at the sight of his face a man will be cast down from standing before him to look at him, because of the fear of him.

There is no one so fierce that he can stir him up There is no one so fierce, mighty, and strong who can arouse him from his sleep and stir him up from his place to raise him up.

and who is he who will stand up before Me, Who makes all these?

Who came to meet Me Who is it who came to meet Me by accepting to worship Me and keep My commandments, and I will pay him his reward.

It is not for lack of power that God does not put down the Behemoth and Leviathan but because it does not befit He who created all existence to destroy His greatest and mightiest creatures. How can the Creator consent to the destruction of those very creatures that attest to His Greatness and Faculty? The charade is ended. It is once again God who is in charge of the universe and neither Job nor anybody else can tell Him what to do with His creatures. He owes nothing to anybody; He made the Leviathan and is proud of it.

Everything under the heavens is Mine Everything that is under the heavens is Mine, and I have the power to pay him his reward, his recompense, and his remuneration.

I will not be silent concerning his sons I will not be silent concerning the sons of a righteous man who went before Me sincerely, and his sons will be paid the good reward of their father, and they will find good in his merit.

either for his acts of heroism and the arrangement of his supplication Either for his heroic deeds, that he strengthened himself to do what is good and upright, and the arrangement of the righteous man’s supplication [is that] I will pay his reward also to his sons after him.

his sons Heb. בדיו, his branches, and they are his sons, like (Ezek. 17:6), “and brought forth branches (בדים) and sent out sprigs.”

Who exposed the face of his raiment He returns to the previous topic to speak of the leviathan: who can expose the scales, which are... within his double bridle Into the fold of his lips, when they are open, who is it who will enter there? [The expression] בְּכֶפֶל, double, denotes the lips, which are double, one above and one below, into which no creature may enter because of fear of him.

the doors of his face They are the lips when he closes his mouth; who can open them?

Around his teeth is terror That because of his fright and his terror, no creature can approach his teeth.

There is pride in his strong shields He takes great pride in the strength of his shields; they are the scales that are on him, which protect him like a shield.

closed That is the seal of his coat of mail, which is narrow, closed, and strong, for each scale is attached to him and attached to the next one, so that no creature can strike him between the scales. This is what is stated: They are so close to each other, that all of them are brought together and are close to each other.

they stick together and cannot be separated He is still repeating his language, that they [the scales] are stuck together and each one is joined to the next one so that they should not separate from each other.

His sneezes flash forth light With every sneeze that he sneezes, light flashes forth and shines.

flash forth as in (above 29:3), “when He lit (בהלו) His candle.”

and his eyes are like the rays of dawn His eyes shine and illuminate like the redness of the sun, like the time of morning when the sun becomes red.

From his mouth From the flame that goes forth from his mouth.

From his mouth go firebrands Firebrands come forth from his mouth.

sparks of fire Like firebrands.

go forth like foam Heb. יתמלטו . Its interpretation is according to the context, escumicer in Old French [going forth like foam].

From his nostrils smoke goes forth like a bubbling pot on the fire, which raises smoke.

and an earthenware vessel ואגמן. Its interpretation is according to its context: an expression of an earthenware vessel, like a bubbling pot; according to the matter that is stated (Jer. 1:13): “I see a bubbling pot.”

His breath kindles coals Burning and blazing coals. and flame And burning flames emerge from his mouth.

Strength lodges in his neck Mightiness.

and sadness rejoices before him For there is no sadness or grief before him, since he does not fear any creature. [The word] תָּדוּץ is an expression of joy and happiness.

The flakes of his flesh are joined together Heb. דבקו. They adhere to each other closely, for the fish are composed of many pieces in its flesh, and they adhere to one another. In a large fish, which is cooked, the pieces are noticeable when they are lying one upon the other and one beside the other, and so is the sequence of the world: First he speaks of the scales of the leviathan and then of the flakes of his flesh and the strength of his heart.

flakes Heb. מפלי, an expression of folds of pieces. It is also possible to explain it as פְלָאֵי פלוּיֵי, [if it is split] in the language of the Talmud, an expression of the splits of his flakes.

are joined together the “beth” is vowelized by a small “kamatz” (tzeireh), like (Job 29:1O), “and their tongues stuck (דבקה) to their palates,” and many other cantillated by “ethrahta” or “sof pasuk.” [These are the pause accents.]

poured out upon it Heb. יצוק. Every flake poured out one upon the other, so that it should not move or separate one from the other. [The word] יָצוּק is an expression of being poured, and it is the passive participle, like יָרוּד, descended, from ירד ; יָצוּק, poured, from יצק ; יָדוּעַ, known, from ידע.

His heart is as strong as stone His heart within him is as strong and basic as a permanent stone that is placed securely in the foundation of a building.

and as strong as a lower millstone This clause is repetitious, meaning that his heart is as basic and permanent as the millstone that is placed under the upper millstone, for the upper millstone revolves and rotates and grinds, whereas the lower one does not move from its place because it is fastened to its place, so that it should not move. That is called פֶּלַח [רֶכֶב] as it is stated (Jud. 9:53): “And a certain woman cast an upper millstone: פֶּלַח רֶכֶב, upon Abimelech’s head.” The lower one is called פֶלַח תַּחתִּית the lower piece.

From his fear the mighty are frightened From his fear, the mighty and strong, both fishes and other creatures, are frightened.

the breakers fail The waves of the sea, which are called breakers, fail before him, because he breaks them with his swimming, as he swims and floats in the waves of the sea.

[The word] יִתְחַטָּאוּ is an expression of a lack, like (I Kings 1:21), “and I and my son Solomon will be lacking (חַטָּאִים).”

He who overtakes him with a sword—it will not remain A mighty man, who overtakes him to wage battle with a sword—his sword will not remain, because he will break it.

[neither will] a spear, a slingshot, or a coat of mail Likewise, none of these weapons that are in the hands of the overtaker will either remain or stand up before the leviathan. The word מַסָע may be said to be one type of weapon, like the sword, spear, and coat of mail(?). מַסָע may also be interpreted after the sample of (I Kings 6:7), “whole stones as they were transported (מַסָע) etc.,” and this is its interpretation: a transported spear, which is large and not so easily moved, because it is large and very strong; as the matter is stated concerning Goliath the Philistine (I Sam. 17:7), “And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the spear’s head was six hundred shekels, etc.”

a coat of mail Heb. ושריה, a coat of mail (שריון).

He regards iron as straw Iron weapons are regarded by him as straw, and copper weapons are to him as rotten wood.

No arrow can put him to flight He will not flee before an archer, and arrows and slingstones are as stubble to him.

Catapult [stones] a weapon, to be interpreted according to the context.

and he plays at the noise of the harpoon At the noise of the tumult of warriors who carry harpoons, he plays and strolls, for he does not fear them.

Under him are rays of the sun in the place he rests, there are rays of the sun, because his fins, which are under him on his belly, illuminate and shine like the sun.

rays Heb. חדודי, like a sharp sword, which is sharpened, bright, and whitened. Because of this, he calls rays חַדוּדֵי.

sun Heb. חרשׂ, the sun, like (above 9:7), “He who spoke to the sun (לחרס) and it did not shine”; (Jud. 14:18); “before the sun (החרסה) set. “

where he lies is gold upon the mire This is a repeated clause. “Where he lies is gold,” refers to “rays of the sun”; “upon the mire” refers to “under him,” in the place where he is on the sand; this is the mire where he lies. It shines like precious gold, as it is stated (Song 3:10): “its couch of gold.” חָרוּץ is a type of gold, as it is stated (Prov. 8:19): “My fruit is better than gold (מחרוץ), yea than fine gold.” Where he lies—an expression of a couch for lying down, like (Song 3:10), “its couch (רפידתו) of gold.”

He makes the deep seethe like a pot Like a small bubbling pot, that quickly raises bubbles one after another, so does he cause the deep, which is large and deep, to seethe.

he makes the sea like a seething mixture Like a mixture of a concoction of spices, which is compounded and mixed, so does he make and mix the sea when he moves from his place.

He makes a path shine after him When he swims and floats in the sea, he makes the path of the deep shine, for at the time he swims, there is no water because of the speed of his swimming.

he considers the deep to be hoary To him, the deep is considered to be weak and feeble.

to be hoary The weakness of old age and hoariness.

On the dust there is none that rules over him The “mem” [is vowelized] with a “hataf kamatz,” and it means his rule, that no creature rules over him, and it is a noun denoting a ruler. Therefore, the “mem” is vowelized with a “hataf kamatz.”

God closes the discussion by pointing out that there would be no necessity for Providence if all creatures were equally primitive and weak, and none were exploited by others. How and to what purpose would God impose His Will in a featureless and flat world; what need would there be Him? It is the variance in Nature, its unfairness and indifference to moral and ethical values, that gives Providence its purpose and meaning in the world. If there were no Leviathans on Earth, if nothing ever went wrong, there would be no need for Providence and God would effectively be dead.

which is made Heb. העשו, like העשוי [the passive participle]. However, I know of no similar case [in Scripture]. It means one that was made without fear or dismay, that is not afraid of the creatures, as it is stated concerning the horse (above 39:22): “He scorns fear and is not dismayed.”

He looks at all high things All the high things in the world he sees beneath himself, for so is the custom of the world, that whoever stands above sees the one below more than the one below sees [him]. Also, the one below has no power or victory against the one above. Now this leviathan sees all mighty men; that is to say, they have no power against him.

he is king over all proud beasts This is a repeated expression. He looks over all proud beasts and he is king over all the proud beasts, over all haughty creatures that I created in My world, who have no rule or dominion against him. Now how did you dare to lift your head before Me, since I perform all these wonders?