Job 41:5-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 41:1-10

Whether this leviathan be a whale or a crocodile is a great dispute among the learned, which I will not undertake to determine; some of the particulars agree more easily to the one, others to the other; both are very strong and fierce, and the power of the Creator appears in them. The ingenious Sir Richard Blackmore, though he admits the more received opinion concerning the behemoth, that it must be meant of the elephant, yet agrees with the learned Bochart's notion of the leviathan, that it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 41:5

Wilt thou play with him as with a bird ?.... In the hand or cage: leviathan plays in the sea, but there is no playing with him by land, Psalm 104:26 ; or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens ? or young girls, as Mr. Broughton renders it; tie him in a string, as birds are for children to play with? Now, though crocodiles are very pernicious to children, and often make a prey of them when they approach too near the banks of the Nile, or whenever they have an opportunity of seizing them ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 41:6

Shall thy companions make a banquet of him ?.... The fishermen that join together in catching fish, shall they make a feast for joy at taking the leviathan? which suggests that he is not to be taken by them, and so they have no opportunity or occasion for a feast: or will they feed on him? the flesh of crocodiles is by some eaten, and said F13 Leo Africanus & Aelian. ut supra. (l. 10. c. 21.) to be very savoury, but not the flesh of the whale; shall they part him among the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 41:5

Wilt thou play with him - Is he such a creature as thou canst tame; and of which thou canst make a pet, and give as a plaything to thy little girls? נערותיך naarotheycha ; probably alluding to the custom of catching birds, tying a string to their legs, and giving them to children to play with; a custom execrable as ancient, and disgraceful as modern. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 41:6

Shall thy companions make a banquet - Canst thou and thy friends feast on him as ye were wont to do on a camel sacrificed for this purpose? Or, canst thou dispose of his flesh to the merchants - to buyers, as thou wouldst do that of a camel or an ox? It is certain, according to Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 70, that they killed and ate crocodiles at Apollonople and Elephantis, in Egypt. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 41:1-34

The crowning description of a natural marvel—the "leviathan," or crocodile—is now given, and with an elaboration to which there is no parallel in the rest of Scripture. It forms, however, a fit climax to the gradually more and more elaborate descriptions of Job 38:39-41 ; Job 39:1-30 ; and Job 40:15-24 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 41:1-34

Jehovah to Job: the second answer: 3. Concerning leviathan. I. THE ANIMAL INTENDED . 1 . A serpentine creature. This implied in the name leviathan, which signifies "a wreathed or twisted animal," as distinguished from the tannin , or "long-extended monsters" ( Genesis 1:21 ). 2 . An aquatic monster. Though amphibious as to its habits, the behemoth was essentially a land animal; the entire description of leviathan points to a tenant of the deep (verses l, 2, 31, 32).... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 41:1-34

Description of the leviathan, or crocodile. The description is in two parts. I. The first part shows THE DIFFICULTY OR WELL - NIGH IMPOSSIBILITY OF CIRCUMVENTING AND CAPTURING THIS HUGE AND SLIPPERY CREATURE . ( Job 41:1-7 .) In language of irony and almost of taunt this fact is set forth. Here, then, is a mere creature of God before which man must feel his helplessness. If man cannot overcome the creature, how much less shall he pretend to vie with the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 41:1-34

Leviathan the terrible. This terrible monster has a whole chapter to himself. His portrait is painted on a broad canvas, and it is as full of life and movement as it is of form and colour. Representing the crocodile, though enlarged and idealized, leviathan is a picture of the most terrible of the works of nature. I. THERE ARE TERRIBLE THINGS IN NATURE . When we look at the cruel jaws of the crocodile, gaping in readiness for its prey, and the little snake-like eyes watching... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 41:5

Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? The Egyptians were especially fond of pet animals, and Job's countrymen, it may be assumed, were the same. Besides dogs, we find the Egyptians keeping tame antelopes, leopards, and monkeys. A tame crocodile would certainly seem to be an extraordinary pet, but Herodotus says that the Egyptians tamed them (2:39), and Sir Gardner Wilkinson informed me that he had known some tame ones at Cairo. The Mesopotamian Arabs domesticate falcons to assist them in... read more

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