Job 41:19-21

Job 41:19-21. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, &c.— This is nearer the truth, says Dr. Young, than at first view may be imagined. The crocodile, according to 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, that it resembles fire and smoke. The horse suppresseth not his breath by any means so long; neither is he so fierce and animated, yet the most correct of poets ventures to use the same metaphor concerning him. By this I would caution against a false opinion of the boldness of the eastern metaphors from passages ill understood.