Job 41:1

“Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? etc.] That is, draw it out of the sea or river as anglers draw out smaller fishes with a line or hook? the question suggests it cannot be done; whether by the “leviathan” is meant the whale, which was the most generally received notion; or the crocodile, as Bochart, who has been followed by many; or the “orca”, a large fish of the whale kind with many teeth, as Hasaeus, it is not easy to say “Leviathan” is a compound word of than the first syllable of “thanni”, rendered either a whale, or a dragon, or a serpent, and of “levi”, which signifies conjunction, from the close joining of its scales, (<184115>Job 41:1517); the patriarch Levi had his name…”

“(Job 41:1-34) leviathan--literally, "the twisted animal," gathering itself in folds: a synonym to the Thannin (Job 3:8, Margin; see Psa 74:14; type of the Egyptian tyrant; Psa 104:26; Isa 27:1; the Babylon tyrant). A poetical generalization for all cetacean, serpentine, and saurian monsters (see on Job 40:15, hence all the description applies to no one animal); especially the crocodile; which is naturally described after the river horse, as both are found in the Nile. tongue . . . lettest down?--The crocodile has no tongue, or a very small one cleaving to the lower jaw. But as in fishing the tongue of the fish draws the baited hook to it, God asks, Canst thou in like manner take leviathan?”

“Canst thou draw out - As a fish is drawn out of the water. The usual method by which fish were taken was with a hook; and the meaning here is, that it was not possible to take the leviathan in this manner. The whole description here is of an animal that lived in the water. Leviathan - Much has been written respecting this animal, and the opinions which have been entertained have been very various. Schultens enumerates the following classes of opinions in regard to the animal intended here. 1. The opinion that the word leviathan is to be retained, without attempting to explain it - implying that there was uncertainty as to the meaning. Under this head he refers to the Chaldee and the Vulgate,…”

“Leviathan - Several particulars in the following description, agree far better with the crocodile, than the whale. It is highly probable, that this is the creature here spoken of. Cord - Canst thou take him with a hook and a line, as anglers take ordinary fishes. Job 41:2”

“41:1 Unlike the peaceful Behemoth (40:15-24), Leviathan was menacing (see also 3:8; Pss 74:14; 104:26; Isa 27:1). Most commentators identify Leviathan with the crocodile, with its terrible jaws (Job 41:14) and armored hide (41:15-17, 23), thrashing the water (41:31-32). But Leviathan is a fire-breathing dragon (41:18-21) that wraps its coils around the sun to cause an eclipse (3:8-9). The background for Leviathan is the seven-headed sea monster that represents chaos in ancient Near Eastern mythology. In the biblical record, this unruly maritime monster is a frequent biblical image for chaos and wickedness, whose head the Lord crushes (Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1; cp. Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps 89:9-10; Isa…”

“Job 3:8 \*marg. Psa 74:14, Psa 104:26; Isa 27:1 leviathan: \[Strong's H3882\] lettest down: Heb. drownest Job 41:2”

“1 Dost thou draw the crocodile by a hoop-net, And dost thou sink his tongue into the line?! 2 Canst thou put a rush-ring into his nose, And pierce his cheeks with a hook? 3 Will he make many supplications to thee, Or speak flatteries to thee? 4 Will he make a covenant with thee, To take him as a perpetual slave? 5 Wilt thou play with him as a little bird, And bind him for thy maidens? In Job 3:8, לויתן signified the celestial dragon, that causes the eclipses of the sun (according to the Indian mythology, râhu the black serpent, and ketu the red serpent); in Psa 104:26 it does not denote some great sea-saurian after the kind of the hydrarchus of the primeval world, (Note: Vid., Grsse,…”