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Abruptly, God turns to paint the picture of a creature who is a total contrast to Behemoth. Understanding Behemoth should be the answer already, “ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2). Turn to God with all your heart and with all your soul. Look again at James. He continues, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:3-4). There is more, so I suggest you read it all. I mentioned that the Hebrew word for enmity may be the root word for the name Job (chapter 1). God spends more than twice as much time describing his second allegory as he does the first.
Leviathan (liv-yaw-thawn', although the popular pronunciation is Liv-I'-a-thawn) the word indicates writhing (Unger, page 73), as in a serpent or sea creature. Leviathan is often associated with Babylon, and another sea monster Rahab (9:13 and 26:12, translated as “proud” in KJV) is associated with Egypt.
In opening, the picture seems to repeat the last verse of chapter forty: “Canst thou put an hook into his nose?” (41:2), compared to “his nose pierceth through snares” (40:24). There is a difference. This mention that Behemoth escaping the snares, fits into an almost reverential description. The description of Leviathan which follows begins questions intended to expose Leviathan as a wild and dangerous beast. Would you bring a very large crocodile into your living room? Would you give it to your daughter as a pet?
“Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?” (41:1) and “Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee” (42:3)?
In chapter 40, by the KJV, Behemoth pierces the hook in the raging floods. In that context he is not hooked, or more precisely he is not snared in times of trouble. Regarding the Leviathan, the hooks in the first two verses indicate binding. In verse 2, the hook in Hebrew is ‘ag-môn’, which according to Strong's indicates rushes (Strong, H100). Rushes woven into a cord suggest a fishing line, or binding, as the rest of the verse suggests. The implication is that his tongue, or jaw, cannot be tied up or bridled (as 41:13; see discussion in Vicchio 2020, loc. 9361). Or as Barnes suggests, “The idea is, that he could not be led about by a cord, as tame animals may be” (Barnes, notes to 41:2). This gets at the character of Leviathan. He is uncontrollable.
It is not possible to befriend Leviathan with kind words (41:3), or to strike a bargain with Leviathan (41:4). If you try to capture or to tame Leviathan, you will fail (41:7,9), so “remember the battle, do no more” (41:8). No one can tame him or bridle him (41:13)? Throughout the limited Biblical literature on Leviathan there is never a suggestion that Leviathan is tamed by God. Although God may slay Leviathan, He does not try to domesticate him. Think of someone who is “out of control” when they come to Jesus. The sign that they are genuine is that they begin to get their life “under control.” We have the choice of bringing ourselves to God, “I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me” (Ps. 39:1). Or the alternative is to be bridled by God, “I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest” (2 Kings 19:18 & Isa. 37:29).
James speaks directly to the evils of the unbridled tongue: “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:26-27). And even more strongly, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell” (James 3:2-6). Not only can Leviathan not be bridled, but his tongue cannot be tied down (41:1 & 13).
“None is so fierce that dare stir him up” (41:10). Leviathan is a powerful force when stirred up. In Job's first lamentation he cries, “Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning” (3:8). The word mourning here is 'leviathan' in Hebrew. Leviathan can also mean mourning (Strong, H3882). In this case, Leviathan is rising up from the depths of someone in great bitterness. The name Leviathan is thus attached to powerful emotional distress arising from the depths of the soul.
God questions: “Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him” (41:11)? The word translated ‘prevent’ here is ‘qâdam’ in Hebrew, meaning to project, precede or come before (Strong, H6923; NET Bible, footnote to 41:11). ‘Standing before’ can cause to prevent or block, but could also indicate supplication or simply meeting. All of these meanings appear in the various Biblical uses of the word: “shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?” (Mic. 6:6). ‘Repay’ is ‘shâlam’, to make safe (Strong, H7999). “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live” (2 Kings 4:7). ‘Pay’ here is the same word ‘shâlam’. This woman clears her debt, to make her home safe. ‘Shâlam’ in nearly identical with ‘shâlôm’ or peace. The words are somewhat interchangeable. “The beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee” (5:23). Here, according to Strong, the Hebrew word used for ‘peace’ is ‘shâlam’. So, while verse 11 could be suggesting that someone or something is preventing God from completing judgment, it could simply mean: ‘who has called Me, that I may bring peace.’
Returning to the first reading, Jonathan Edwards' margin note for verse 11 suggests, “These words are a great evidence that leviathan is here spoken of as a type of the devil. For no other leviathan was ever subject to God's moral government, or ever rebelled against Him that God should repay him.” (Edwards, 1992, 116, #149).
God's thumb is upon Job. Job is contending with God. God reminds Job that he cannot possibly win. In modern terms, you could say that Job was a self-actualized man. Job had reached a pinnacle of financial success (1:3), had the admiration of nobles, princes (29:9-10), and even God Himself (1:8). “He maketh a path to shine after him” (41:32). Did not this description of Leviathan, also describe Job, who now laments that “He [God] hath stripped me of my glory” (19:9), “He hath made me a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret [drum]” (17:6), “children of base men... spare not to spit in my face” (30:8-10).
Job longs to be justified, pleading “hide me in the grave... until thy wrath be past” (14:13), “O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place” (16:18), “Oh that my words... were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever” (19:23-24). In the strength of his self-image, Job is difficult to bridle.
Leviathan is handsome and powerful. “I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion” (41:12). But his facade is a wall: “Who can open the doors of his face” (41:14)? What hides behind Leviathan's teeth? “Who can discover the face of his garment” (41:13)? The word discover is ‘gâlâh’ meaning to expose or make naked (Barnes, note to 41:13). The suggestion is that it is impossible to see behind the facade.
Knowing the traditions, having a night vision, being well read, and doing the do of religion creates an aura righteousness. The appearance is that of holiness, but as we all know appearances can be deceiving. Horrible perversities hide behind clerical collars more effectively than behind drug store counters. But more often, the appearance of righteousness is real as in the case here with Job. His righteousness is no put on. His righteousness is a trap which brings a self-confidence of personal righteousness, i.e. self-righteousness.
“His scales are his pride... One is so near to another, that no air can come between them” (41:15-16,23). All the bits and pieces of the righteous life fit so tightly that they cannot be moved (41:17), and air, the breath of God, the Holy Spirit cannot enter. On the outside Job is so beautifully polished in the ways of righteousness that his religion becomes his prison. Every ‘t’ is crossed and every ‘i’ is dotted, but the living presence of God cannot enter. This was the state of the Pharisees whom Jesus confronted, and is the state of many Christians today.
The Pharisees who confront Jesus are filled with carefully crafted legal arguments. Their reasoning binds them into a rigid viewpoint from which they cannot escape. Jesus tries to penetrate their mental shell (Matt. 9:14-15; 16:6-12; Luke 6:7-10; 7:36-50; John 3:1-6; 9:39-41), but to no avail. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matt. 23:25-26; Luke 11:39). This shell of righteousness closed in upon the self and sealing out the Holy Spirit encloses like a tomb. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27). “Their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue” (Ps. 5:9).
“In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him” (41:22). This curious verse teased out in the Hebrew indicates the back of the neck retains force and that fear dances before him. “It does not refer to the motion of the animal, as if he were brisk and rapid. but it is a poetic expression, as if terror played or pranced along wherever he came. Strength ‘resided’ in his neck, but his approach made terror and alarm play before him wherever he went; that is, produced terror and dread” (Barnes, note to 41:22). “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51). “Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Ps. 75:5-7).
“The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth” (Isa. 23:9).
Inside the Leviathan is a seething cauldron (41:20), out of his mouth come sparks, flames and smoke, (41:19-21). The Leviathan creates his own light. “By his neesings [sneezes] a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning” (41:18), and “He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary [white]” (41:31-32). Isaiah speaks of those who walk in darkness by the benefit of their own light (Isa. 50:10): “Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment” (Isa. 50:11).
Because we view a man's light from our own measure of light, we are easily misled. We think that what is of the devil should be obviously evil. Oswald Chambers reminds us of Jesus words: “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15) “The satanically-managed man is often moral, upright, proud, and individual; he is absolutely self-governed and has no need of God” (Chambers 1990, 15). A born-again Christian who ceases to seek out the Holy Spirit, but succumbs to the temptation to follow their own governing principles is easily side-tracked. The light they produce may have the appearance of righteousness, they may be a popular Christian teacher on television, but Satan is able to bump them, to nudge them into a fruitless ministry or worse into various perversions of the gospel. This is not the light from above, but a light from one's own making, the light of one's own wisdom. Though the Leviathan appear in light, he is yet in the deep (41:32). “Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish” (Ps. 49:18-20). His light is a false light that makes the deep dark places to appear to be well lit.
Leviathan causes commotion: “He maketh the deep to boil like a pot” (41:31). I believe that this is referring to the chaos caused by someone dominating the atmosphere. “By reason of breakings they purify themselves” (41:25). This implies he causes acts of righteousness by force. This fits very well with the picture of a Pharisee, modern or ancient. Experts seeing the creature's description as a description of might and power are troubled by the passage. NIV reads, “When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing.” The NET Bible includes this footnote to 25: “This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: ‘when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.’ The mythological approach would render 'elim as ‘gods.’ But the last two words, which could be rendered ‘at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,’ receive much attention. Dhorme suggests ‘majesty’ for ‘raising up’ and ‘billows’ (gallim) for ‘elim, and gets a better parallelism: ‘the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back’ (p. 639). But Rowley does not thinks this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts: ‘in their dire consternation they are beside themselves’ (p. 263)” (NET Bible, footnote to 41:25). I have no skill or training in Hebrew and cannot enter an academic debate on the issue, and so merely suggest that placing the description in the context of an allegory for the spirit of religious pride, the King James Bible makes perfect sense. Everything within boils and he is not happy unless everything around him boils as well.
By hardening himself, the Leviathan's heart has become stone, “yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone” (41:24). Jesus is grieved at the hardness of heart in the Pharisees by which they would not allow healing on the Sabbath lest it offend the letter of the Law (Mark 3:5). This hardness is the closing the heart against the Holy Spirit, as when the thoughts turn inward to the world of the self. The Pharisees could not hear the Word spoken, but turned to the deceit of their own thoughts, their personal beliefs. “Exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13).
Hardening is caused by closing down, most often because of some form of deceit. Many theological positions are just this sort of deceit. These deceits include dispensationalism, ‘death of God’, deism, ‘word faith’, liberation theology, most Christian psychology and more. “And he saith unto them, ’Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts” (Mark 3:4-5). The Pharisees were convinced that it was essential to honor God by total compliance with the rules governing the Sabbath which they had worked out based on Mosaic law. For the most part they were genuine in their desire to honor God's law, but they were deceived, and so opposed God in the flesh. “The house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead” (Ezek. 3:7-9).
But hardness also comes through dullness, laziness, confusion and distraction. Even those who sat at the feet of Jesus could not see and could not hear. “They were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened” (Mark 6:51-52). Here the disciples are amazed that Jesus, walking on the water calms a fierce storm “for their heart was hardened.” They had just come from witnessing the multiplication of loaves and fishes, but failed to ponder its implication. If Jesus could make one fish become a thousand, why should they be amazed that he could quell a storm?
Their dullness continues. In chapter 8 of Mark, Jesus again multiplies loaves and fishes. The needs of the flesh are a slight thing to Jesus. When challenged to pay tribute, as if this would be some difficulty, Jesus scoffs at the concern. He creates the most ridiculous scenario imaginable: go fishing and the first fish you catch will have the money in his mouth (Matt. 17:24-27). Jesus made the task seemingly impossible to show just how slight this concern really was. The disciples are still not understanding. When Jesus begins to discuss the leaven of the Pharisees, the disciples become concerned that Jesus is upset that they forgot to bring bread. “‘Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?’ They say unto him, ‘Twelve’. ‘And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?’ And they said, ‘Seven’. And he said unto them, ‘How is it that ye do not understand?’” (Mark 8:17-21). Because of hardness, their heart is still fixed on bread, but it's not about bread.
The resurrected Jesus must scold the disciples again, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen” (Mark 16:14). Jesus had already appeared to the two Marys and two other disciples, but the eleven discarded the reports because their heart was cold. Consider the man seeking healing for his deafmute son: “Jesus said unto him, ‘If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.’ And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.’ When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, ‘Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.’” (Mark 9:23-25). Jesus was only asking for an attempt at belief and the heart to say, “help thou mine unbelief.” It appears that the disciples failed to have this bit of faith, the size of a grain of mustard seed. ‘Surely,’ they must have reasoned, ‘if Christ were to appear, he would appear to us first.’ This is hardness created by vain presumption of the sort that caused them to jostle for the seat on the right hand of Jesus (Matt. 20:21; Mark 10:37) but not at his feet (Mark 5:22, 7:25; Luke 7:38-48, 8:41 & 17:16; John 11:32 & 12:3).
Whereas we saw earlier that Behemoth was submitted to the maker's sword (40:19), Leviathan is not moved. “The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold” (41:26). He is impervious, laying in the mud and on that which is sharp and jagged (41:30). His ears do not hear, his eyes do not see. The Lord sums up, “Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear” (41:33). And finally the Lord hits His point, “He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride” (41:34). Commentator Newsome notes that “41:34 echos 40:11b. There Job was challenged to ‘look on every proud beast that brings it low.’ Here it is said that Leviathan ‘looks on all that are haughty.’ Far from being brought low, Leviathan is King” (quoted in Vicchio 2020, loc. 9549).
The Leviathan is a perfect picture of religious pride. All the knowledge, the beliefs, the dogmatic assertions (dogma) form a carpet of scale over him so tight that the air (pneuma) or Spirit of God cannot get in. Out of the mouth come boastings, criticisms and condemnations. His words form a rich tapestry of brilliant thoughts and ideas. Those in disagreement with Leviathan will be burnt. All the space around the Leviathan is disrupted (to boil) as the Leviathan tries to turn everyone towards himself and away from detractors. Leviathan creates his own light, a false luminescence. A personal wisdom. All too often we mistake the radiance of Leviathan for genuine spirituality.
The Leviathan in Job strangles Job's soul. Job's three friends saw that “he was righteous in his own eyes” (32:1), and knew that Job would not listen. Job sees it now.
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