Job 41 Study Notes

41:12-17 God reminded Job of Leviathan’s magnificent physical features that made him too formidable to face by any one person.

41:18-21 God’s portrayal of Leviathan’s foaming emergence from water is compared to that of a fire-breathing dragon. Similar creatures are described in Ugaritic mythology depicting Baal’s defeat of Yam, the sea god.

41:22-25 Leviathan’s strength and seemingly impregnable body were exceeded only by his inner courage and fearlessness. Leviathan’s power and self-assurance made him a fitting symbol of Satan, the fearsome and fallen being whose raging is fully and finally quelled by God in the end (Rv 20:10).

41:26-29 No human weapon had any effect on Leviathan. His fearlessness in the face of danger is compared to laughing.

41:30-32 A threshing sledge consisted of two boards whose undersides were embedded with sharp stones for crushing grain. When Leviathan dove into the water, he made it foam like ingredients boiled by the perfumer and left a wake like gray hair.

41:33-34 Fearless Leviathan was unequaled in power. If neither man nor beast dared to oppose God’s foremost creature, certainly no one could challenge the Lord, its Creator (vv. 10-11).