Job 41:20

20 Smoke billows from his nostrils^[a] as from a boiling pot or [burning] reeds.

Job 41:20 Meaning and Commentary

Job 41:20

Out of his nostrils goeth forth smoke, as [out] of a seething
pot or caldron.
] In which flesh or anything else is boiling. It is observed that there is a likeness between the crocodile and the river horse, and particularly in their breathing ^F21: and of the former it is remarked ^F23, that its nostrils are very large and open, and that they breathe out a fiery smoke, as out of a furnace.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Plin. l. 48. c. 8. Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 2.
F23 Achilles Statius & Eustathius, apud Scheuchzer: ut supra. (vol. 4. p. 849.)

Job 41:20 In-Context

18 His snorting flashes with light, while his eyes are like the rays of dawn.

19 Flaming torches shoot from his mouth; fiery sparks fly out!

20 Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot or [burning] reeds.

21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour out of his mouth.

22 Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him.

Footnotes

• [a] Ex 19:18; 2 Sm 22:9; Ps 18:8