The Book of Job

Word Study

"leviathan," Hebrew livyathan (לִוְיָתָן), a great sea-monster or serpent, a symbol of untamable, chaotic power. God's final and greatest example is the most terrifying creature in the ancient imagination. The whole chapter piles up the impossibility of any man mastering this beast: his armored scales cannot be pierced, his teeth are terrible, fire and smoke seem to pour from his mouth, and every weapon, sword, spear, dart, arrow, is useless, for "he laugheth at the shaking of a spear" (v29). "Upon earth there is not his like" (v33).

"draw out," timshokh (תִּמְשֹׁךְ), pull out, drag. The verb is the plain word for hauling something in, and that is the absurdity of the question. You cannot catch him like a fish, put a hook in his nose, make him beg for mercy, tame him as a pet, or sell him at market (v1-6).

"hook," chakkah (חַכָּה), fishhook. A fisherman's small hook set against a sea-monster, and that is exactly the mismatch God intends Job to feel. The overwhelming point is Job's utter helplessness before this creature, and thus before its Creator. If Job cannot even draw leviathan out with a hook, the folly of his contending with God is exposed completely. This is the climax of God's argument: creation itself is full of powers man cannot master, and behind them all stands the God who made and rules them. The right response is not to challenge God but to bow before Him in humble trust, acknowledging that the One who commands leviathan is worthy of our confidence in the darkest trial.

Explanation

God's final example is leviathan, the most terrifying creature imaginable: "Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?" The chapter piles up the impossibility of mastering this beast, his armored scales, terrible teeth, useless weapons, "he laugheth at the shaking of a spear." "Upon earth there is not his like." The point is Job's utter helplessness before the creature, and thus before its Creator. If Job cannot draw leviathan out with a hook, the folly of contending with God is fully exposed. The right response is not to challenge God but to bow in humble trust.

Gospel Focus

"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?", no man can master leviathan, but the God who made him can, and in Scripture leviathan becomes a picture of the great enemy that only God can conquer. Isaiah wrote, "In that day the LORD... shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea" (Isaiah 27:1). The monster no human weapon can touch is destroyed by the LORD alone. And the New Testament names the greatest leviathan of all, "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan" (Revelation 12:9), the dragon that no man could ever defeat. But what man cannot do, Christ has done. The Lord Jesus came to "destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8), and by His death "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). He "spoiled principalities and powers... triumphing over them" (Colossians 2:15). The dragon that laughs at every human spear is crushed under the heel of the promised Seed (Genesis 3:15). So while leviathan humbles us with our helplessness, the Gospel lifts our eyes to the Conqueror: the God who masters leviathan has, in Christ, defeated the ancient serpent and all the powers of darkness. We cannot draw out leviathan, but we serve the One who has bound the strong man and set his captives free. Fear no power, however monstrous; the Lord who rules leviathan has won the victory in Jesus Christ, and will one day cast the dragon down for ever.

Word Study

"prevented," Hebrew hiqdimani (הִקְדִּימַנִי) from qadam, to come before, precede, give first. In the midst of the leviathan description, God states a towering theological truth: "Who hath prevented me?" The old English "prevent" means to go before, and the Hebrew is the same: no one has ever given God something first, getting ahead of Him with a gift.

"repay," ashallem (אֲשַׁלֵּם), pay back. Because no one gave first, there is nothing for God to pay back. This strikes at the root of Job's complaint, and of much human religion: the notion that God owes us, that our goodness or our suffering places a claim on God that He is obligated to honor. But God is debtor to no man. This truth is so foundational that Paul quotes this very verse to establish the freeness of grace: "who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?" (Romans 11:35). Because God owes us nothing, everything He gives is grace.

"whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine," tachat kol-hashamayim li-hu (תַּחַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמַיִם לִי־הוּא). Here is the reason no one can put God in his debt: everything under the whole heaven already belongs to Him. He is the owner of all, the debtor of none. "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm 24:1); "every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills... for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm 50:10-12). And because all things are His, He has the sovereign right to do as He wills with His own, including the right to permit the suffering of a righteous man for purposes higher than that man can see. God's absolute ownership is the ground of both His freedom and His grace.

Explanation

In the midst of the leviathan description, God states a towering truth: "Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine." God owes nothing to anyone; no one has given God something first to put Him in his debt. Everything already belongs to God (Psalm 24:1; 50:10-12). This strikes at the root of Job's complaint, the notion that God owes us. Paul quotes this very verse to establish the freeness of grace (Romans 11:35). Because God owes us nothing, everything He gives is grace, and He has the sovereign right to do as He wills with His own.

Gospel Focus

"Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine", this truth, that God is debtor to none and owner of all, is the very foundation of the Gospel of grace. Paul quotes it precisely to prove that salvation is entirely a gift: "who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever" (Romans 11:35-36). We can never put God in our debt; we cannot earn salvation, buy His favor, or claim His blessings as owed. Everything comes to us freely, "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). And here is the wonder: the God who owes us nothing gave us everything. The One to whom all things belong "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" (Romans 8:32). He was not obligated to save a single sinner, yet out of pure grace He gave His Son. This means our salvation rests not on our uncertain claims but on God's free and sovereign love, which nothing can shake. It also means we approach God not as creditors demanding payment but as beggars receiving mercy, and there is deep rest in that. We stop trying to make God our debtor, and simply receive the grace He freely gives in Christ. All things are His; therefore all grace is gift; therefore boast only in the Lord, "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31).

Word Study

"high things," Hebrew gavoah (גָּבֹהַּ), lofty, proud. The LORD's speeches end with a striking description: leviathan "beholdeth all high things." The word carries both physical height and moral loftiness, so that the creature surveys everything that lifts itself up, and none of it overawes him.

"king," melekh (מֶלֶךְ). Leviathan is not merely fierce but royal, a sovereign among creatures. And yet, this is precisely the point: this king is himself a creature, made by God, whom God alone can master. Over him stands the God before whom "none is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?" (v10).

"the children of pride," benei-shachatz (בְּנֵי־שָׁחַץ), the sons of pride, the proud, fierce creatures. Leviathan is the proudest, fiercest, most untamable of all creatures, a king over everything that exalts itself. There is a profound truth hidden here. Pride is the great sin, the root of the fall of Satan and of man, and leviathan stands as its emblem. The message to Job, and to us, is unmistakable: God humbles all pride, and the fiercest, proudest power in creation is nothing before its Maker. This is why Job's proper posture is the hand upon the mouth, humble submission before the God who is King even over the king of pride. The whole book has been, in part, about the humbling of pride, not that Job was especially proud, but that suffering had drawn him toward a spirit of contending with God, and God graciously humbles him. For "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6), and the God who is King over all the children of pride will bring every proud thing low, and lift up the humble.

Explanation

The LORD's speeches end with leviathan as "a king over all the children of pride," the proudest, fiercest creature, king over everything that exalts itself. Yet this king of pride is himself a creature whom God alone can master. Pride is the great sin, the root of the fall, and leviathan is its emblem, but over him stands the God before whom none dare stand. God humbles all pride; the fiercest power in creation is nothing before its Maker. This is why Job's proper posture is the hand upon the mouth, for "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6).

Gospel Focus

"He is a king over all the children of pride", leviathan, king of pride, points to the great spiritual enemy of pride itself, and to the Lord Jesus Christ who conquered pride by the way of humility. Satan, the ancient serpent, is the true king of all the children of pride, "how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer... For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven... I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:12-14). Pride cast the devil down, and pride is his kingdom. But Christ conquered this king of pride not by greater pride, but by perfect humility: "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him" (Philippians 2:8-9). The way up in God's kingdom is down; the Lion of Judah conquers as the Lamb who was slain. And Christ calls His people to the same humility that overcomes pride: "learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29); "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). Job is being brought low that he may be lifted up, and so are we. The God who is King over the king of pride will cast down every proud thing, including Satan himself, "the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Romans 16:20), and will exalt the humble in Christ. So do not contend with God in the pride of self; lay your hand upon your mouth, humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, and He will lift you up, sharing the exaltation of the humble Christ who reigns over all.