The LORD’s Power Shown in Leviathan

The LORD begins by asking whether Job can capture Leviathan with hooks, cords, bargains, or force, turning every imagined act of control into ridicule. The questioning ends by moving from Leviathan to God himself: if no one dares stir up this creature, who then can stand before the One to whom everything under heaven belongs.

“¹Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook ²Can you put a cord through his nose ³Will he beg you for mercy ⁴Will he make a covenant with you ⁵Can you pet him like a bird ⁶Will traders barter for him ⁷Can you fill his hide with harpoons ⁸If you lay a hand on him, ⁹Surely hope of overcoming him is false. ¹⁰No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. ¹¹Who has given to Me that I should repay him?

The LORD then lingers over Leviathan's limbs, jaws, and armor, portraying a body so defended that even approaching it becomes impossible. Its scales fit together like a sealed wall, making the creature an image of unbreachable strength and ordered power.

¹²I cannot keep silent about his limbs, ¹³Who can strip off his outer coat? ¹⁴Who can open his jaws, ¹⁵His rows of scales are his pride, ¹⁶One scale is so near to another ¹⁷They are joined to one another;

Leviathan now appears almost elemental, flashing light, breathing fire and smoke, and carrying such concentrated strength that dread runs before it. Even the mighty are undone when it rises, because its presence embodies a force no human courage can domesticate.

¹⁸His snorting flashes with light, ¹⁹Firebrands stream from his mouth; ²⁰Smoke billows from his nostrils ²¹His breath sets coals ablaze, ²²Strength resides in his neck, ²³The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; ²⁴His chest is as hard as a rock, ²⁵When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified;

Weapons fail completely against Leviathan, which treats iron, bronze, arrows, and clubs as straw while cutting through the sea with violent ease. The description closes by declaring it unequaled on earth and towering over all the proud, making Leviathan a final emblem of created greatness that leaves human pretension exposed.

²⁶The sword that reaches him has no effect, ²⁷He regards iron as straw ²⁸No arrow can make him flee; ²⁹A club is regarded as straw, ³⁰His undersides are jagged potsherds, ³¹He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; ³²He leaves a glistening wake behind him; ³³Nothing on earth is his equal— ³⁴He looks down on all the haughty;