Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.
God's final questions to Job move from the whole creature to its head — and stop at the one place no one would ever put a hand. Why does God spend so many verses on a mouth, and what is a broken man meant to learn from it?
The words themselves
One writer works through the description and explains the phrase in the verse:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinA more detailed description of the leviathan follows. His body is strong. His outer covering cannot be pierced — who can strip it off? His teeth are terrible. Who can open the doors of his face (his mouth)? His scales, his armour, are his pride.
Another renders the Hebrew line by line, and the word order itself carries the menace — the jaws come first, and terror is what surrounds the teeth:
William KellyWho has uncovered the face of his garment? Into his double jaws who enters in? The doors of his face, who has opened? Round about his teeth is terror.
A question no one volunteers to answer
God does not ask whether anyone can catch the creature. He asks who would go near its face. Commentators identify leviathan with the crocodile:
Leslie M. GrantMen have captured crocodiles and put them in large pools of water. But who would dare to get into the same pool, as some do with dolphins?
Why God describes His creatures at all
These chapters are often read as nature writing. One writer insists that misses the whole point of them:
William KellyMen talk as if God's object was merely to occupy us with His works. God does the opposite. He brings forward His works to turn us away from our own thoughts and bow us to Himself. If the works of God are so wonderful, who is He that made them? And what is man, if he dares to judge such a God? ... Do you think that after this Job was occupied with behemoth or with leviathan? Not at all, but with God; and this was the design of it all.
Something more than a large animal
Commentators see more than an animal here. One gives the reason:
Samuel RidoutIt is not only a mighty power that is described, but a power for evil. So Satan is spoken of as the dragon (Revelation 20:2). And as ruler of the earth, through his instrument the ruler of Egypt, it is said of him, "In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea" (Isaiah 27:1).
The title at the close of the chapter then turns on Job himself:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinBoth the behemoth and the leviathan typify Satan, his character and his rule. He is king over all the sons of pride... And now the deduction which Job could easily make. If he is proud then he belongs to leviathan the king who rules over the sons of pride. The LORD has touched the secret in Job's heart.
The armour we wear ourselves
The armoured jaw that will not be opened has a counterpart nearer home. One writer turns the untameable creature into a mirror:
Samuel RidoutApplied to each person, this "crooked serpent" is a picture of the perverted will of man. All sin has its roots in disobedience. Men may smile at it, but what more terrible thing is there than this self-will — the carnal mind... What use is the effort to reform the world, to tame the crocodile? Men may dream and plan, and try to drive misery off the earth. But even while it groans, creation mocks at human efforts to subdue its own perverted will.
Where the questions are driving
Why describe an enemy Job could never beat? One writer gives the purpose:
Charles StanleyGod now shows to Job, under the figure of leviathan, that the power of Satan is too great for him... But what could be God's object in describing the power of the adversary in this way? Surely it was to lead Job into entire dependence on Himself. "I know," says Job, "that you can do all things."
One sword that reaches
The chapter asks who can open those doors. One writer sets that question beside victories no human sword could win:
J. G. BellettCould Joshua's or David's sword have won such victories as these? Would the principalities of darkness have yielded to them? Would death and hell have submitted themselves? "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?" But "He who made him can bring near His sword."
Summary
- Terror. The doors of the face are the beast's mouth, ringed with teeth. No one would dare open it.
- Turn. The works are not the destination; God displays them to draw a man off his own reasoning and bow him before the Maker.
- Pride. Behind the crocodile stands a power for evil. The chapter calls him king over all the sons of pride — so every proud heart sits under his rule.
- Powerless. The untameable jaw pictures the self-will in man that no reform or effort can subdue.
- Dependence. Shown an enemy too strong for him, Job is left with only one refuge: the One who made leviathan can bring His sword near.