His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
God speaks last in the book of Job, and He answers a suffering man by describing His own creation. That answer ends with leviathan, and verse 18 puts one question to Job: if you cannot face this creature, how will you argue with the One who made it?
Where the verse stands
God does not take Job through all of nature. He shows him just enough.
William KellyIn the last two chapters of Jehovah's answer (Job 40, Job 41), which I must cover very briefly, God surveys not the whole realm of nature, but quite enough — more than enough — to prove Job ignorant and unable to speak before God. Job needed to learn this, so that he would distrust himself and trust God.
The description of leviathan falls into three parts. Verse 18 belongs to the middle one.
Samuel RidoutMost interpreters agree that the "leviathan" here is the crocodile of Egypt, and it is described in great detail… There seem to be three parts: (1) His fierceness that nothing can tame (verses 1-11). (2) An analysis of his various parts (verses 12-24). (3) His outstanding strength (verses 25-34).
The words of the verse
Older English Bibles print "neesings" here, which the reference works simply translate:
Morrish Bible Dictionary"Sneezings." Job 41:18.
The second half of the verse draws on something ancient readers would have recognised at once.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHis scales, his armour, are his pride. This is a good description of the crocodile's hide. The scales sit so close together that no air can get between them. They are joined to one another and stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart. His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. You can see a crocodile's eyes from quite a distance under water. So the Egyptians used the crocodile's eyes in their picture-writing as the sign for daybreak.
Every part carries the same message
The sneeze and the eyes are not stray details. They belong to a survey of the creature part by part.
Samuel RidoutComing to the details, Jehovah shows that the beast is not only irresistible when you look at him as a whole. Each of his parts declares the same all-conquering power… The very sneezing of such a creature is like a flash of burning sulphur from hidden fires inside him (verses 18-21); his eyes flash out like rays of the rising sun.
The beast's own attitude belongs to the picture too.
William Kelly"His scales are his pride." He has enormous strength, and no ordinary weapon can pierce him. More than that, he is sure of it himself.
A shadow of something worse
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some read leviathan simply as one of God's creatures. Others hear a warning in the flash of light about a ruler still to come.
Leslie M. GrantOf course this is figurative language. It speaks of the vicious words that come out of the mouth of the Beast, as Revelation 13:5-6 tells us about him… But the appearance of light, as though the beast brought light and wisdom with him, is a false show. Leviathan pictures this man's boastful pride and his frightening threats.
What Job was meant to conclude
The picture of the creature is an argument about the Creator.
William KellyNothing could be more vivid than the account of each creature, and nothing could press the conclusion home more forcefully for Job, or for anyone else. If mere animals have such might, and they are only the result of God's creative will, how foolish it is to resist God's ways, to find fault with them, or even to judge them!
And all of this was still about things we can see.
William KellyAnd, after all, what was God speaking about? Earthly things. Every one of these things belongs to the natural world, and has to do with what we can see, with what is visible and temporary… still, if that is true of earthly things, what about the heavenly things? What about the eternal things? There we depend on God completely.
Summary
- Creature. Most interpreters take leviathan to be the crocodile of Egypt. In Egypt, crocodile eyes stood for the dawn.
- Detail. God goes over the beast part by part in verses 12-24. Scales, sneeze, eyes — each one declares the same unbeatable power.
- Pride. His armour is also his pride. No ordinary weapon can pierce him, and he is sure of it himself.
- Shadow. Some readers see in the flashing light a picture of a coming ruler, whose light and wisdom are only a false show.
- Surrender. If one animal leaves Job speechless, it is folly to judge the ways of the God who made it. In eternal things we depend on God completely.