Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth.
God's speech from the storm ends with a long portrait of leviathan, and verse 19 sits at its heart — a mouth that seems to throw out fire. The chapter is not really asking about an animal: if a creature is like this, what is the Creator like, and who is man to judge His ways?
Where the verse falls in the description
Verse 19 sits inside a run of images (verses 18-21) where God takes the creature apart limb by limb. One writer shows how each part says the same thing about its power.
Samuel RidoutComing to details, Jehovah shows that the beast is not only irresistible as a whole; each of its parts declares the same all-conquering power. The Lord starts with its dreadful mouth, ringed with sharp, cruel teeth, and points out that everything about the beast has the same character. The very sneezing of such a creature is like sulphurous light from hidden fires within (verses 18-21); his eyes flash out like rays of the rising sun.
The creature itself
Most writers here identify leviathan with the crocodile. One draws out the lesson the whole description is meant to teach.
William KellyAgain, the leviathan described here (Job 41) seems to be beyond doubt, not the dolphin or the whale, as some learned men have argued, but the crocodile. Nothing could be more vivid than these descriptions, and nothing more forceful than the lesson they press on Job or on anyone else. If mere animals have such might, and they exist only because God willed to create them, what folly it is to resist, criticise, or even judge His ways!
Another writer asks it as a plain question: "if a creature is so mighty and strong, what must the One be who called this creature into existence?" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
Fire from the mouth
One writer takes the flaming torches of verse 19 as a picture of words — the words of the Beast, a man described in Revelation — and says the light he seems to bring is not real.
Leslie M. GrantOf course this is figurative language, and 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's character gives a vivid picture of this man's boastful pride and his frightening threats.
A power for evil
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some keep to the animals themselves. Leviathan and behemoth "had brute strength but no human intelligence", and "it would be easier to subdue them than to bring down proud man" (F. B. Hole). Others see something darker behind the description, and point to another place where the same name appears.
Samuel RidoutThis is not only a mighty power; it is a power for evil. So Satan is called the dragon (Revelation 20:2). And as ruler of the earth, working through his instrument the ruler of Egypt, he is the one described here: "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). How remarkable that the world-ruler should be spoken of in this way.
Read that way, each creature stands for a different enemy: "Behemoth is the enemy within us; leviathan is the enemy outside us" (Samuel Ridout).
God's purpose in the picture
God had a reason for showing Job a power he could never handle.
Charles StanleyGod now shows Job, under the figure of leviathan, that the power of Satan is too great for him. What a terrible one he is, this king over all the children of pride! This world has rejected the King of Righteousness and chosen the horrible slavery of Satan instead. But why would God describe the enemy's power like this? Surely it was to lead Job into complete dependence on Himself. "I know," says Job, "that you can do all things."
One writer sees design in the choice of these two creatures.
William KellyThere was clearly divine design in the detailed description of the hippopotamus on one side, and in the still more detailed picture of the crocodile on the other. To an upright mind like Job's, they were fitted to overwhelm him with one thought. He who could do everything stooped to make man the object of His ways on earth. He ordered all things to bring man's heart into submission to Himself... So Job should be ashamed of his self-sufficiency.
Summary
- Creature — Most writers take leviathan as the crocodile. The flaming mouth is one detail in a limb-by-limb portrait of a beast no weapon can open.
- Creator — The argument runs upward. If the creature is this mighty, what must its Maker be? To judge His ways is folly.
- Counterfeit — The fire looks like light, but it is a false show. The mouth stands for vicious, boastful, threatening words.
- Contest — Commentators differ. Some stay with the animal. Others see a power for evil behind it: the dragon of Isaiah 27:1 and Revelation 20:2, an enemy outside Job that he cannot fight.
- Conclusion — God shows Job a power too great for him. The aim is to shame his self-sufficiency and lead him into full dependence on the God who can do all things.