When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.
God's answer to Job out of the whirlwind ends with one creature: leviathan, described piece by piece until no one could picture facing it. The point is personal: if Job cannot stand before a thing God made, why was he arguing with God?
What the verse describes
The line sits inside a run of verses about weapons that fail. One writer renders it literally and shows how the fear works. It does not just frighten men; it spoils their aim:
Samuel RidoutGoing back in part to the style of the first section, Jehovah dwells on how this beast cannot be wounded. Strong men are afraid of him. Terror and wounds make their hand tremble, so it misses its aim (verse 25, literally). Even if a sword should touch him, it fails to wound. No weapon can reach a vital spot, thrown from a distance or used close at hand. Iron is trampled down as straw, brass as rotten wood.
The ESV puts the second half of the verse differently: at the crashing they are beside themselves. Either way, the bravest men lose control.
The argument from creature to Creator
The size of the creature is only a measuring stick:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinLike the behemoth, the leviathan is a strong and untamable beast... Then He declares that he is fierce, and even at the sight of him one is cast down. And if a creature is so mighty and strong, what must the One be who called this creature into existence? Verses 10 and 11 should be read: "Who then is he who can stand before Me (the Creator)? Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine."
Why God spends two chapters on animals
It would be easy to read these chapters as a celebration of nature. One writer says that misses the point. The works are a doorway, not a destination:
William KellyMen talk as if God's object was merely to occupy us with His works. God, on the contrary, 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 did the work? 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.
More than an animal
Commentators differ on what leviathan pictures. Some read him as a picture of Satan, and find there the reason for the whole speech:
Charles StanleyGod now shows Job, under the figure of leviathan, that the power of Satan is too great for him. What a terrible one this king over all the sons of pride is... But what could be God's object in describing the power of the adversary like this? Surely it was to lead Job into complete dependence on Himself. "I know," says Job, "that You can do all things."
Others see a human ruler still to come. They read this verse as the moment he asserts himself:
Leslie M. GrantThe mighty men of earth will be afraid when this man asserts himself (v.25). Neither the sword, spear, dart nor javelin can penetrate Leviathan's armour (v.26), and all men's efforts to defeat the Beast will be to no avail.
Yet the same writer adds that this apparent invincibility has a limit: "While no man can stand before them, however, the Lord will bring them down to a defeat of abject humiliation."
The sting for Job — and for us
The chapter ends by calling leviathan king over the sons of pride. That title is the hook — the creature was never the real subject:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinNow for the conclusion Job could easily draw: if he is proud, then he belongs to leviathan, the king who rules over the sons of pride. Jehovah has touched the secret in Job's heart. He has searched out the depths of it. He had cherished pride, the Devil's crime.
Ridout presses the same question at the reader: "Beneath the fair exterior of man such possibilities lie hidden. Even in the child of God a nature lurks which has these features."
Summary
- Terror — When leviathan rears up, the bravest men shake and their aim fails. No sword, spear or arrow finds a vital spot.
- Creator — The terror is an argument, not a nature study: if the creature is this great, what must the One who made him be?
- Purpose — God is not calling Job to admire an animal. He is calling him to stop judging God and start depending on Him.
- Enemy — Commentators differ. Some see Satan's power, too great for Job. Others see a coming world ruler whom no weapon can defeat — until God brings him down.
- Pride — The last title, king over all the sons of pride, turns the light inward. The same self-will lies in every heart, including Job's.