Lay your hands on him; remember the battle — you will not do it again!
God ends His answer to Job with a long look at one creature. In verse 8 the description turns into a dare. God tells Job to lay a hand on leviathan — and warns him, in the same breath, that one round will cure him of ever trying again.
The Dare Is a Warning
The question is not an invitation but a dismissal. Job has talked about God and judged His ways, so God asks whether he can handle one animal.
William Kelly"Can you draw out leviathan with a hook?" You who can do such wonders; you can talk about God, and you can judge for God, and you can find fault with God! Well, can you catch leviathan with a hook? You ought to be able to do that. "Or press down his tongue with a cord?" (vv. 1–8). Be off with you! Do not fight him. "Behold, the hope of him is in vain." Spears or arrows are nothing to him, and even a musket ball has no power to pierce the skin of a crocodile.
Every Method Already Tried
Verse 8 sits at the end of a list. Each earlier question rules out one way of handling him: fishing, taming, selling, spearing. Only bare hands are left. One memory of that battle then settles the matter for good.
Samuel RidoutCan he be captured with a net or hook, by a line pressing down on his tongue? Can he be bound like an ordinary fish with a rush rope passed through the gills? Is he timid and fawning, or loyal and obedient? Can he be made into a plaything, like a bird, for the amusement of the household? Is he a regular item in the markets, bought and sold? If he cannot be caught as a fish, can he be attacked with darts, with weapons? Whoever has tried this will surely remember the fearful battle, and will never try again. He is the despair of all opposition; none dare stir him up or stand before him.
The Force of the Words
A closer rendering shows how compressed the line is — three short blows, with the memory of the fight doing the arguing.
William KellyDo you fill his skin with pikes, or his head with fish-spears? Put your hand on him — remember the battle — you will not do it again: Behold, his hope proves false.
From the Creature to the Creator
The animal is never the point. The argument runs upward: if a made thing is beyond Job, what is the One who made it?
William KellyIf such is the might of mere brutes, the effect of God's creative will, what folly to resist, censure, or even judge His ways!
What Leviathan Pictures
Commentators differ here. Some read the chapter as a description of a crocodile. Others say it points to more than natural history.
Samuel RidoutIn all this first part of the description we see how fierce, unapproachable and untamable this creature is. The obvious conclusion is the one already drawn: if the creature is so mighty, what must the Creator be? But, as already said, we should expect something more here than this declaration of God's greatness and power. This is not only a mighty power; it is a power for evil. So Scripture calls Satan the dragon (Rev. 20:2).
Ridout finds the same defiance in the great empires of history.
Samuel RidoutMan's rule, as opposed to God's — how common it has been! In Nebuchadnezzar we have this pride displayed at the very summit of Babylon's greatness. And ever since his day, how kings have dreamed of world-empire — Median, Grecian, Roman, and all the lesser Caesars since that day. How fierce and cruel they have been — how intractable, how untamable. Who could dispute with them at the height of their power — "remember the battle, do so no more."
Why Knowing This Is Kindness
Learning that a fight is unwinnable sounds crushing. Taken the right way, it is the opposite.
Charles StanleyNow what a relief this is. The believer, looked at in himself, has no power to overcome Satan. Man failed before him when innocent; much less, then, now that he is fallen, is he able to stand. It was independence of God that opened the door to Satan at first, and it is simple dependence on God alone that can shut it. May God give us a deep sense of dependence on Himself. It is very gracious of God to tell us what the power of the enemy is, so that we may know that our only resource is a firm trust in Himself.
Summary
- Dare — The invitation to lay a hand on leviathan is not encouragement but a warning: "Do not fight him."
- Defeat — Hook, rope, market, spear: God rules out every method first. Whoever tries the last one will "remember the fearful battle" and never try again.
- Deduction — If one creature of God's making is beyond Job, then to "resist, censure, or even judge His ways" is folly.
- Depth — Some read leviathan as the crocodile. Others see "a power for evil" behind it — the pride that rose in Nebuchadnezzar and in every empire since.
- Dependence — God tells us how strong the enemy is, and that comes as a relief. It drives us off self and onto Him, where "our only resource is a firm trust in Himself."