Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 40

In what He said before, the Lord demonstrated His wisdom and power by recalling the marvelous things that appear in His works (chapters 38 and 39), so that He might make clear that no one can contend with God in either wisdom or power. Here, He proceeds further to accuse Job for asserting his own justice (Job 27:6), which to some sounded like a derogation of divine justice (Eliud, chapter 34). The text also prefaces this speech by explaining the manner of God’s speech when it says, Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said. He gets his attention, saying, Gird up your loins like a man, and demands an answer when He continues, I will ask you and you tell me. These things have already been explained (Job 38:1, 3), so I will not explain them here.

Consider that Job, in appealing to his own justice, did not intend to impute evil to the divine judgment, as his three friends and Eliud wrongly understood. Instead, he intended to show that he had not been punished in revenge for his sins, as they reproached him, but to test him, as he already said in chapter 23: He will prove me like gold which passes through fire (Job 23:10). Yet this still seems reprehensible because he so commended his own justice that he seemed to others to cross over into derogating from divine justice. And so God says, Will you make my justice without effect?, as if to say: Does it seem to you that by appealing to your own justice, you cause My justice to be considered invalid—that is, false—by others?

The falsity of a judgment is the cause for condemning the judge who issues an evil judgment, either from ignorance or malice. And so He then says, and will you condemn me to justify yourself?, as if to say: Do you want to show yourself to be just so that I seem blameworthy before others?

Note here that if two people were equals, and if it were necessary to place the fault on one of them, it would not be reprehensible for the other to exonerate himself from an imputed fault, even if the first person remains culpable in the opinion of others. For a person naturally loves himself more than others. But where there is such a great distance as exists between God and man, a person ought to suffer a fault unjustly imputed to him rather than unjustly impute it to God. Therefore, in accusing Job, the Lord presents the excellence of God over humanity, and this excellence is indeed manifested in His works.

But since the question now is a comparison of justice, which is not properly perceived in irrational things, He considers the works God performs in rational creatures to show divine excellence. These works can be considered in two ways. First, according to the operation of His power. Regarding this, He says, If you have an arm like God, for “the arm” expresses divine power. He uses this arm, of course, to sustain the good, as Isaiah says, In his arm he will gather the lambs (Isaiah 40:11), and to punish evildoers, as Luke says, He has shown power in his arm; he has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart (Luke 1:51). Second, God works in rational creatures by the instruction of His wisdom, which He calls thunder because of its excellence. Regarding this, He says, and if you thunder with a voice like his? God uses this thunder to instruct the good, as chapter 26 says, When we have scarcely heard a small whisper of his words, who can understand the greatness of his thunder? (Job 26:14), and for the terrible rebuke of the wicked, as Psalm 76 says, The voice of your thunder rolled round, and the text says after this, the earth trembled and was shaken (Psalms 76:19).

From works of this kind, He demonstrates the divine excellence in three things. First, regarding beauty, He says, Deck yourself with beauty, as if to say: If you were as powerful in your works as God is, you could attribute His beauty to yourself. He pointedly says, Deck yourself, because God does not surround Himself with beauty as something added beyond His essence; His essence itself is beauty. By this beauty, one understands His clarity or truth, His purity or simplicity, and the perfection of His essence. But a person cannot have beauty unless he is decked with it, participating in it from God as something added beyond his essence. Second, He addresses divine majesty when He says, and lift yourself on high. The divine majesty is not in a place, because God is not contained by place. It consists in His perfection and power, because whatever is said about Him is fitting to Him in the highest degree. Majesty befits God essentially, and so He is not raised up to it but remains immovably in it. A person is in a weak condition by nature and so cannot arrive at that divine majesty by lifting himself up above himself. This is why God pointedly says, lift yourself on high. Third, He addresses His glory when He says, and be glorious. Glory includes the knowledge of another’s goodness, and so Ambrose says that glory is “fame known with praise.” However, the goodness of God is infinite, and there is no perfect knowledge of it except with God. Therefore, glory is in God alone, inasmuch as He knows Himself. A person cannot arrive at this glory except by participation in divine knowledge, as Jeremiah says, But he who is glorious will be glorified in this, that he knows and understands me (Jeremiah 9:24). This is why God pointedly says, be glorious, because a person does not essentially have this glory.

Having explained what pertains to the excellence of divine power and nature, He proceeds to call to mind the divine works in rational creatures, regarding both good and wicked people. Understand that the works God performs in raising up the just are attributed more to His mercy, whereas those He performs in punishing evildoers are properly attributed to justice. Thus, since the subject now is justice, He first briefly addresses the work God performs in the good when He says, and clothe yourself with splendid clothing. For in the end, all the good—angels and men—are splendid from their participation in divine wisdom and justice. And so, just as a person is adorned with splendid garments, so every beauty of holy angels and holy men contributes to the adornment of God, because the goodness of God is commended by it. As Isaiah says, In all these you will vest yourself as with a jewel (Isaiah 49:18). Consider that it is characteristic of God’s mercy to make His saints splendid, but the fact that He uses their beauty for His own glory is characteristic of His justice, about which He now speaks. So He does not say, “make yourself splendid garments,” but clothe yourself with splendid clothing.

Then He shows the effects of divine justice, which He brings about in the wicked, in a more extensive way. He does this first with regard to humanity. Know that all human evil has its beginning in pride, as Ecclesiastes says, Pride is the beginning of all sin (Ecclesiastes 10:15). Among all the vices, God detests pride most of all, and so the Epistle of James says, God resists the proud (James 4:6). This is because the proud, in a certain sense, rebel against God when they refuse to submit to Him humbly. From this, they fall into every sin, having scorned divine precepts. Earthly princes detest rebels most of all, and so the Lord specifically refers to the effect of His power that He exercises against the proud.

There are two types of proud people. Some exalt themselves above others on the basis of the goods they possess, like the man who said in Luke, I am not like the rest of men (Luke 18:11). These people are properly called the proud (superbi), as the name itself shows. The specific punishment of the proud is discord, because when one person strives to be higher than another and refuses to be subject to another, they cannot have peace with each other. And so Proverbs says, There is always quarrelling among the proud (Proverbs 13:10). He shows this by saying, Scatter the proud in your fury, as if to say: Exercise the office of God, which is to disperse the proud so that they cannot band together, for the fury of God here means grave punishment. Another type of proud people are those who presumptuously claim for themselves what is above them. These are properly called the arrogant (arrogantes), and so Jeremiah says, I know his arrogance and haughty character of heart, says the Lord, and his power is not up to it (Jeremiah 48:29). The proper punishment of these people is dejection. For since they wanted to be able to lift themselves up, the consequence is that they fall into peril, as Psalm 72 says, You laid them low when they were lifted up (Psalms 72:18). And so He says, and regarding every arrogant man humble him, meaning, you should cast him down from the standpoint of your providence.

He then describes four punishments common to both types of proud people.

1. The first punishment is confusion. Since they cannot attain the height to which they pretended, they are visibly confounded by their failure. And so He says, Consider all the proud and confound them, and as was already said, If his pride should ascend up to heaven, he will be thrown out like dung in the end (Job 20:6).
2. The second punishment is their destruction, which He shows by saying, and destroy the wicked in their place. He calls the proud wicked because, as Sirach says, The beginning of the pride of man is to apostatize from God , which is repugnant to divine worship and piety. The fitting punishment of the proud is that they are ground up, because what is ground up is shattered by the force of a stronger body into its smallest parts. It is just that the proud, who think themselves inordinately great, are reduced to the very least by a stronger power—a divine power. He pointedly says, in their place, to show that what they trust in cannot free them. For each person is preserved in his own place, and so the greatness of riches, the state of dignity, or whatever other such thing a person trusts in can be said to be his place. Despite these things, the proud person is ground down by God, so that he is, as it were, ground up in his own place.
3. The third punishment is that after they are reduced to the lowest place, the brightness of their renown ends. For it is just that those who sought the ostentation of glory should be erased from human memory, as Proverbs says, The name of the wicked will rot (Proverbs 10:7). And so the text continues, You will hide them in the decay together—that is, you will make them forgotten because of the state of contempt to which they will be reduced. He adds “together,” which can be interpreted in two ways: first, that all the proud suffer this end together; and second, that the proud do not perish successively but are cast down suddenly at the same time.
4. Their fourth punishment is that not only are they not known by others, but the goods in which they gloried will also not be known. And so He says, and their faces... plunge into the ditch, into the depths of hell. He speaks of the damnation of the second death through the image of the first death, in which people are reduced to bodily ashes and sunk into a ditch.

The Lord had first discussed these things as His own proper works. It is also proper to Him that He does not need anyone else’s help, something that does not befit a person, who cannot do these works. And so He says, And I will admit that your right hand can save you, as if to say: If you can do these works just mentioned, which are proper to God alone, you can reasonably claim for yourself that you do not need divine help to be saved. But just as you cannot do the former, so neither can you do the latter. Therefore, you ought not to glorify yourself in your own justice.

In the preceding remarks, the Lord had spoken of the effects of His power, which He works in evil men. Here, He goes on to describe the evil of the devil. It is clear from what has already been said that Job and his friends have the same opinion about the demons as the one the Catholic Church holds: that is, they fell from angelic dignity through sin. As the text has already said, Behold, those who serve Him are not stable (Job 4:18). Just as man falls from the dignity of reason through sin and, by acting against reason, is compared to irrational creatures, so the devil turned away from the supreme and intelligible goods through sin. Because he desired power over lower, earthly things, he is compared to brute animals. The demons frequently appear to man in the likeness of beasts. God foresaw this and gave them the ability to assume such bodily forms to fittingly represent their condition.

Consider that just as the angels who remain in their dignity possess a certain excellence above the dignity of men, and so appear to men in a brilliant light, so also the demons possess a certain excellence and primacy in evil over men. They are therefore described using the figures of certain extraordinary and almost monstrous animals. Among all land animals, the elephant excels in size and strength, and among aquatic animals, the whale. So the Lord describes the devil using the metaphor of an elephant and a whale. Thus, the name Behemoth, which means "animal," is applied to the elephant, which has a certain preeminence among other land animals because of the size of its body. The name Leviathan, which means "their addition," is applied to the large whales, which have an increase in size over every other genus of animal.

It might seem that the Lord, in the literal sense, intended to describe the characteristics of the elephant and whale because of the size in which they surpass other animals. However, the properties of these animals are described as a metaphor for something else. This is clear because after He has described the characteristics pertaining to this figure, the truth is added. After describing the properties of Behemoth, that is, the elephant, He adds, as if explaining the truth, He is the first of the ways of God (Job 40:14). When He has explained the properties of Leviathan, that is, the whale, He says, He is king over all the sons of pride (Job 41:25).

Job's dispute is concluded quite fittingly with a description of the devil, who is his adversary, for Satan was the beginning of his adversity, as stated above (Job 1:12). While Job's friends strove to attribute the cause of his adversity to Job himself, thinking he was punished for his sins, the Lord acts differently. After He contradicted Job about the disorder in his speech, He addresses the evil of Satan as if making the final determination of the argument. This was the origin of Job's adversity and is the origin of human damnation, in accord with Wisdom: By the envy of the devil, death entered the world .

First, He begins to describe Satan using the analogy of Behemoth, describing his resemblance to man by saying, Behold Behemoth, which I made with you. If this refers to the time of their origin as a metaphor, the truth is apparent, for man and the earthly animals were created together on the sixth day (Genesis 1:24). If, however, it refers to the devil, about whom these things are said figuratively, the devil does not seem to have been created at the same time as man. For we read that man was created on the sixth day, whereas Satan is believed to have been created with the angels in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.

But if the enumeration of days does not designate a succession of time but rather the different kinds of created things, according to the opinion of Augustine, there is no inconsistency. If, however, as others say, the creation of the angels preceded the creation of man in time, the word "with" can be understood in two ways. In one sense, "which I made with you" means "whom I made just as I made you." This is said to exclude the error of those who, considering the devil's evil, thought he was not a creature of the good God. In another sense, it means "whom I made with you" because the devil is like you in his intellectual nature. Some trace of this likeness is found in the elephant. For Aristotle says in his History of Animals 8 that "the animal most capable of domestication is the wild elephant, for one can teach it and it understands many things, since they are even trained to kneel before kings." This is not because it has an intellect but because of the quality of its natural estimative power.

After describing how Behemoth resembles man, the text describes his characteristics. To refer us first to the image, it describes three things about Behemoth. First is his food, when it says, He will eat grass like an ox. Literally, he is not a carnivorous animal but eats grass and other such things like an ox. Because grasses grow on land, this figuratively expresses that Satan feeds on—that is, he delights in—dominion over earthly things. Thus he says, boasting about himself in Luke, "They"—namely, the kingdoms of all the earth—"have been given to me, and I give them to whom I will" (Luke 4:6).

Second, it describes his mating habits, for the principal animal pleasures consist in food and intercourse. It describes the intercourse of the elephant first as to the source of pleasure by which animals are excited to intercourse, when it says, His strength is in his loins, for semen is drawn to the genital members from the loins or kidney area. Second, it describes the manner of intercourse. For, as the Philosopher says in History of Animals 5, "The female elephant undergoes coitus sitting down, and the male mounts her." This is what is meant by, and his power is in the navel of his belly; that is, he places his navel during coitus on the back of the female, and the navel must be very strong so as not to be ruptured due to the collision of such large bodies. Animals who perform coitus of this kind press the tail between their legs when they perform the sexual act, and so it says, He stiffens his tail like a cedar, which is said because of its great size. Third, it describes the organs serving coitus when it says, the sinews of his testicles are intertwined, that is, they are twisted, as the Philosopher says in History of Animals 3 about the testicles of all animals that walk and generate other animals.

These things cannot be literally applied to the devil, as if demons themselves have carnal intercourse like animals, taking pleasure in the act itself. For although, as Augustine says in Book 15 of The City of God, "the evil spirits are often said to have appeared to women, lusted after them, and consummated intercourse with them," they did not do this for their own enjoyment of intercourse. Rather, they enjoy leading people into these kinds of sins, to which they are especially prone. So Augustine says in Book 2 of The City of God, "Who does not understand what efforts these malignant spirits use to give authority and an example for criminal acts?" Because of this, as he says elsewhere in the same book, "Spirits of this kind delight in the obscenities of lust." Their delight is metaphorically expressed in the passages cited above. Since they are especially able to conquer people with this sin because of the concupiscence of the flesh, the text says, His strength is in his loins, which refers to men, and his power is in the navel of his belly, which refers to women. He stiffens his tail like a cedar, because those he casts into this sin he ultimately holds bound together in the sweet pleasure of their desire. The sinews of his testicles are intertwined, because if anyone cast down by this vice desires to flee, he is ensnared a second time on various occasions.

Third, the text describes the elephant's movement. They are said to have inflexible feet, shins, and legs in order to sustain their body's weight, and "they have solid bones without joints." To show this, it says, His bones are like tubes of bronze, because like bronze tubes they cannot be bent. This refers to the exterior organs of motion, which are the shins and legs. The interior organs of motion are certain cartilages and tendons, which are also not easily bent in elephants. Expressing this, it says, Their cartilage is like plates of iron, which cannot be flexed or extended. This indicates both the obstinacy of the devil, who cannot renounce his malicious designs, and his cruelty, by which he does not cease from the exterior harm of men.

The Lord explains these things that have been said figuratively, continuing, "He"—that is, Satan, about whom these metaphors are used—"is the first of the ways of God," that is, of His works. If "ways" refers to the works of creation, it is because Satan was created among the first creatures, or also because, according to some commentators, he was more excellent than other creatures. But it seems more fitting to the author's intention to understand the "ways of God" to mean the works of His providence. We should consider that for God, there is only one work that is properly fitting to His goodness: to give benefits and be merciful. The fact that He punishes and allows adversities to happen is due to the evil of rational creatures, which was first found in the devil and spread to humanity through his suggestion. Therefore, it clearly says, He is the first of the ways of God, because God uses different ways: to give benefits and to punish evil.

To prevent anyone from thinking that the devil is the "first of the ways of God" because he has the power to harm from himself alone, the text adds, He who made him will direct his sword, that is, his power to injure. The will to do harm comes from the devil himself, and for this reason, this power is called "his sword." But the act of harming can only come from the divine will or permission. Since it was said, He will eat grass like an ox (Job 40:10), the text now shows where he gets this grass to eat, saying, The mountains yield grass for him. By this, we understand that the proud and lofty people of this world offer the devil the material for his delight, or his "food." The text shows how this is done, saying, All the beasts of the field will play there. For just as wild animals gather in the mountains for security and leisure, according to the literal sense, so under the protection of people in high places, those who rage like beasts rest secure. This is clearly shown in Daniel: "beneath the tree"—which signifies kingly dignity—"animals and beasts live" (Daniel 4:9).

Next, the text describes his habitat. Consider here that Aristotle says in History of Animals 5, "Elephants stay in the wilderness and especially on the banks of rivers." Because there are usually reeds, willows, and shady places on the banks of rivers, the text therefore shows the habitat of the elephant, saying, He sleeps in the shade, in a thicket of reeds, in marshy places. Since this animal desires not just any kind of shade but deep, dark shade, it says, The shadows protect his shade, meaning that the smaller shade is protected by the larger shade from the heat. It shows the cause of this shade, saying, the willows of the brook cover him, for willows make a thicker and cooler shade than reeds. According to the literal sense, this animal dwells in shadowy places because it is a melancholy animal with a dry constitution and lives in hot climates. So it seeks the refreshment of dampness and shade against the warmth and dryness of the summer. By this is described the fact that the devil's sword has its effect not only in the "mountains" (the proud who nourish him with grass and protect the beasts playing in the fields) but also in people who live in leisure, as if in the shade. These people take care of this shade for themselves with great zeal, so that "the shadows protect their shade," and they nourish themselves on pleasure, as if in damp places.

For the same reason this animal seeks damp and shady places, it also drinks a lot of water. Aristotle says in History of Animals 7 that "an elephant drinks fourteen Macedonian measures of water in one draft and then later another eight." To describe the great quantity of his drink, the text says, He will swallow a river and not be amazed, because he is used to drinking a lot of water. After he has drunk a lot, he expects to drink even more, and so it says, he is confident that the Jordan can be drawn into his mouth. This is a river known in that part of the world where these things were recounted. When referring to the elephant, this is hyperbole. However, as these things refer to the devil, they describe his presumption, by which he confidently unites to himself, by their consent, all unstable people, even if they have some knowledge of God. To show this, the text specifically mentions the Jordan, a river that flows in the land where the true knowledge of God was found. The devil's sword has a special effect on these three kinds of people: the proud, the sensual, and the unstable, or those given over to the cares of this world, who can be symbolized by a river.

Yet some are not overcome by the devil but instead obtain victory over him. This pertains principally to Christ, about whom the Apocalypse says, Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah... has conquered (Revelation 5:5). Consequently, this happens to others through the grace of Christ, as 1 Corinthians says, Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). The Lord describes this victory using the image of hunting the elephant, saying, In his eyes, the hunter will capture him as with a hook. The hunter is Christ and those who belong to Him.

One method of hunting elephants is said to consist of digging a deep pit in the elephant's path, into which it falls unknowingly. One hunter approaches the pit to strike and stab the elephant. Another hunter then comes, strikes the first hunter, and drives him away so that he cannot harm the elephant. This second hunter then gives the elephant barley to eat. After he has done this three or four times, the elephant comes to love the one who freed him, and in time, it becomes tame and obeys him. Thus, they are captured by food offered to them, like a fish on a hook.

There is another way of hunting elephants. As Aristotle says in History of Animals 9, "the hunters ride tame elephants, pursue wild elephants, and wound them with various kinds of weapons." The text expresses this, saying, and with stakes they will pierce his nose, where its flesh is more sensitive, which is why it is more often wounded there by hunters. In the spiritual sense, this describes how Christ overcame the devil by showing him a weak nature, so that the devil might be caught by it as if by a hook. Afterward, Christ exercised His power against him, as Colossians says, He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them (Colossians 2:15).

After the Lord described the characteristics of the devil using the simile of an elephant, the largest land animal, He now describes him using the simile of Leviathan—that is, a whale, the largest of sea creatures. As Pliny says, “he is the size of four acres,” and Isidore says that “they have bodies the size of mountains.” The name Leviathan alludes to this, for it can be interpreted to mean “their excessive size.” Isidore also says this animal is called balena from the Greek word balein, which means “to send forth,” because it shoots water higher than other animals.

Just as the devil is compared to the elephant on land because of the visible effects he causes in physical creatures, so he can be compared to the whale, or balena, living in the waves of the sea, because of the effects he produces by stirring up our internal thoughts and emotions.

Since the Lord already described man’s victory over the devil using the image of an elephant hunt, He now uses the image of Leviathan to prevent anyone from believing that man can overcome the devil by his own power. He begins by showing that the whale cannot be overcome by the methods used to catch other creatures.

1. First, Leviathan cannot be caught with a fishhook. The Lord asks, “Will you be able to catch Leviathan... with a fishhook?” This is impossible for two reasons. The first is his great size, which no human power or instrument can lift. To show this, He asks, “Will you be able to draw him out?” The second is his great power, which prevents him from being held by a hook. To show this, He asks, “and will you bind his tongue with a cord?” Fish caught with a hook are bound by the attached line, but this imagery means that no man can turn the devil from his malice or even restrain him from doing evil.

2. Second, He shows that man cannot overcome the devil in the way large land animals are subdued. An ox is restrained with an iron ring placed in its nostrils, by which a man leads it where he wishes. To rule this out, the Lord asks, “Will you put a ring in his nose?” Man also masters a horse, donkey, or camel by placing a bridle or bit in its mouth. To rule this out, He asks, “or pierce his jawbones with a bit?” The jawbones of these animals are pierced with a bit—that is, with iron placed in their mouths. Just as an ox is led by a ring through its nostrils, the movement of a horse is directed with a bridle in its jaws so that it may carry a man with ease. Through this imagery, we are shown that no one can lead the devil where they want or direct him to serve their will.

3. Third, He shows that Leviathan cannot be mastered by the methods with which one person subjugates another. This can happen through simple words, such as when someone is so humbled that he pleads with another. The Lord expresses this when He asks, “Will he multiply prayers to you?” He might even add flattery, as the Lord continues, “or will he speak soft words to you?”—using pleasing words, as it says in Proverbs, “A quiet response shatters anger” (Proverbs 15:1). It can also happen through an obligation, arising either from a specific contract, which He refers to by asking, “Will he make a covenant with you?” or from permanent slavery, which He expresses by saying, “and will you take him for your perpetual slave?”

   These four methods sometimes occur in order. Out of fear, a person might first offer prayers to a victor, then use flattery, then submit to a contract, and finally, through that contract, be subjected to permanent slavery. Through all this imagery, we are shown that the devil does not fear man enough to offer him prayers, flattery, a contract, or servitude as if man were his superior or stronger. If the devil pretends to do any of these things, he is only deceiving man in order to subjugate him, rather than be subjugated by him.

4. Fourth, He shows that the devil cannot be overcome in the way birds are by man. Birds are first captured by deception, using nets, birdlime, or similar traps. To rule this out, the Lord asks, “Will you deceive him like a bird,” so that you master him by trickery? After being captured, birds are bound so they cannot fly away and are given to children and servants as playthings. The Lord refers to this when He asks, “or will you bind him for your servants?” By these questions, He shows that man cannot, by his own effort, overcome the devil through deception, nor can he display him to others as an object of derision.

After showing that Leviathan cannot be subjugated by the methods used on other animals, the Lord shows that, as a result, man cannot make use of him, even if he were captured. He first demonstrates this regarding the way men use captured land animals, such as deer or boar, whose meat is divided—one part given freely to friends and another part sold to various people. He rules out the first by asking, “Will friends cut him in pieces?” and the second by asking, “Will the merchants divide him?”—with the implied answer being “No.”

The sheer size of this animal is so great that if it were ever captured, it would be enough for the entire region. Therefore, it is not divided into parts by friends or sold in the meat market like other animals. By this, the Lord means that man cannot share the aid of demons with anyone else, either for free or for profit.

Second, He shows that man cannot use Leviathan as he uses captured fish. Fishermen fill large nets with bigger fish, and He refers to this by asking, “Will you fill the nets with his skin?” He says “skin” perhaps to describe a method for capturing very large whales. As one source says, fishermen “bind the whales to the rocks with very long stalks when they are sleeping in their caves, and then, when the fisherman approaches, he loosens as much of the skin as he can from the fat near the tail.” Because the animal is so fat, it does not feel the cut. After attaching cords, the fisherman ties it to rocks or trees and then provokes the whale with stones from a sling. In its attempt to escape, the whale leaves its skin behind.

Fishermen also fill smaller instruments with smaller fish, and the Lord refers to this by asking, “and a bow net of fish with his head?” A bow net is an instrument made from willow branches that fishermen place in a stream to catch fish. But the whale is so large that neither the whole animal nor even a part of it, like its head, can be contained in a large fish basket. It is said that its head is so big that one can fill forty large jugs with its fat.

This is all a figure to show that the devil cannot be bound by human power, contrary to the opinion of magicians who believe they can. Any such appearance of control results entirely from the devil’s cunning, which he uses to deceive people. If one thinks rightly about this, all these preceding words seem to refute the presumption of magicians who seek to make pacts with demons, either to subject them to their power or to bind them in some other way.

After showing that man cannot overcome the devil in any way by his own power, the Lord concludes by saying, “Put your hand over him”—with “if you can” being implied. It is as if to say: You cannot lay your hand on him by your own power to subjugate him.

Although he cannot be controlled by man, he is overcome by divine power. Therefore, He adds, “Remember the war”—the war in which I fight against him—and do not add another word against Me when you see that he has been defeated by My power, though you cannot overcome him by yours. Regarding the conquest by which he is overcome by God, He adds, “Behold, his hope will be in vain for him.”

If this is referred to the whale, the meaning is clear. When a whale pursues fish, hoping to catch them, it can run aground on a shore. Unable to free itself from the shallow water, it is frustrated in its hope of catching fish. When it rises to the surface, it rushes toward its death. The Lord expresses this by saying, “and he will perish with everyone looking on,” because people run from all sides to kill him when they see him.

In this, He wants to show that the hope the devil has for the destruction of the saints will be frustrated. On the day of judgment, the devil and all his followers will be cast down into hell, with all the saints looking on.