Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 40:20

"Surely the mountains bring him forth food, Where all the beasts of the field do play." — Job 40:20 (ASV)

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.