Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 41

After the Lord described the power of Leviathan, showing that humanity cannot conquer him but only God can, He now speaks of Leviathan's power to act against others. Since “there is no power unless it comes from God” (Romans 13:1), someone could ascribe cruelty to God for giving such great power to so harmful a creature. To exclude this possibility, He says, “I will not arouse him as if I were cruel,” meaning, “I will not permit him to be exalted by the power I gave him.”

This seems to answer what Job had said earlier, “You are changed for me into someone cruel” (Job 30:21). The Lord shows that this charge of cruelty should not be attributed to Him for three reasons.

First, because of God’s own power. He says, “For who can resist my gaze?”—that is, My providence. This is as if to say: Even though Leviathan is as powerful as he may be, he cannot resist My providence, so he only uses his power as I will. My will does not aim for the destruction of humanity but for its salvation.

Second, He shows the same thing from the bestowal of His goodness, by which He freely distributes His good things to everyone. So He says, “And who gave something first to me that I must repay him?” implying the answer, “No one.” From this it is clear that I love everything I have made and freely share My good things with them. Therefore, I do not have any cruel intention against anything I have made. This relates to the verse, “Everything under heaven belongs to me,” because they are created, preserved, and governed by Me, and no one wants to do evil to what is his own.

Third, He shows that He is not cruel in permitting Satan to be raised up in his power, because He yields to him in nothing. It is a characteristic of cruelty to favor a tyrant by patiently tolerating the afflictions of many people. People might favor the powerful for two reasons. One is out of fear of their threats, but the Lord excludes this from Himself, saying, “I will not spare him,” that is, I will not yield to him by failing to resist him as is necessary, “for his powerful words”—that is, because of the threatening words he uses as if to display his power.

Another way a person might favor someone powerful is by being allured with flattering words. To exclude this, He says, “words to turn me away by prayer,” as if to say: Even if he threatens powerfully or pleads submissively, I will still yield to him in nothing, because there is no compatibility “of light to darkness” (Compare to 2 Corinthians 6:14).

Having said these things to refute the charge of cruelty against Himself, He proceeds to describe the power of Leviathan, first describing his form, beginning with his head. It is said that “above the eyes of whales there are certain horns shaped like a great pruning hook. There are two hundred fifty over one eye and the same over the other, and the whale uses them to cover its eye during a great storm.” To express this, the text says, “Who will uncover the face of its clothing?” In other words, what person can get so near to the whale as to strip these coverings from its face? By this, we are meant to understand that no human is able to uncover the devil's cunning ways.

Another author says that “in its throat it has a skin-like membrane, perforated with many openings to prevent any large bodies from going down to its stomach,” because its digestion would be blocked if it swallowed a large animal whole. To show this, the text says, “and who will enter in the middle of his mouth?”—that is, to examine those narrow channels through which small fish descend to its stomach? He shows by this that no one can know the devil's intention, by which he is said to swallow people spiritually.

Another author says that the whale has a large mouth “provided with very large and long teeth, with two teeth especially longer than the others, like those of elephants or boars.” Thus, to show that these two largest teeth are on the outside, the text says, “Will you open the doors of his face?” For those two great teeth seem like two doors through which the whale's mouth is opened. In this image, He shows that no person can open the devil's mouth to extract sinners from his power—sinners whom he swallows as if through the two doors of violence and cunning.

As for the whale's other teeth, the text says, “Terrible is the circle of his teeth,” because it has teeth around its mouth so large that they can strike terror into those who see them. By this image, the text expresses the terror the devil inspires in people to drive them to sin. One can also interpret its teeth as the rest of the demons, or even as evil people who induce others to evil by frightening them with their power.

After the Lord has described these characteristics of Leviathan's head, He proceeds to the arrangement of its body, which He describes as being like a fish with scales. In keeping with the great size of its body, it has large scales like shields, so He says, “His body is like cast metal shields welded together.” These are without joints, unlike wooden shields which are tied together. The devil is compared to all evildoers as the head is to the body. Therefore, sinners who defend others in their evil are like the shields on the devil's body.

Consequently, He shows that its scales are not only large but also pressed closely together, like a fish with many scales. He shows this by saying they are “compact with the scales closely joining each other,” by which He shows the great number of evil people. He shows their perverse accord in evil when He says, “One is joined to another.” Just as on the body of a fish, each scale is not joined to another at random but has an order, so also in the crowd of evildoers, not everyone associates with everyone else, but rather certain people with certain other people.

As long as a fish is alive and strong, its scales are full of life, adhering so closely to each other and to the skin that not even air can come between them. But when the fish dies, is sick, or its scales dry out for some reason, this connection gradually loosens, so that the scales themselves curve and even something rather large can enter between them. To show, then, the vigor of Leviathan's scales, He says, “nor can breath pass between them,” that is, through the space between the scales.

By this, He means that the wicked are not separated from their complicity in malice by any spiritual persuasion or internal inspiration. Therefore, to show the obstinacy of their consensus in evil, He says, “One will adhere to another,” by mutual favor and consent. “They hold themselves together and cannot be separated in any way,” because of their obstinate consent in evil, just as the scales of Leviathan cannot be separated from each other by human power.

After describing the structure of Leviathan, the Lord next describes its powerful actions. Just as He first described the arrangement of its head and then its body, so too He now begins to list the actions of its head.

The brain is the first and most important part of the head, and its stimulation causes an animal to sneeze. So He describes Leviathan’s sneeze, saying, His sneeze is a resplendent fire. This is because its sneeze creates such a great disturbance in the waters that it produces a whiteness, which resembles a flash of fire. This could also refer to how, when our own head or eyes are strongly disturbed, we see stars like a flash of fire. Since the concussion in Leviathan’s head must be much greater when it sneezes, it is even more likely that such a flash would be produced. This clearly describes how from the concussion of the devil’s head—that is, his temptations—a flash of fire leaps forth, whether of anger, sinful desire, or vainglory.

He then details the actions associated with the parts of its head:

1. The eyes are next in importance. He says, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. The eye is transparent because of its smoothness. A whale has large eyes due to the size of its head and body, so a diffused clarity appears in its glance, like the brightness of the dawn. This image describes the temporal prosperity the devil promises to humanity.
2. He describes the effect of its mouth, saying, from his mouth lamps go forth like flaming pine logs. A pine log is a type of wood that, when lit, gives off a pleasant odor. It is said that when a whale is very hungry, it emits a fragrant vapor from its mouth like the smell of amber. Fish, delighted by this smell, enter its mouth and are eaten. The vapors from the whale’s mouth are called lamps because of their intense internal heat, but they are compared to flaming pine logs because of their smell, as was said. This describes how the devil ignites sinful desire in people by presenting some apparent good that gives off a pleasant scent.
3. He discusses the function of its nostrils. This animal has lungs and breathes like a dolphin. To show this, He says that from his nostrils... comes forth... smoke—that is, burning air from the great heat necessary for this animal to move its great bulk. He clarifies this with the image, like pots of boiling water on the fire. The air it exhales was held in its lungs, where it was heated by the heart next to them, just as water in a pot boils when fire is applied.
4. Since an animal breathes through its mouth as well as its nostrils, He then describes the action of its mouth: His breath... makes live coals blaze. Its breath is so hot and strong that it could light coals. He uses a metaphor, saying, and flame comes forth from his mouth, because the vapor is so hot and fiery it can rightly be compared to a flame. Through all these descriptions, the author shows that the devil ignites the fire of perverse desire in a person by his hidden or open suggestions.

After describing the power of Leviathan’s head, God moves on to describe the power of its limbs. As Aristotle says in The History of Animals, Book II, no fish has a neck except for those that give live birth, like dolphins. Whales also belong to this category. So He begins to describe the strength of its neck, saying, power will reside in his neck, which is necessary for such a large animal to support the weight of its head. Because the neck joins the head to the body, Leviathan’s neck can be understood as those through whom the devil carries out his evil against others—men who are as powerful as possible, whom others respect or even fear.

This animal evidently needs a great deal of food because of its size. When a whale is in a certain part of the sea, it swallows so many of the fish living there that the sea before it remains almost empty. He expresses this by saying, and want will go before his face, because it attracts fish to itself, and the sea before it is emptied. This signifies the lack of virtue in people that is caused by the devil’s presence—that is, by his suggestion. He then shows the power of the other parts of its body, saying, the members of his flesh cling together. This is because of their density, and it represents the unified consent of the devil’s members to evil.

After describing Leviathan’s strength in action, He next discusses its power to resist. Although it can resist human power, it cannot resist the strength of divine action. First, He shows what God does against it, saying, He will send thunderbolts against him. Thunderbolts clearly fall into the sea frequently and can even endanger ships. It is therefore probable that they sometimes strike whales. This effect is attributed to God because of its grandeur and terror. As the Lord has already said, Will you send the lightening and will it go? (Job 38:35). He then says, and they will not be born to another place, which can be understood in two ways.

First, it shows the great size of its body. Lightning usually strikes one place and is reflected to other nearby places. But Leviathan’s body is so large that when lightning strikes, it is not reflected away. Second, it can refer to the infallibility of God’s work. Just as a skilled archer shoots arrows in a direct line to strike only the target, so when God sends lightning bolts like arrows against Leviathan or any other creature, they go only to the place He directs them. As Wisdom says, Bolts of lightning will go directly to their goal . This describes the divine punishments that God sends against the devil and his followers, which are not transferred to others. For even if the good are sometimes punished by God with temporal adversities, He permits this for the glory of the saints and for the greater condemnation of the devil and his evil followers.

Second, He shows Leviathan’s reaction to God’s actions, saying, His heart will be hardened like stone. Hardness describes a natural power that is not easily damaged by an external agent. This verse shows the natural power of the whale’s heart, which is not easily harmed by an external attacker. To indicate this hardness, the example of a stone is sufficient for light blows, but not for greater ones. Although a person cannot break a stone with their hand, it can be broken with an iron hammer. Therefore, to show the whale’s power against even severe harm, He says, he is compressed together like the blacksmith’s anvil, which is not shattered by hammers but seems to become even more solid. This verse describes the obstinacy in evil of the devil and his followers, who are not softened or turned from evil by divine punishments.

Third, He shows the final effect of the divine assault. Although Leviathan seems to resist every kind of divine punishment, it must finally be overcome by them. So He says, When he will fall—by divine power—the angels will tremble with fear, marveling at God’s power. In their wonder, many effects of divine power become known to them, and so He says, and terrified, they will be cleansed. As Dionysius says in Chapter 6 of The Divine Names, angels are said to be purified not from filth but from ignorance. However, since every physical creature is small compared to the holy angels, this does not seem to be describing primarily the wonder of heavenly angels at the killing of a physical whale, unless we understand "heavenly angels" to mean holy men.

A better interpretation is that the whale principally refers to the spiritual Leviathan—the devil—who was cast down by divine power when he fell from heaven through sin (Isaiah 14:12). Then the angels were struck with wonder at the divine majesty and were cleansed by their separation from Satan’s company. Likewise, on the day of judgment, when the devil is cast down into hell with all his followers, the angels and all the saints will wonder at divine power and will be cleansed by their complete separation from the wicked. This is indicated in Revelation, where after the devil has been cast down, a loud voice is heard in heaven, saying, Now the salvation, the power and the kingdom of our God have come (Revelation 12:10).

After describing how the devil endures God’s assault, He shows how he is disposed toward the assault of a creature—first, that of man. A person can attack from close quarters or from a distance. At close quarters, one attacks with a sword and spear, using a breastplate for defense. So He says, When the sword... has caught him, it... will not be able to stand without breaking, because of the hardness of its body, nor the spear, nor the breastplate. He gives the reason for this, saying, For he will treat iron like straw. Just as a person cannot be wounded by straw and easily breaks it, so Leviathan cannot be wounded by an iron sword or spear but easily breaks them. Likewise, He says it will consider the bronze of the breastplate like rotten wood, which cannot resist a blow. This indicates that no human power is capable of wounding or resisting the devil; rather, every human power is considered as nothing by the devil.

A person also attacks from a distance with arrows and stones from a sling, but these weapons also have no power against a whale. So He says, The archer will not put him to flight with a volley of arrows, which it does not fear because it cannot be wounded by them. Just as arrows shot from a distance wound internally, stones from a sling wound by bruising externally. But just as the whale cannot be pierced by arrows, neither can it be bruised by stones. So He says, and stones of the sling are turned into stubble. Just as stubble cannot harm anyone because it is too light, the whale cannot suffer any harm from sling stones. This shows that just as the devil cannot be harmed by human power in close combat, neither can he be harmed by human cunning from a distance.

Just as a person can be bruised from a distance by sling stones, so can they be bruised at close quarters by a hammer. But the whale cannot be harmed even in this way by man, so He says, He will treat the hammer as stubble. This can mean the same as the previous image, except that a hammer deals a heavier blow than sling stones. It can be understood to mean that no matter how much human strength and effort is applied, it is held in contempt by the devil.

People often overcome others not only by striking them but also by threatening to strike them. But neither the devil nor the whale is intimidated by human threats. So He continues, and he will mock the vibrating pike. The brandishing of a spear is like a threatened strike. Just as a person can be overcome with threats, they can also be won over with alluring promises, especially of beautiful or precious gifts. Among physical things, nothing seems more beautiful than the rays of the sun. But this beauty does not attract Leviathan, whether understood physically or spiritually. To show this, He continues, The rays of the sun will be under him, because it does not value them as something great. From this, we understand that it values nothing else considered excellent among human things. Gold is considered especially precious among the things people use. Regarding this, He says, and he will throw gold aside as though it were mud—that is, it will hold gold in contempt as something worthless. Therefore, it is clear that Leviathan cannot be allured by humanity.

Therefore, after proving that Leviathan cannot be overcome by man, God next shows that it cannot be overcome by the sea or any creature in it, because of the powerful actions it performs there. Pliny says that some animals in the eastern ocean are so large that they churn the seas from the bottom and create storms. These animals certainly belong to the whale family. To indicate this, He says, He will make the depths of the sea boil like a pot. Just as boiling water churns in a pot, the waves of the sea are stirred by this fish’s violent movements. This violent motion begins in the depths and reaches the surface. So He says, and he will apply it like ointments... effervescent. This is because ointments create a greater foam and motion on the surface than plain water, which does not contain as much air. This indicates the disturbance that the devil excites in the world.

Just as it produces a great effect when moving in the depths, it also causes a great effect on the surface. To indicate this, He says, His wake will shine behind him. When a ship moves through the sea, it leaves a long wake from the movement and foam it creates. The same thing happens with this fish because of its great size. This indicates that the effect of the disturbance the devil excites in the world does not pass away immediately but sometimes endures for a long time. Since the whale moves so powerfully in the sea, it fears nothing in its depths. Thus, he will measure the deep... like an old man, as though it has an end and is powerless to swallow it up. For when something is old, it is weak and near its end. This indicates that the devil does not consider the damnation of hell so great that he stops striving against God, as if his damnation must one day end.

Just as Leviathan cannot be overcome by man or by any sea creature, neither can it be overcome by any land animal. So He says, There is no power on earth comparable to him. There is no animal on earth as large as a whale in the sea. Pliny says that there are “greater animals in the sea than on land, and the evident cause is the abundance of moisture.” This indicates that no material power can equal the power of a demon, which is a power of a spiritual nature.

Having said many things about the properties of Leviathan as an image of the devil, He now explains this metaphor. As I have already said, all the properties discussed seem to be reduced to two. One is that it cannot be harmed by another. He explains this by saying, He has been made to fear no one. That is, the devil, by the condition of the nature in which he was made by God, fears no man or any other physical creature. The other is that Leviathan has the power to perform great and powerful actions. He explains this by saying, he sees everything which is sublime. That is, the devil’s intention is to attach himself to whatever is lofty.

Since these properties are characteristic of pride, He consequently shows that the devil is not only proud in himself but also exceeds everyone in pride and is the source of pride in others. So He continues, he is the king over all the sons of pride—that is, over those who are slaves to pride, all of whom follow his leadership. Consider, then, that the Lord began to show clearly the action He works in evil men with the proud (Job 40:6), and so He completes His narrative with the proud. This is to show, above all, that Job had to fear that the devil, who desired to tempt him, was trying in a special way to tempt him to pride and thus transfer him to his kingdom. Therefore, Job should beware of feelings and words that have the flavor of pride.