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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
41:1 leviathan. Leviathan was evidently the greatest of the marine reptiles, or dinosaurs, something like a plesiosaur, perhaps, although modern commentators tend to call it a crocodile. Isaiah says that leviathan was “the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1), and the psalmist said that leviathan “played” in the “great and wide sea” (Psalm 104:25,26).
41:10 dare stir him up. Although no man could overcome the leviathan, God could do so, just as He could overcome the behemoth.
41:21 a flame. Whatever the leviathan was, it was not a crocodile! Many of the dragon legends indicate they could breathe fire, and there are indications that at least certain dinosaurs may have been able to produce and expel combustible gases which, upon coming in contact with oxygen, could have ignited.
41:34 children of pride. Such a statement could be literally true only of Satan himself! This concluding statement in the divine monologue seems to confirm that these two great reptiles, behemoth and leviathan, were brought to Job’s attention to suggest that the great Serpent was the cause of his sufferings. God was well able to defeat Satan. Furthermore, if God was so careful to provide for all the animals, He surely would not forget His faithful servant Job.