Job 41:1
New International Version
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?

New Living Translation
“Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw?

English Standard Version
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?

Berean Standard Bible
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?

King James Bible
Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

New King James Version
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

New American Standard Bible
“Can you drag out Leviathan with a fishhook, And press down his tongue with a rope?

NASB 1995
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

NASB 1977
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

Legacy Standard Bible
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down its tongue with a cord?

Amplified Bible
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

Christian Standard Bible
Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope?

American Standard Version
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

Contemporary English Version
Can you catch a sea monster by using a fishhook? Can you tie its mouth shut with a rope?

English Revised Version
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fish hook? or press down his tongue with a cord?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Can you pull Leviathan out [of the water] with a fishhook or tie its tongue down with a rope?

Good News Translation
Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook or tie his tongue down with a rope?

International Standard Version
"Can you draw Leviathan out of the water with a hook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?

Majority Standard Bible
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope?

NET Bible
"Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook, and tie down its tongue with a rope?

New Heart English Bible
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

Webster's Bible Translation
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

World English Bible
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
“Do you draw leviathan with a hook? And do you let down his tongue with a rope?

Young's Literal Translation
Dost thou draw leviathan with an angle? And with a rope thou lettest down -- his tongue?

Smith's Literal Translation
Wilt thou draw out the crocodile with a hook and with a cord wilt thou press down his tongue?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, and can you bind his tongue with a cord?

New American Bible
Can you lead Leviathan about with a hook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?

New Revised Standard Version
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down its tongue with a cord?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
CAN you catch the Leviathan with a hook? Or draw him out with a cord in his mouth?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Will you hold the Dragon in a net by a cord? Will you hold him by his tongue?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fish-hook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?But wilt thou catch the serpent with a hook, and put a halter about his nose?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God's Power Shown in Leviathan
1“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope? 2Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?…

Cross References
Psalm 74:13-14
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea; / You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’

Ezekiel 32:2
“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet and muddying the streams.’

Psalm 104:26
There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?

Amos 9:3
Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Revelation 20:2
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jonah 1:17
Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.

Genesis 1:21
So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Psalm 89:10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

Isaiah 43:16-17
Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters, / who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

Luke 11:29-30
As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. / For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.


Treasury of Scripture

Can you draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which you let down?

leviathan.

Job 3:8
Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Psalm 74:14
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psalm 104:26
There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

lettest down.

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Job 41
1. Of God's great power in the leviathan














Can you
This phrase challenges human capability and authority. In the Hebrew text, the word "can" is derived from the root "יָכֹל" (yakol), which implies ability or power. The rhetorical question underscores the limitations of human strength compared to God's omnipotence. It invites reflection on the humility required to recognize our dependence on divine power.

pull in
The action of pulling in suggests control and mastery. The Hebrew root "מָשַׁךְ" (mashak) conveys the idea of drawing or dragging. This imagery highlights the futility of human attempts to dominate or subdue the mighty forces of nature, which are under God's sovereign control.

Leviathan
Leviathan is a creature of great mystery and power, often associated with chaos and the sea. In ancient Near Eastern mythology, Leviathan is depicted as a formidable sea monster. Biblically, it symbolizes the untamable and awe-inspiring aspects of God's creation. The mention of Leviathan serves to remind us of the vastness and complexity of God's works, which are beyond human comprehension.

with a hook
The hook represents a tool of capture and control. In the Hebrew context, "חַכָּה" (chakkah) refers to a fishing hook, emphasizing the absurdity of attempting to catch such a colossal creature with a simple instrument. This imagery illustrates the disparity between human tools and the grandeur of God's creation.

or tie down
To tie down implies restraint and confinement. The Hebrew root "קָשַׁר" (qashar) means to bind or secure. This phrase challenges the notion that humans can impose limits on what God has made free and powerful. It serves as a metaphor for the futility of trying to constrain God's will or the forces He has set in motion.

his tongue
The tongue symbolizes speech and communication. In this context, it may represent the voice or influence of Leviathan. The idea of tying down the tongue suggests silencing or controlling its expression. This reflects the broader theme of human inability to silence or control the divine mysteries and the natural world.

with a rope
A rope is a tool for binding and securing. The Hebrew word "חֶבֶל" (chevel) can also mean cord or line. The use of a rope to control Leviathan is an ironic image, highlighting the inadequacy of human means to manage the vast and powerful elements of creation. It serves as a reminder of the need for reliance on God's wisdom and strength.

XLI.

(1) Leviathan.--There can be little doubt that by this is meant the crocodile or alligator, whatever may be the true meaning of behemoth.

Or his tongue . . .--Some render, "or press down his tongue with a cord"; but the Authorised Version seems preferable.

Verses 1-34. - The crowning description of a natural marvel - the "leviathan," or crocodile - is now given, and with an elaboration to which there is no parallel in the rest of Scripture. It forms, however, a fit climax to the gradually more and more elaborate descriptions of Job 38:39-41; Job 39:1-30; and Job 40:15-24. Verse 1. - Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? The word leviathan, or more properly livyathan, which has previously occurred in ch. 3:8, and is found also in Psalm 74:14; Psalm 104:26; and Isaiah 27:1, seems to be derived from לוי, "twisting," and תן, "a monster," whence the תּנּין or תּנּים of the Pentateuch and also of Job (Job 7:12), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:11), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 29:3). It is thus a descriptive epithet rather than a name, and has not unnaturally been used to designate more than one kind of animal. The best modern critics regard it as applied sometimes to a python or large serpent, sometimes to a cetacean, a whale or grampus, and sometimes, as hero, to the crocodile. This last application is now almost universally accepted. The crocodile was fished for by the Egyptians with a hook, and in the time of Herodotus was frequently caught and killed (Herod., 2:70); but probably in Job's day no one had been so venturous as to attack him. Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? rather, or press down his tongue with a cord? (see the Revised Version); i.e. "tie a rope round his lower jaw, and so press down his tongue." Many savage animals are represented in the Assyrian sculptures as led along by a rope attached to their mouths.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Can you pull in
תִּמְשֹׁ֣ךְ (tim·šōḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 4900: To draw, drag

Leviathan
לִוְיָתָ֣ן (liw·yā·ṯān)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3882: A wreathed animal, a serpent, dragon, Babylon

with a hook
בְּחַכָּ֑ה (bə·ḥak·kāh)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2443: A hook, fishhook

or tie down his tongue
לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃ (lə·šō·nōw)
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3956: The tongue

with a rope?
וּ֝בְחֶ֗בֶל (ū·ḇə·ḥe·ḇel)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2256: A rope, a measuring line, a district, inheritance, a noose, a company, a throe, ruin


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OT Poetry: Job 41:1 Can you draw out Leviathan (Jb)
Job 40:24
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