mouth #. : : . x Or, He ſuatcheth, or drawethg or drinketh up as it were with forceand violence, as the word ſignifies. 5 z. e. A great quantity of water,hyperbolically called a River. as 1t is alſo Pſal: 78: 16: & 105; 41+ This may be fitly applied to the Elephant, which becauſe of its great bulk and vehement thirſt, drinks a great deal of Water at one draught, as Naturaliſts and Hiſtorians have obſerved. : He drinks not with fear and caution and ſparingly, as the Dogs do at Nilus, for fear of the Crocodile z but tuch is his Courage and Self- confidence, that he fears no Enenue either by Water or by Land, but drinketh ſecurely and liberally. & He drinks as if he deſigned, or hoped, or deſired to drink up the whole River- He mentions Jordan, either as a River well known in and nigh unto Job's Land ; or becauſe poſſibly there were many Elephants which uſed to drink at it; oras aRiver inſome parts of it but ſmal], which therefore might give more colour to the Hyperbole, and to the Elephants fancy or expeRtation, than a vaſter River, ſuch as Euphrates, would have done» Bochart expounds this alſo of the Hippopotamus,which, though he cannot ſwim, and may be drowned, as Naturaliſts re- port,yet will continue ſecurely under Water at the bottom of Ni/# for ſome days together ; and he renders the verſe thus, Behold, if & River oppreſs or cover him, he fears not,he u confident os ſecure, though ordan (which is here put for zny River) ſhould break forth or over- flow above his mouth, i. e. ſhould over-whelm him. But the judg- ment of this I leave to the Reader. : 24 || He taketh ic with his eyes : his noſe pierceth
[0 viz through ſnares x. : - uy tale + According to this Tranſlation the ſenſe is this, He rakerh, or
| theſe words.
* bimin bis ſnatcheth, or draweth up (as was now ſaid, v.23; ) it q to wit, the
or River Jordan ) with his eyes, i. e. When he ſees it, hetruſteth that thi he can drink it all up ; as we uſe to ſay,The eve is bigger than the bel : "ſevith his noſe or ſunt pierceth, &c. 7.e- heſecurely thruſteth his Snout i? jnto the River, even to the bottom ofir, to ſtir up the Mud, be- cauſe ke delights to drink muddy Water,and if there be any Snares laid for other Creatures, he breaks them to pieces, But this verſe js otherwiſe tranſlated by others, Will or Can any man rake him in his eyes ? (1.e. openly and by manifeſt force? Surely no. His force and ſtrength is too great for Man to reſiſt or overcome : and there- fore Men are forced to uſ2: many wiles and engines te catch him ; which is true both of the Elephant and of the Hippopotamus : ') Or pierce his Noſe with Snares or Gins? No, He may be taken by art and cunning, but not by violence. CHA P. XII God's Kingly Power and Authority above all the Children of Pride ſeen in the Leviathan, 1--===34, : : Anfſt thou draw out ||Leviathan with an hook 2? or
his tongue with a cord | which thou letteſt
. down &@ ?
s Canſt thou take him with a Hook and a Line, as Anglers take
as ordinary Fiſhes ? Surely no. Quefi, What 1s this Leviathan ? Anſwer. ThS$ is granted on all bands,rhat ir is a great and terrible Monſter, living in the Sea or Rivers, as Behemoth is a Land Monſter, Ir is
. the general and received Opinion that iris the Whale, which 1s unqueſtionably called the Leviathan, Pſal; roqe 25, 26: which ha-
' ving been diſcovered in the Scas next bordering upon 4rabis. pro- bably was not unknown to 796, wha was a very inquiſitive Perſon
[That is,s Wale, or @
| Cos w,.
O B. and well ſtudied in the Works of God, as this Book manifeſts,
but ſome Jater and very learned Interpreters conceive that it is the Crocodile ; which was very well known in Egypt and in all the Parts adjacent to it. And this is evident,that the Hebrew Thannin (which is parallel to this word Leviathan, theſe two words being ſynony= mous,and the one promiſcuouſly uſed for the other, as appears from Pal: 74: 13, 14: Iſa; 27: 1; Ezek: 32:2! ) is uſed of the Crocodile, Ezek: 29: 3, 4: & 32+ 2, 3» Burl ſhall not poſitively determine this Controverſie ; but only ſhew how far the Text may be underſtood of both of them, and then ſubmit it to the Readers Judgment, this being a matter of no great moment, wherein Chriſtians may vary without any hazard. Only this I will ſay, That whatever becomes of the Behemoth of the former Chapter,whether that be the Elephant, or the Hippopotamus, that doth not at all determine the ſenſe ef
codiJe, as the Context ſhall determine, which I confeſs ſeems to me to favour the latter more than the former. To which may be ad- ded, that it ſeems more probable that God would ſpeak of ſuch Creatures as were very well known to Job and his Friends, as the Crocodile was, than of ſuch as it is very uncertain whether they were known in thoſe parts, and in Job's time. This verſe, noting either the impoſſibility, or rather the great and terrible difficulty, of taking this Monſter with his Hook or Line, or ſuch like Inſtru- ments, may agree to either of them. For the Whale there is no doubt ; nor much doubt as to the Crocodile ; the taking whereof was generally eſteemed by the Ancients to be very difficult and pe- ri]lous ; whatſoever peculiar virtue or power from Nature or Art the Tentyrite had againſt them, as the Pſy#i were ſaid to have againſt Serpents. Some indecd obje&, that the laſt Clauſe cannot agree to the Crocodile, becauſe that hath no Tongue as is affirmed by 4riſ- totle, Pliny, and other Ancient Authors. But that is a miſtake,and the ground of it is plain, becauſe ther Tongues are but ſmall in proportion to their vait Bodies, and withal faſtned to their under Jaws, as the ſelf-ſame Auchors note. And that the Crocodile kath 2 Tongue 1s poſitively affirmed by the ſad Ancient Authors, and by the Hebrew Wrirers, and by the 4rabians,to whom this Creature was beſt known, and by later Authors. ' 2 Canſt thou put an hook b into his noſe c ? or bore
his jaw throw with a thorn 4. _ 6 Heb. # Bulruſb; i; e, an Hook like a Bulruſh with its head hang- ing down, as is expreſſed 1/s: 58.15. c To hing him up by it forſale, or to carry him home for uſe, after thou haſt drawn him out of the Sea or River, of which he ſpake in the former verſe. « Or, with an Iron Hook or Inſtrument as ſharp as a Thorn ; wherewith thou u- ſeſt to carry little Fiſhes. |
3 Will he make many ſupplications unto thee ? will he ſpeak ſoft words unto thee e ? |