e Doth he dread thine anger or power ? or will he humbly and eartieſtly beg thy favour,that thou wouldſt ſpare him, and not pur- ſue him,or releaſe him out of Priſon ? Iris a Metaphor from Men in diſtreſs and miſery, who uſe theſe means tothem to whoſe power they are ſubje&.
4 Will he make a covenant with thee f? wilt thou cake him fora ſervant for ever ? _ f Towit, to do thee faithful ſervice, as the next words explain it.Canſt thou bring him into bondage;and force him to ſerve thee?
5 Wilt thou play with him as ith a bird g ? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens 6 ?
£ As Children play with little Birds kept in Cageszor tied with ſtrings ; which they do at their pleaſure and without any fear ? þ For thy little Daughters ; which he mentions rather than little Sons, be- cauſe ſuch are moſt ſubje& to fear.
6 Shall the companions i make a banquet of him & ? ſhall they part him among the merchants / >
upon him. Or, for him, 3. e. for joy that.thou haſt taken him. 1 As 15S Uſual in ſuck caſes; that all who are Partners in the labour and hazard may Partake of the profit alſo and divide the ſpoil.
7 Canſt thou fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fiſh ſpears »- ?
- This may be underſtood, either r. of the Whale. And where. as it is objefted, that the Whales at this day are taken in this man- ner, and therefore this cannot be underſtood of them: it may be replied, both that this art and way of taking Whales is a late inven- tions and was not known in Job's time ; and that he doth not ſpeak of the abſolure impoſſibility, but of the great difficulty of taking theme Or 2. of the Crocodile, whoſe skin is ſo kard that an Iroa or Spear will not pierce it, as we ſhall ſee hereafter.
8 Lay thine hand upon him »,remember the battel o, do no more. |
x Either 1. in a familiar or Friendly manner, that thou maiſt catch him by deceit when thou canſt nor do it by force. Or rather 2, in way of Hoſtility, ſeize upon him and take him by a ſtrong hand, if thou dareſt doſo. o Burt e're thou do attempt thar, con- fider what rhou art doing, and how hazardous thy enterprize is, and with whom, and with what diſadvantage thou art going to fight, andasit follows, do n0 more, proceed no further, draw back thy hand, and be thankful for ſo great adeliverance. Or the verſe may be rendred thus: If (whieh Particle is oft underſtood ) thou of- fereſt or attempteſt zo /ay violent hands on kim, thou wils have cauſe to remember (the Imperitive being put for the Future, ( which is fre- quent in the Hebrew Language) the batel,8& thou wilt do ſo no more ; IF
thou doſt eſcapezthou wilt never forget thy danger,nor attempt any thing of likenaturefor the timeto come.
9 Behold, the hope of himp, is in vain : ſhall not 4
one be caſt down,even at the ſight of him r? y Either 1, of the Fiſh, ze. the hope of taking or conquering im. Or rather, 2. of the Man who laid hands upon him,as hope- ing to take him by force, but in vain. 4q The prefix He being put for Halo, as it is oft times in the Hebrew Text, as Gen.27336 iSam: 2: 28: Jer. 3:6: & 31; a0; Exek: 20: 30. r Not only the fight, but the very ſight of him is moſt frightful.Such is the ſighs of the Whale to Mariner Who fear the overturning of their Veilel. And ſuchis:- the 4 M fighs
Chap. XL
this Leviathan, but leaves it indifferent to the Whale or the Cro- *
? Thy friends or afliftants in the taking of him. & 3.e. Feed
& IRE : l 4
hap.X LI. | fight of the Crecodile, by which alone ſome have been affrighted
out of their wits. | i Þ. ; To None 5: /s fierce that dare ſtir him up 5s: who
then is able to ſtand before me t ? 5 When he ſleeperh or is quiet. None dare provoke him to the Battel. £ To contend with me his Creator, as thou Job doſt, when
one of my Creatures is too hard for him. 11 * Who hath prevented me « that I ſhould repay
him x? whatſoever is under the whole heaven is mine y. . « To wit, with Offices or Service done for me,by which he hath 5 *127 laid the firſt Obligation upon me, for which I am indebted to him: TEOT10 Who can be beforehand with me in kindneſſes, ſince not only the 86; Leviathan, but all Men, and, as it follows, all things under Hea- ven, are mine, made by my hand, and inriched with all their in- dowments by my favour, without which, O Jeb, thou wouldſt not have had either reaſon or ſpeech to uſe ſo perverſly to reproach my Providence. Having now ſaid and largely proved that Man could noticontend withGod in power,he now adds,that he cannot do it in juſtice, becauſe God oweth him nothing, nor 1s any way oblidged to him. Which having briefly hinted to prevent an ObjeQion,he returns to his former Argument, the Deſcription of the Leviathan: * That I ſhould be ingaged to requite his favours. y Created by my Power and favour, and wholly in my poſſeſſion, and at my diſpoſe, #Heb:bars: 224 therefore cannor poſibly prevent me, as was now ſaid. Ch:18:13; 7I2 I will not conceal z his Þ parts 2, nor his power, | nor his comely proportion 6. LD z 7. e. I will particularly ſpeak of them. Here 15 a Meloſis,as there is, Chap: 14: 11: & 15: 18: and ofteliewhere. a Heb. hs bars, 1. e. the Members of his Body, which are ftrong like bars of Iron, b Which is more amiable and admirable in ſo vaſt a bulk. : 12 Who can diſcover c the face of his garment #4 : or who can come to him || with his double bridle e? c Or, uncover, or take off from him. d The upper or outward part ofhis Garment, or, the Garment it ſelf : the word face being oft redundant, as Gen: T: 2: & 23: 3: and oft elſewhere, And by the Garment is meant the Skin which covers the whole Body, and may be taken off from the Body like a Garment. Who dare at- tempt ro touch his very outward Skin ? much leſs dare any venture to approach to him, to give him adeep or deadly wound. e to put it into his mouth, and lead him by it to thy Stable and Service,as thou doſt by an Horſe, Or ratker,(becauſe he plainly ſeems to per- ſift in deſcribing the ſeveral parts of his ey : of which he ſpeaks bothin the foregoing and following words ) Who can come within his Adenble Bridle, to wit, his vaſt Jaws, which have ſome reſemblance to a double Bridle:whence the Greeks call thoſe parts of tie face which
reach to the Jaws on both ſides; the Briales.. : 14 Whocan open the doors of his facef ? his teeth
#re terrible round about g.