Job 41:21

"Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds."

Key Reflection

In Job 41:21, the image of the Leviathan's breath as smoke from a boiling pot over reed fire vividly portrays the fierce and destructive nature of this monstrous creature. The original audience would have recognized the reeds used in ancient Near Eastern cooking fires, understanding the intensity and heat of such a flame to grasp the fearsome power described here, linking it to both natural elements and divine might.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

His breath kindleth coals -It seems to be a flame, and to set on fire all around it. So Hesiod, “Theog.” i. 319, describing the creation of the Chimera, speaks of it as πνέουσαν ἀμαισάκετον πῦρ pneousanamaimaketonpur. “Breathing unquenchable fire,” So Virgil, “Georg.” ii. 140: Haec loca non tauri spirantes naribus ignem Invertere. “Bulls breathing fire these furrows ne’er have known.” A similar phrase is found in a sublime description of the anger of the Almighty, inPsalms 18:8: There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.

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