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and most terrible of all, "leviathan"; the name meaning, the twisting
animal, gathering itself into folds."
God, speaking to Job, and reminding him of the weakness and
littleness of man, says (chap. xl, v. 20):
"Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a book, or canst thou tie his
tongue with a cord? "
The commentators differ widely as to the meaning of this word
"leviathan." Some, as I have shown, think it means the same thing as
the crooked or "winding" serpent (_vulg_.) spoken of in chapter xxvi,
v. 13, where, speaking of God, it is said:
"His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his artful hand brought
forth the winding serpent."
Or, as the King James version has it:
"By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed
the crooked serpent."
By this serpent some of the commentators understand "a constellation,
the devil, the leviathan." In the Septuagint he is called "the
apostate dragon."
The Lord sarcastically asks Job:
"21. Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with
a buckle?
"22. Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to
thee?
"23.
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