John Trapp on Job 41:1

CHAP. XLI. Verſe 1. Cauſt thou draw out Leviathan with an book?]

AS men uſe to do the leſſer fiſhes in angling? No, as little as thou canſt bore Behemoths noſe with a ſnare, chap. 40.24. Leviathan is a common name for all great Sea-Monſters, Pſal. 104.26. Beza and Deodate underſtand it of the Crocodile, others of the Sea-Dragon: others of the whirl-pool: But moſt of the Whale; in creating whereof, Creavit Deus vaſtitates & ſtupores, ſaith One.Lib. 9. cap. 2. Pliny writeth of them, when they ſwim and ſhew themſelves, an[illegible: 1 letter]are inſulas putes, you would think them to be ſo many Ilands. Another ſaith, they appear like huge mountaines; and that when they grow old they are ſo fat and corpulent, that they keep long together in a place, ſo that upon their backs (by the duſt and filth gathered and condenſed) graſs and ſhrubs grow, as if there were ſome Ilands there;Heidfeld. whereat Sea-men attempting to land, have caſt themſelves into no ſmall dangers.Olam. Some tell us of a Whale that would have covered four Acres of ground, his mouth ſo wide,Plin. lib 9. that he could have ſwallowed a whole Ship. Virgil calleth Whales Monſters, the Greeks call them. [non-Latin text not transcribed], Wild Beaſts. The Majeſty and Power of the Creator, is much ſeen in theſe vaſt creatures. Pſal. 74.14. Thou brakeſt the hands of Leviathan in pieces, and gaveſt him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderneſſe. Here. upon the Jew-Doctors have fabled, that God at firſt made two Leviathans only; the one whereof he gave to the Iſraelites in the wilderneſs to feaſt with, the other he hath ſalted up for a feaſt to be made for the Jewes, to be gathered together by the Meſſias at the end of the world. Others have turned all this, and a great part of the former chapter into allegories: whereof ſee chap. 40, 24. Let us by the enſuing deſcription take notice of, 1. Gods Omnipotency, who hath made ſuch great wonders, whereof the ſea hath more ſtore then the earth, as they know well who are converſant therein. 2 His Juſtice, who by theſe creatures oft puniſheth Offenders Procopius telleth us, That in his time a great Whale much infeſted the coaſts of Conſtantinople. and did great miſchief for fifty yeers together, till at length being taken and brought to land he was found to be thirty cubits long, and ten broad. 3. His Wiſdome in making the Whale ſo complete in all its parts, which all have their ſeveral uſes; all which are here noted and numbred; how much more are our members, yea, our very haires? 4. His goodneſſe in creating ſuch Sea-monſters for mans uſe and benefit in many particulars; as his fleſh for meat, his fat for oyl his hide for thongs, his teeth for combs, his bones for building, mounding, Bodice making, &c. In Africa the Whales bones ſerve commonly for rafters of houſes. Leviathan he is called of the faſt joyning together of his ſcales and members, wherein conſiſteth his ſtrength: and ſo doth ours in unity.