"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. Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever?