Job 41:8 kjv
Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
Job 41:8 nkjv
Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle? Never do it again!
Job 41:8 niv
If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
Job 41:8 esv
Lay your hands on him; remember the battle ? you will not do it again!
Job 41:8 nlt
If you lay a hand on it,
you will certainly remember the battle that follows.
You won't try that again!
Job 41 8 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 40:15 | "Look at Behemoth, which I made... | God's creation of powerful beasts. |
| Job 41:10 | "No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up..." | Emphasizes Leviathan's untameable nature. |
| Psa 74:13-14 | "You divided the sea by your might... You crushed the heads of Leviathan..." | God's sovereignty over primeval chaos. |
| Psa 104:26 | "There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it." | God's creative power and delight in creation. |
| Isa 27:1 | "In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan..." | God's future judgment over chaos/evil. |
| Jer 10:7 | "Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?" | Call to fear God for His unmatched power. |
| Prov 1:7 | "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." | Humility before God as foundational wisdom. |
| Ex 15:3 | "The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name." | God as the supreme conqueror and mighty one. |
| Deut 32:39 | "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me..." | God's absolute uniqueness and power. |
| Job 9:4 | "He is wise in heart and mighty in strength... Who has hardened himself against him and succeeded?" | Futility of resisting God's might. |
| Isa 45:9 | "Woe to him who strives with his Maker, an earthen vessel with the potter!" | Rebukes questioning God's authority. |
| 1 Cor 1:25 | "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." | God's ways far exceed human understanding. |
| Rom 9:20 | "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" | Questioning humanity's place before God. |
| Job 38:4-7 | "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" | God's questions to Job about creation. |
| Psa 8:4-6 | "What is man that you are mindful of him... You have given him dominion..." | Man's dominion, yet ultimately limited by God. |
| Matt 10:28 | "Do not fear those who kill the body... rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body..." | Fearing God above all earthly power. |
| Heb 12:29 | "For our God is a consuming fire." | The awe-inspiring, fearsome nature of God. |
| Rev 19:11 | "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True..." | Christ as the ultimate, victorious warrior. |
| Psa 111:2 | "Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them." | Meditating on God's mighty deeds. |
| Ecc 12:13 | "The end of the matter... Fear God and keep his commandments." | Final conclusion to human wisdom. |
| Psa 147:5 | "Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure." | God's immense power and wisdom. |
| Job 39:27-29 | Describes the powerful eagle, emphasizing God's mastery over untamed nature. | Comparison to other wild creatures God controls. |
Job 41 verses
Job 41 8 Meaning
Job 41:8 is God's challenge to Job, daring him to engage with Leviathan, a creature so powerful and fearsome that any human attempt to "lay a hand on it" for capture or harm would immediately result in such a terrifying experience that they would never attempt it again. This verse serves as a rhetorical question designed to humble Job by illustrating the immense, uncontrollable power of God's creation, and by extension, God's own incomparable majesty and sovereignty over all things, including chaos itself. It highlights human inadequacy and utter futility in the face of such raw, untamed might.
Job 41 8 Context
Job 41:8 is part of God's direct discourse to Job, beginning in chapter 38 and continuing through chapter 42. Having humbled Job by demonstrating the complexities of the natural world (Job 38-39) and the sheer power of Behemoth (Job 40), God now challenges Job concerning Leviathan (Job 41). The primary context is God asserting His ultimate sovereignty and boundless power, aiming to silence Job's self-righteous complaints and to shift his focus from demanding explanations to reverent awe and submission.
Historically and culturally, Leviathan resonates with ancient Near Eastern myths about chaos monsters that opposing deities struggled against or were overcome by. In presenting Leviathan as a creature utterly beyond human control, yet entirely under God's control, the biblical narrative powerfully deconstructs polytheistic ideas and reinforces the unique supremacy of the Lord, the one true God, over all creation and chaos. This served as a polemic against the idea that humanity or any other god could contend with primordial forces, positioning the God of Israel as the undisputed and unparalleled Ruler.
Job 41 8 Word analysis
Lay your hand: (Hebrew: śîm yāḏəḵā)
- Lay: (śîm) - "to place, put, set." Implies active engagement, an attempt to take hold, restrain, or attack. Not passive observation, but direct interaction.
- your hand: (yāḏəḵā) - "hand." Often represents power, strength, authority, or control in Hebrew idiom. So, "lay your hand" suggests an attempt to exercise power or dominance. It emphasizes the direct, physical challenge from a human perspective. The use of "your" personalizes the challenge directly to Job and, by extension, all humanity.
on him: (bōw) - "on him, in him." Directly refers to Leviathan. Specifies the object of the futile attempt.
remember: (zəḵōr) - "to recall, be mindful of, remember." An imperative command. It’s not just about simple recollection, but internalizing a lesson from a potential or hypothetical experience. It acts as a solemn warning or a challenge to fully comprehend the implications of such an encounter. This 'remembering' implies such an experience would be unforgettable due to its horror.
the battle: (milḥāmāh) - "war, conflict, fight, combat." Evokes an intense, potentially lethal confrontation. It suggests not just a minor skirmish but a struggle for dominance, implying high stakes and inherent danger.
you will not do it again!: (lōʾ tōsîp̄)
- you will not: (lōʾ) - "no, not." A strong, absolute negation.
- do it again: (tōsîp̄) - "you will add, continue, repeat." From the root yāsaph, meaning to add or increase. In this context, it means "you will not repeat this action," or "you will not continue to try." The exclamation point underscores the absolute certainty and emphatic nature of this declaration—the experience would be so devastatingly frightful and futile that one would be cured of any further desire to engage. It highlights immediate defeat and psychological incapacitation from fright.
Words-group analysis:
- "Lay your hand on him; remember the battle": This forms a provocative challenge. God is effectively saying, "Go ahead, try to engage this creature, confront it, make war with it—but I warn you, fully grasp the reality of that fight." It links the attempt at control directly with the unavoidable and terrible conflict it would entail.
- "remember the battle—you will not do it again!": This is a stark warning of immediate, complete, and terrifying defeat. The "remember" part isn't for past knowledge, but for an immediate future experience that will leave such an impression that one would be incapable or unwilling to ever retry. The consequence of engagement is not just physical defeat but an indelible psychological scar.
Job 41 8 Bonus section
The profound message of Job 41:8 extends beyond a physical creature. Leviathan is often interpreted allegorically as the embodiment of chaos, untamed evil, or even satanic forces. The human inability to subdue Leviathan then speaks to humanity's inherent weakness against the truly dark, rebellious, or destructive forces in the world. However, the subsequent mention of God's absolute dominion over Leviathan (Job 41:10, 41:26-34; Psa 74:14; Isa 27:1) implicitly offers comfort: what humans cannot control or defeat, God can and does. This serves as a strong reminder that ultimate victory over all chaotic and evil powers belongs solely to the Lord, encouraging believers to rest in His omnipotence rather than relying on their own strength in the face of overwhelming odds.
Job 41 8 Commentary
Job 41:8 is a powerful rhetorical tool used by God to underscore human insignificance and lack of power when confronted with His magnificent, untamed creation. It serves as the climactic point of God's response to Job. The verse is not merely about a mythical beast; Leviathan symbolizes chaos, untameable power, and forces beyond human control. God challenges Job to grasp this truth by presenting an extreme example. The sheer impossibility of conquering Leviathan is meant to illustrate the futility of Job’s attempt to contend with God or to comprehend His divine purposes from a limited human perspective. The terrifying experience implied ("you will not do it again!") forces the understanding that even a fleeting encounter with such immense, wild power would strip away any human arrogance. It teaches Job (and us) that true wisdom lies in humility and reverence for the Lord, who alone has sovereign control over all things, including that which is most terrifying and chaotic to humanity. This recognition of divine might leads not to despair, but to a deeper trust in the one who holds all creation in His hands.