Job 41:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

By his very nature, he was destined to feel a pure reverence for his Creator; this reverence is gentle, not servile; it does not cast out love but remains forever intertwined with it. The devoted spouse harbors one kind of fear for her husband, while a disobedient servant knows a different kind of dread for her master. Therefore, he was fashioned to hold his Creator in joyful awe, loving Him alongside that reverence. Yet, through his own moral decay, he has become one who fears no one. He regarded submitting to his Creator, the One through whom he came into being, as trivial. For God answers to no one. But the Leviathan, beholding the heights of divine majesty and the freedom of dominion over all, proclaimed, “I will ascend to the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). However, he forfeited that resemblance because he arrogantly sought to achieve it through superiority. He was intended to mirror God's mercy in submission but instead sought to elevate himself and lost the opportunity to imitate that which he ought to have embraced. He could have attained greatness had he been willing to cling to the One who is truly exalted. True elevation would have come from his willingness to share in genuine magnificence. At that moment, however, he aspired to greatness independently and justly forfeited his share in that which he had once known. By rejecting the First Cause to whom he was meant to hold fast, he aimed to become, in a certain sense, his own first cause. In forsaking the One in whom he could find true sufficiency, he resolved to rely on himself. Yet the further he descended, the more he rebelled against the glory of his Creator. He, who had been raised by liberty's service, cast himself into the chains of a twisted freedom. In striving to attain the freedom of fearing no one, he became ensnared in the painful shackles of that very yearning. It is indeed by Divine Justice, which wisely ordains all matters, that the freedom he craved has come to bind him. For he, who could have subdued even the elements had he chosen to revere the One he ought to have revered, now faces a timidity, though bound by his own will, aware of the impending everlasting punishment awaiting him. 41. Hence, it is declared he was created fearless, meaning he fears no one—not even God. He is untroubled by the suffering that awaits him. However, it would undoubtedly be more fortunate for him to escape torment by having a fear of it, rather than to lack that fear while enduring it. Thus, he converted all his efforts into callousness, striving to dominate others with a hardened heart so he might escape acknowledging his own insidious wickedness. Consequently, having not attained the limitless power he sought, he transformed the folly of his callousness into a means of satisfying his pride; yet, this pride is further elucidated when it is added:

In stark contrast stands another formidable giant from the waters—Leviathan, or the crocodile—who cannot fall prey to fishermen (20-27) and is fearsome in battle (41:1-2). Its mouth's design, the robustness and thickness of its armored scales, the power of its muscles, and the quickness of its movements all serve to identify it as the mightiest creature and ruler of the seas (3-25).