Introduction: Continuing the Description of Leviathan
Chapter 41 continues the Holy One, blessed be He's address to Iyov from the whirlwind, centered on the Leviathan, which He began describing at the end of the previous chapter. There are two primary movements here: a response to the very premise of Iyov's demand - "Who preceded Me that I should repay him?", meaning from where does he take the audacity to demand that the Creator of the world hand over the management of creation to him; and subsequently, a detailed description of Leviathan's limbs, powers, and attributes, demonstrating that every single detail in creation was formed with wisdom and divine providence, neither by chance nor by blind natural forces.
Verses 1-2: Leviathan's Hope Is Belied
הֵן־תּוֹחַלְתּוֹ נִכְזָבָה הֲגַם אֶל־מַרְאָיו יֻטָל׃ לֹא־אַכְזָר כִּי יְעוּרֶנּוּ וּמִי הוּא לְפָנַי יִתְיַצָּב׃ - Behold, his hope is belied; will one not be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that he would dare stir him up; who then is able to stand before Me?
Until now, Leviathan had hope and confidence, trusting in his heart that no one could overcome him. Anyone who goes to awaken him from his lair, unless he is "cruel" - meaning stouthearted, bold, and exceptionally mighty - would be cast to the ground out of sheer dread, even from merely looking at him. It is enough for a person simply to see the Leviathan for terror and trembling to seize him, even without having been struck or harmed in any way. This is the meaning of "will one not be cast down even at the sight of him": merely looking upon him causes a man to fall backward.
Thus Leviathan used to think in his heart: Who would dare approach me? Anyone who merely looks into my eyes will already collapse in panic. Yet now his hope is belied. "And who then is able to stand before Me?" - after I have granted you My power, so to speak, Iyov, saying take the keys and manage the world, go and carry out a targeted elimination of all the formidable beasts in creation. Once you have received My power, you represent Me; and when you lay your hand upon him, as mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, a single strike would suffice, and he would be nullified before you just as he is nullified before Me. For what creature can possibly stand before Me?
Verse 3: Who Preceded Me That I Should Repay Him?
מִי הִקְדִּימַנִי וַאֲשַׁלֵּם תַּחַת כׇּל־הַשָּׁמַיִם לִי־הוּא׃ - Who has preceded Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.
After the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him that the reality Iyov requested runs counter to the divine order - that it is inconceivable for the Creator to destroy and ruin the awe-inspiring creatures He formed with His immense power, mighty beasts such as the re'em and sea creatures such as Leviathan, which themselves bear witness to the greatness of the Creator - He now comes to address the very premise of Iyov's complaint. Iyov demanded: Why do You not destroy them? Why do You not eliminate these fearsome, harmful creatures? Hand them over to me, and I will wipe them out of the world. Such a demand implies that I owe you something.
To this the Holy One, blessed be He, says: Who preceded Me that I should repay him? Do I owe you anything? Everything I said to you regarding "take" was according to your own perspective: you claim they are terrifying and destructive, so I said to you, here are the keys, run the world - would you truly destroy them? But concerning the demand itself, He says to him: From what audacity do you come demanding that I destroy these animals and hand the management of the world over to you? Did you precede Me with anything, such that I should be obligated to repay you? Did you assist Me in their creation, making Me beholden to you? It is enough for you that I created you, and that itself is pure kindness. You gave Me nothing beforehand that would obligate Me to create you, nor did you give Me anything in return for your creation. And after this immense kindness, you suddenly have demands?
To what may this be compared? A very wealthy man driving a luxury car sees an impoverished, destitute hitchhiker stranded at a station and gives him a ride. As soon as the hitchhiker sits down, he turns to the driver: "Can I have the car?" I picked you up from a station where you might have remained stuck for two more days, and the moment you get in, you already want the steering wheel, and next the credit card to fill up the gas! This is "Who preceded Me that I should repay him?": your very creation was an act of pure kindness, yet you ask for the keys to run the world.
First Midrash: The Virtue of Preceding with a Mitzvah
There is a wonderful Midrash on this verse in Bemidbar Rabbah (Parashat Naso, Parashah 14, Piska 2): "'Who preceded Me, that I should repay him?' - Rabbi Tanchum bar Abba said: One who has no property and yet performs acts of charity and lovingkindness; one who has no children and pays the tuition of scribes and teachers of Mishnah; one who has no house and acquires a mezuzah; one who has no tallit and makes tzitzit; one who has no sons and sponsors a circumcision; and one who produces sefarim and lends them to others. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: This person preceded Me and fulfilled My mitzvot before I even gave him the means with which to fulfill them; I must repay him, to give him wealth, and sons who will read these books. That is to say: 'Who preceded Me' to perform a mitzvah that I should repay his reward? Why? For He lacks nothing, since the world and its fullness are Mine, as it is written: 'Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.'"
There is a profound secret and a wonderful segulah here: whoever precedes the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, obligates Him to repay. A person is commanded to circumcise his son, but first he must have a son. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: If you go and perform a circumcision before I have even given you a son, you have, as it were, obligated Me to give you a son. How so? You saw someone who could not afford to bring his son into the covenant of Avraham Avinu, and you said: 'I will sponsor the seudah; this mitzvah of circumcision is upon me.' You preceded Me - and it is upon Me to repay.
So too, one who acquires a mezuzah before having a house: he donates a mezuzah to another person who has a home. He is not personally obligated in the mitzvah, yet he sought the merit - thereby, as it were, obligating the Holy One, blessed be He, to grant him a house. Likewise, one who fulfills the mitzvah of tzitzit when he has no four-cornered garment, possessing only an undershirt, yet enables others to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzit. And similarly, one who produces sefarim and lends them to others, even though he does not yet have children of his own to study from them.
From here emerges a wonderful segulah for children (zera shel kayama): a person approaches a Talmud Torah and asks if there is a child whose parents are poor and cannot afford tuition, and undertakes the payment - four hundred or five hundred shekels a month. 'You are paying the tuition for a melamed for a child I have not yet given you,' says the Holy One, blessed be He, 'and I am, as it were, obligated to give you a child so that you may fulfill the mitzvah yourself.' Similarly, one who seeks a match (shidduch) should go and sponsor a wedding for orphans or the impoverished; you marry off and unite others, and Heaven will arrange a match for you. In whatever matter a person seeks: precede the matter even if you do not yet possess it yourself, and Heaven will grant that it becomes yours as well.
A Second Midrash: Who Preceded Whom?
Another Midrash in Vayikra Rabbah (Parashat Emor, Parashah 27, Piska 2): "'Rabbi Tanchuma opened: Who preceded Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine - this refers to a bachelor living in a city who pays the wages of scribes and teachers of Mishnah. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: It is upon Me to repay his recompense and reward, and to give him a male child.'" A bachelor who does not yet have a wife, and paid tuition to a Talmud Torah - the Holy One, blessed be He, will ensure that he finds a wife and has sons, so that he will no longer have to spend on another's children, but on his own.
The Midrash continues: "'Rabbi Yirmeyah bar Elazar said: In the future, a Heavenly voice (bat kol) will burst forth atop the mountains and proclaim: Whoever has worked with God, let him come and take his reward!' There is a time when the Holy One, blessed be He, stands and distributes reward, as it is written: 'At this time it shall be said to Yaakov and to Yisrael, what God has wrought.' And the Ruach HaKodesh says: 'Who preceded Me, that I should repay him? Who praised Me before I gave him a soul? Who circumcised for My Name before I gave him a son? Who made Me a parapet before I gave him a roof? Who made Me a mezuzah before I gave him a house? Who made Me a sukkah before I gave him a place? Who acquired Me a lulav before I gave him money? Who made Me tzitzit before I gave him a tallit? Who separated pe'ah before Me before I gave him a field? Who separated terumah for Me before I gave him a threshing floor? Who separated challah before Me before I gave him dough? Who offered Me a sacrifice before I gave him an animal? That is what is written: 'When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born.'"
The Midrash is teaching something remarkable here. A person performs a mitzvah and feels that reward is owed to him: 'Master of the Universe, did You see?' One who circumcises his son is considered as though he offered a sacrifice before Him, as though he built an altar. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: With all due respect, had I not given you a son, would you have had anything to circumcise? Who preceded whom? This is like one who gives his friend one hundred thousand dollars and says to him: 'Give me one thousand.' The friend then comes and boasts: 'Did you see? I brought you a thousand dollars!' Who preceded whom here? I gave you one hundred thousand, out of which you gave Me one thousand.
And so it is with every detail: 'What a prayer I prayed today!' - and with what did you pray? With your soul; and did you not receive that soul from Me? 'I fulfilled the mitzvah of making a parapet' - true, but first you were given a roof and a home. An exquisite mezuzah cost you two hundred shekels, while I gave you a house, and there are people who have no home at all. 'I built a sukkah' - where did you build it? In the courtyard; and who gave you the courtyard? A lulav - before I gave you money? Tzitzit - before you have a garment, you cannot attach tzitzit to it; and where did the garment come from? From Him, blessed be He.
And so it is with the agricultural gifts. A person comes and complains: 'So much! Ten percent for Maaser Rishon, ten percent for Maaser Ani or Maaser Sheni, plus leket, shikhechah, and pe'ah!' This is like someone who received one hundred thousand dollars and was asked to return thirty thousand, and he cries out: 'You have gone too far, you are asking for so much!' I gave you one hundred thousand, and out of that I asked for thirty. So says the Holy One, blessed be He: You separated pe'ah - did I not give you a field first? Terumah - did I not give you a threshing floor? Challah - did I not give you dough? A sacrifice - did I not give you an animal? Everything you give is merely returning a tiny fraction of what I gave you, so what reason do you have to complain?
Verse 4: I Will Not Keep Silent from Recounting His Praise
לוֹ־אַחֲרִישׁ בַּדָּיו וּדְבַר־גְּבוּרוֹת וְחִין עֶרְכּוֹ׃ - I will not keep silent concerning his limbs, nor the matter of his mighty deeds, nor the grace of his stature.
Here the Holy One, blessed be He, responds to Iyov's contention that everything occurring in this world stems from the celestial sphere and the stars - that is, by mere chance. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I will not remain silent from recounting his limbs. I will show you that every single detail of creation is directed by My providence, so that you will see that I know all of its characteristics and exercise complete providence over all its limbs and faculties, for everything I have made was fashioned with the utmost wisdom and supreme power.
Three things are to be observed in the Leviathan: "his limbs" (baddav); "the matter of his might" (devar gevurot) - the strength within him; and "the grace of his structure" (chin erko) - the way his parts are arranged with grace. A person might lack proportion, having a short arm or a short leg, which lacks grace. "The grace of his structure" means that the Leviathan is formed with complete perfection, his limbs arranged in proper proportion.
Verses 5-6: His Garment and the Doors of His Face
מִי־גִלָּה פְּנֵי לְבוּשׁוֹ בְּכֶפֶל רִסְנוֹ מִי יָבוֹא׃ דַּלְתֵי פָנָיו מִי פִתֵּחַ סְבִיבוֹת שִׁנָּיו אֵימָה׃ - Who has uncovered the face of his garment? Who can enter his double bridle? Who has opened the doors of his face? Terror surrounds his teeth.
"The face of his garment" refers to the armor in which the Leviathan is cloaked - who has uncovered it to see what lies beneath? "His bridle" refers to the armor around his neck, where there are double shields of bone - who would dare enter there? "The doors of his face" are the lips and cheeks: who could open them, when anyone who draws near is seized with terror at the sight of his teeth?
Verses 7-9: The Joined Shields
גַּאֲוָה אֲפִיקֵי מָגִנִּים סָגוּר חוֹתָם צָר׃ אֶחָד בְּאֶחָד יִגַּשׁוּ וְרוּחַ לֹא־יָבוֹא בֵינֵיהֶם׃ אִישׁ־בְּאָחִיהוּ יְדֻבָּקוּ יִתְלַכְּדוּ וְלֹא יִתְפָּרָדוּ׃ - His pride is the channels of shields, shut tight as with a narrow seal. One touches the other, and no wind can pass between them. Each is joined to his fellow; they lock together and cannot be parted.
The powerful shields surrounding him are made of hard bone, and were created with pride - that is, with strength, might, and grandeur. Each one is "shut tight as with a narrow seal," like a seal of flint and hard stone; these bones are exceedingly hard. Across his width, they touch one another and are so close that no air can pass between them, and along his length, "each is joined to his fellow" - they cannot be pulled apart. Not only that, but "they lock together," clutching one another so firmly that no contrivance could ever separate them.
Verses 10-13: The Fire Within Him
עֲטִישֹׁתָיו תָּהֶל אוֹר וְעֵינָיו כְּעַפְעַפֵּי־שָׁחַר׃ מִפִּיו לַפִּידִים יַהֲלֹכוּ כִּידוֹדֵי אֵשׁ יִתְמַלָּטוּ׃ מִנְּחִירָיו יֵצֵא עָשָׁן כְּדוּד נָפוּחַ וְאַגְמֹן׃ נַפְשׁוֹ גֶּחָלִים תְּלַהֵט וְלַהַב מִפִּיו יֵצֵא׃ - His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go burning torches; sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth, like a seething pot over burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame emerges from his mouth.
Up to this point, Scripture described his exterior; from here onward, it depicts the power within his interior. "His sneezings flash forth light" - he possesses a kind of electrical force, in the wording of the Malbim, so that when he sneezes, light and sparks burst forth from him. "And his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn" - his eyes gleam from the intense power of the fire within him, like the dawn beginning to break.
And here lies a well-known principle: everything in the world is composed of the four basic elements - not necessarily all of them, but whichever element predominates within a creature gives it that corresponding strength. In beasts, the element of earth predominates. In birds, the element of air predominates, which is why they fly through the air. In man, there is also the element of fire, which is why touching a human or an animal reveals warmth, as well as the element of water - the blood and all the bodily fluids within him. In the Leviathan, it is the element of fire that predominates.
"Out of his mouth go burning torches" - like torches of fire emerging from his mouth, and likewise "sparks of fire leap out." And from the immense heat within him, smoke issues from his nostrils, "like a seething pot" - like a boiling cauldron; "and a reed" - like the steam rising from a marsh in the wintertime. Indeed, one sometimes sees a whale blow a spout of water from its back, and in cold regions steam is seen rising from it - testimony to the tremendous internal heat within it. And when he becomes enraged, "his breath kindles coals": coals that were smoldering blaze up until a flame shoots from his mouth.
Pasuk 14: The Strength in the Neck
בְּצַוָּארוֹ יָלִין עֹז וּלְפָנָיו תָּדוּץ דְּאָבָה׃ - In his neck lodges strength, and before him sorrow turns to joy.
The neck is the locus of strength, as in an ox, and there strength lodges. When a person grows weak, he slouches and his neck droops; in the Leviathan, you will never see anything causing his neck to bend. "And before him sorrow turns to joy" - sorrow itself transforms into dance and rejoicing before him, and under no circumstance will you ever see his neck bowed; rather, you will always see strength there.
Pesukim 15-16: His Flesh and His Heart
מַפְּלֵי בְשָׂרוֹ דָבֵקוּ יָצוּק עָלָיו בַּל־יִמּוֹט׃ לִבּוֹ יָצוּק כְּמוֹ־אָבֶן וְיָצוּק כְּפֶלַח תַּחְתִּית׃ - The folds of his flesh cleave together; they are cast firm upon him, immovable. His heart is cast firm like stone, cast firm like the nether millstone.
Even those parts of the flesh that in other animals sag and hang loose - like the loose folds of skin on the neck of an ox - are not like that in the Leviathan. Rather, all are as if fused into him: "Cast firm upon him, immovable" - tightly adhering to him and solid as cast metal.
And his heart is solid and firm as a stone. Even though the heart is constantly in motion and pulsing, in his case it is firm "like the nether millstone." A millstone consists of two stones: the upper stone is called the rechev (rider), as we find regarding the woman who threw an upper millstone upon Avimelech and cracked his skull - the rechev is the upper stone riding on the lower one, while "you shall not take the millstone in pledge" refers to the lower one. The lower stone is far more stationary and stable than the upper one, since the upper stone moves and rotates. In this same way, the Leviathan's heart is solid and unyielding like the lower millstone that never budges from its place - a mighty heart.
Pasuk 17: Even the Mighty Dread Him
מִשֵּׂתוֹ יָגוּרוּ אֵלִים מִשְּׁבָרִים יִתְחַטָּאוּ׃ - When he raises himself up, the mighty dread him; from fractures they are purged.
When he rises and looms large, the "mighty" (eilim) dread him - an expression of strength, as in "it is within the power (el) of my hand" - referring to the powerful beasts considered mighty. "From fractures they are purged" - these are beasts so powerful that they have no fear of being broken, completely free from any fracture, like an elephant or a rhinoceros that fear nothing, charging, goring, and crushing everything in their path; "they are purged" (yitchatau) in the sense of cleansing and purity, for they are free from breakage and suffer no harm. Yet despite all this, when the Leviathan rises up, even they are terrified of him.
Pesukim 18-21: Weapons Like Straw
מַשִּׂיגֵהוּ חֶרֶב בְּלִי תָקוּם חֲנִית מַסָּע וְשִׁרְיָה׃ יַחְשֹׁב לְתֶבֶן בַּרְזֶל לְעֵץ רִקָּבוֹן נְחוּשָׁה׃ לֹא־יַבְרִיחֶנּוּ בֶן־קָשֶׁת לְקַשׁ נֶהְפְּכוּ־לוֹ אַבְנֵי־קָלַע׃ כְּקַשׁ נֶחְשְׁבוּ תוֹתָח וְיִשְׂחַק לְרַעַשׁ כִּידוֹן׃ - If a sword reaches him, it will not hold up, nor the dart, spear, or coat of armor. He considers iron as straw, and copper as rotten wood. The arrow cannot put him to flight; slingstones are turned into stubble for him. Catapults are regarded as straw, and he laughs at the rattling of a javelin.
If someone seeks to overtake him with a sword, the sword will not prevail against him and cannot stand before him; likewise, the dart, spear, armor, and all destructive weapons cannot reach him. Why? Because out of his immense strength, "he considers iron as straw" - you approach him with iron, and to him it is like straw and chaff; "copper as rotten wood" - a blow with copper, which is a sturdy metal, is regarded by him like a strike with rotten wood that does not affect him in the slightest.
"A son of the bow" refers to the arrow - the bow being like a father bringing forth arrows - and the arrow will not cause him to turn and flee. "Slingstones are turned into stubble for him": even the heavy stones launched by siege engines. In antiquity they had various methods for hurling stones. With a simple sling, like that of David and Goliath, they hurled small stones, but there were also machines for slinging massive stones. They would bend flexible timber down to the ground, load a stone onto it, and when the wood snapped back with tremendous force, it would launch the stone a great distance. It was like a diving board at the edge of a swimming pool, where you bounce and soar high into the air.
"Catapults are regarded as straw" - the engine used to launch large stones in advanced warfare to demolish fortresses is likewise considered as straw in his eyes. "And he laughs at the rattling of a javelin" - the rattling sound of a javelin, which normally strikes terror, does not impress him at all. It is well known that in earlier times, when whalers hunted without modern methods, they would shoot harpoons into a whale, and the whale would drag the entire ship behind it, sometimes smashing or capsizing the vessel through sheer force. Tremendous power! Neither arrows, nor slingstones, nor javelins faze him in the least, on account of his impenetrable armor and thick hide.
Verse 22: His Bed upon Sharp Points
תַּחְתָּיו חַדּוּדֵי חָרֶשׂ יִרְפַּד חָרוּץ עֲלֵי־טִיט׃ - Underneath him are sharp potsherds; he spreads out sharp points upon the mire.
Underneath him, on his belly, he has scales as sharp as broken shards of pottery, like the keenest edge of earthenware. Therefore, even if the surface he lies upon is jagged and sharp - something that would tear anyone else to ribbons - to him it feels like a cushioned mattress, like resting upon soft and pleasant clay. Because the scales beneath him are as thick and hard as sharp pottery, he does not feel the hardness of his bed at all.
Verse 23: He Makes the Deep Boil Like a Pot
יַרְתִּיחַ כַּסִּיר מְצוּלָה יָם יָשִׂים כַּמֶּרְקָחָה׃ - He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like an ointment mixture.
Even if one were to imagine fire surging from within the sea and boiling the ocean depths - and this is by no means impossible, for beneath the earth's crust there is vast fire, intense heat, and tremendous energy. If the crust beneath the sea were to rupture and boil the deep, the very place where the Leviathan rests, like a pot boiling over a fire, until the entire sea turned into a brew - merkacha means a concoction, from the term ma'aseh roke'ach (the craft of the apothecary), what they would blend and boil - and from the violent boiling of the water the entire sea would look like a simmering brew, and everything in it would perish and die.
Verse 24: Behind Him He Leaves a Shining Path
אַחֲרָיו יָאִיר נָתִיב יַחְשֹׁב תְּהוֹם לְשֵׂיבָה׃ - Behind him he illuminates a path; one would think the deep to have white hair.
The reading order of the verse is: "He considers the deep; behind him a path shines; unto old age." The deep - the abyss of the sea - contemplates in its heart that even if it boils the depths at an immense temperature so that everything in it would perish from the heat, the Leviathan is entirely unfazed. Nor does all the darkness of the sea affect him; rather, "behind him a path shines," as if he possesses a path of light along which he strides securely without any fear. And for how long? "Unto old age" - this does not shorten his lifespan or cause him any harm; rather, he lives long into ripe old age, unfazed by anything occurring in the sea, and none of it harms him in the least.
Verse 25: Dominion Over What?
אֵין־עַל־עָפָר מׇשְׁלוֹ הֶעָשׂוּ לִבְלִי־חָת׃ - There is none upon earth that rules him, who is made without fear.
With this, the Holy One, Blessed is He, concludes the debate. You, Iyov, would have preferred that all creatures be created "made without fear" - that is, that there should be no formidable beasts in the world that cast dread upon other creatures, but rather that all should be weak beings unaffected by one another. If so, "upon dust there is no dominion": the sovereignty of the One who made and created the dust would not be apparent. What kind of dominion is it to rule only over weak creatures? What kind of sovereignty is it to rule over ants and creeping insects? Is that called power? There can be no evident dominion over creation if everything is made without fear and there are none in existence who are broken before those greater and stronger than themselves. In order to create a world in which man perceives the magnificent power and might of Hashem, formidable creatures had to be created as well, striking fear and trembling into all who behold them.
Verse 26: King Over All Proud Beasts
אֵת־כׇּל־גָּבֹהַּ יִרְאֶה הוּא מֶלֶךְ עַל־כׇּל־בְּנֵי־שָׁחַץ׃ - He sees every high thing; he is king over all proud beasts.
And through the very existence of such vast, lofty, and fearsome creatures, it is revealed that He sees and watches over every exalted being, casting His awe upon it and ensuring that it does not destroy all the weaker species. Do not think: if formidable creatures were created, might they annihilate the world? Rather, even though I created formidable creatures, "He sees every high thing" - everything is under complete Divine Providence, and I watch and observe. When there is a terrifying creature capable of destroying the world, the Holy One, Blessed is He, curtails its power, checking and restraining it.
An example of this is the Leviathan itself: it is written that the Holy One, Blessed is He, created the great sea monsters, and what happened to the female? He salted it away for the righteous in the Future to Come. And why? Could it not have been given to the righteous in the Future without doing this? Rather, the Holy One, Blessed is He, saw that if the Leviathans were to reproduce in the world, a situation would arise where they would fill all the seas and destroy everything.
Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed is He, tells him: Know that He sees every high thing. Even though I created exalted and towering beings, strong and mighty, there is supreme Providence over them as well. There is One who is mightier than the mighty, watching and overseeing the powerful. And this itself is the glory of kingship - that the Holy One, Blessed is He, reigns over the mighty and powerful, and all are in awe and fear of His Providence. "Over all the proud beasts" refers to the great, terrifying, and colossal creatures. When there is a King over all the proud beasts, there is also absolute Providence: while there is fear and dread of those creatures, there is One above them who restrains them, so that there will never be a lack of supervision, and they will not, Heaven forbid, cause total devastation to the world.
In summary: The chapter opens with a description of the Leviathan whose expectation is frustrated - showing that even this mighty creature is completely nullified before its Creator - and proceeds to a piercing answer to Iyov's fundamental claim: "Who preceded Me that I should repay him?" Man has no claim whatsoever against his Creator, for whatever he is able to give, the Creator gave to him first. The Midrashim teach that specifically one who takes the initiative to perform a mitzvah even before he has been given the means to fulfill it, as it were, compels the Holy One, Blessed is He, to repay him, which is a wonderful segulah for children, a spouse, and every need. The text then details the limbs of the Leviathan, its armor and tightly joined scales, the fire and heat within it, the strength of its neck, its cast-iron heart, and its mockery of all weapons and the boiling deep - all to show that every detail was crafted with Providence and wisdom. The conclusion: a world cannot exist without formidable creatures, for otherwise there would be no apparent sovereignty at all; yet those very creatures are under the watchful eye and kingship of the Holy One, Blessed is He, who is King over all proud beasts, a Ruler mightier than the mighty who reins them in so they do not destroy His world.