Limitless Word

Job 41:18

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
“His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eye of dawn.
Job 41:18 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
  • KJV By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
  • BSB His snorting flashes with light, and his eyes are like the rays of dawn.
  • NKJV His sneezings flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
  • NLT “When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Leviathan's sneezing flashes light and his eyes gleam like the dawn. Even the creature's breath and gaze evoke awe.

Overview

In striking poetic imagery, Leviathan's snorting throws off flashes of light and his eyes shine like the rays of morning. The vivid description heightens the sense of a creature both terrifying and majestic. Such poetic detail magnifies the Creator who fashioned so awesome a beast. Job is meant to be overwhelmed by a wisdom and power that infinitely exceed his own.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Job 3:9Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,
  • Rev 1:14His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 41:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 41:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.

By his neesingsעֲטִישָׁהa lightאוֹרdoth shineהָלַלand his eyesעַיִןare like the eyelidsעַפְעַףof the morningשַׁחַר
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