He makes the deep boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
Parallel translations
- WEB He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
- KJV He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
- BSB He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
- NASB “He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
- NLT “Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.
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 churns the deep like a boiling pot, stirring the sea like ointment. His power disturbs even the great waters.
Overview
As Leviathan moves through the water, he makes the depths boil and the sea froth like stirred ointment. The imagery conveys a creature whose sheer power agitates the mighty sea. Even the deep, often a symbol of chaos, is stirred by this creature that God made and rules. The portrait magnifies the Creator's mastery over all things, sea and creature alike, calling Job to bow before the Lord of all.
Cross-references & the web
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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 41:31 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
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