Job — Chapter 41

Non quasi crudelis suscitabo eum

On Leviathan's invincibility and God's absolute dominion: "I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle?" Corderius begins by noting God's explicit disclaimer: "Not as a cruel man will I stir him up" — God did not create the sea-monster out of cruelty but to manifest his infinite power. He cites de la Nuza (Tractat. III, n. 143): under the type of the whale/sea-monster, the devil is described, whose mighty powers and seemingly invincible natural strength are placed before Job. But the key theological point: even this apparently invincible adversary is on God's leash (fune ligatum). The creature, however powerful, cannot act without divine permission. On v. 2: "All that is under the whole heaven is mine" — God's absolute proprietorship of all creation is asserted, including the adversary.

In collo ejus morabitur fortitudo

On the description of Leviathan and the defeat of pride: "In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him... He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood... He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee; for him sling stones are turned to stubble." Corderius develops the extended allegorical reading of Leviathan as the devil more fully. The specific details of Leviathan's invulnerability (to arrows, to sling stones, to swords, to hammers, v. 19-24) represent the failure of all human methods to defeat the devil by natural means. Only divine power can overcome him. He cites Gregory (Moral. XXXIII.16-20): the "arrow" that cannot pierce Leviathan represents human argument and philosophical persuasion; the "sword" represents human will; the "sling stone" represents moral effort — all these fail against demonic power. Only the power of Christ, expressed in the Cross, can pierce the armor of the ancient enemy. On v. 25 (Leviathan as king of the proud): Corderius develops the connection between pride and diabolic power — the proud soul places itself under Leviathan's dominion by imitating his essential sin.

Corpus illius quasi scuta fusilia

On the detailed description of Leviathan's physical invincibility: "His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them." Corderius provides a natural-historical commentary (identifying Leviathan primarily as a whale or large crocodile) alongside the traditional allegorical reading of Leviathan as the devil. On vv. 9-10 (fire from his mouth, smoke from his nostrils like a boiling pot): Corderius cites Pliny and ancient authorities on the belief that some great sea creatures can emit gas or fire-like emissions. Allegorically: the fire and smoke represent the seductive lies of the devil, the burning of temptation, the obscuring smoke of confusion and doubt. On v. 24 (his heart is like stone, like the lower millstone): the complete hardness of the evil will, impervious to grace unless God himself intervenes. On v. 25: "He is king over all the children of pride" — Corderius develops the hierarchy of pride under the devil's dominion: every form of pride, spiritual and temporal, is ultimately subject to the prince of pride.

Rex est super universos filios superbiae

On Leviathan as king of the proud: "He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." Corderius develops the identification of Leviathan with the devil as the prince of pride. He draws on Gregory (Moral. XXXIII.21-23) and Ambrose: the devil's essential sin is pride — the refusal to be subordinate, the pretension to divine equality. All other sins are subordinate to pride as their principle. The "sons of pride" are all who, following the devil's example, place themselves above God in their own estimation, whether in explicit denial or in practical life. Corderius develops a complete taxonomy of pride: intellectual pride (claiming to know better than God), volitional pride (refusing to submit to divine will), active pride (oppressing others to maintain superiority). The final statement of God's power over Leviathan is read as the promise of Christ's definitive victory over the devil: at the cross the hook of divine love caught the beast that thought to swallow the Son of God, and was caught himself; at the resurrection, the power of Leviathan over humanity was broken.