איוב, פרק מ׳, פסוק כ״ה

After surveying the massive beasts that roam the land, the focus shifts to the depths of the sea and its most terrifying inhabitant: the leviathan. This vast sea creature is presented to highlight human insignificance when compared to the sheer scale of God's creations [אלשיך, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. God addresses Job with a tone of playful mockery, presenting him with an impossible challenge [רמב״ן, תקות אנוש].

The primary approach among commentators understands the opening thought as a rhetorical question: Is it possible to hunt the leviathan and pull it from the water just as one would catch a common fish? [אבן עזרא, מצודת דוד]. This challenge involves using standard fishing gear, whether a hook designed to catch the roof of a fish's mouth [מצודת ציון, תקות אנוש] or a fishing net [אבן עזרא]. Offering a unique perspective, another approach reads this not as a question but as a direct command. In this view, God instructs that the leviathan must be drawn out with a specialized, heavy-duty hook meant to restrain the creature and prevent it from destroying the rest of the marine life [מלבי״ם].

The second half of the challenge involves securing the creature's tongue with a rope. The action described implies forcing an object deep inside [מצודת ציון, רמב״ן]. God asks if a person could possibly lower a rope into the ocean depths, pierce it firmly into the leviathan's tongue, and drag the beast from its place [רש״י, רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Alternatively, this action is interpreted as a method of silencing or resting. This fits with the idea that the goal is to bind the creature's tongue in order to quiet and subdue it [אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם]. Ultimately, the vivid imagery makes one reality clear: this fearsome creature cannot be approached, let alone conquered, using ordinary hunting tools [רש״י].