איוב, פרק מ״א, פסוק י״ב

The fearsome power and immense body heat of the Leviathan are vividly captured through the imagery of its breath. Thick vapor pours from the creature's nostrils, driven by an internal temperature so intensely hot that the exhaled air looks like actual, heavy smoke [מצודת דוד]. Another perspective suggests this visual effect occurs when water is forcefully expelled from the beast's nose, colliding with its blazing internal heat in a violent reaction similar to the clash of fire and hail [תקות אנוש].

To illustrate this intense heat, the creature's exhalation is compared to a boiling pot. The sheer temperature causes water to bubble, froth, and violently spill over, much like a cauldron placed over a roaring fire [רש"י, מצודת ציון, תקות אנוש].

Commentators offer two main ways to picture the scale of this steaming effect. The primary approach among commentators is that the scene resembles an exceptionally large clay cooking pot releasing massive clouds of steam [רש"י, רלב"ג, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Conversely, another view compares this phenomenon to a natural body of water, likening the creature's breath to the thick mist that rises from a lake when the air warms up during the winter [אבן עזרא, מלבי"ם]. Building on this watery imagery, it is also suggested that the sheer volume of water blasting from the Leviathan's nostrils is so great that it pools around the beast, creating a small lake of its own [תקות אנוש].