How to Understand Symbols & Genre
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Real animal, poetic symbol—or something else?
When Scripture uses an unusual image, how do you know what it really means?
Job 41 gives us a fascinating example. The chapter describes Leviathan with powerful, sometimes startling imagery—and readers have understood this creature in different ways.
Rather than rushing to an answer, you can slow down, look closely at the passage, and explore the context.
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Here are five steps to try.
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1. Identify the type of writing.
Start by noticing how the passage communicates.
Is it recounting events, presenting historical details, using poetry or vivid imagery, offering wisdom, or using symbols to express a larger idea?
Job is wisdom literature, and Job 41 is written as poetry. Poetry often uses imagery, comparison, exaggeration, and other literary tools to communicate something larger than a physical description alone.
Recognizing the type of writing can help you know what to look for as you study.
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2. Look closely at the imagery in the passage.
18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the rays of dawn.
19 Flames stream from its mouth;
sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke pours from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
21 Its breath sets coals ablaze,
and flames dart from its mouth. (NIV)
Notice descriptions, comparisons, and repeated patterns.
In Job 41:18–21, Leviathan is described with flashes of light, smoke from its nostrils, and flames from its mouth.
What do those details add to the picture being created? In this case the vivid language builds a picture of something terrifyingly powerful—something a person could not hope to control. As the chapter continues, that picture helps underscore the limits of human power before God.
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3. Zoom out for context.
Before focusing on one verse or image, look at the larger chapter. What comes before and after it? What is the chapter exploring?
New on BibleGateway.com: Every chapter of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, now opens with a free Chapter Overview of its main ideas, context, and practical application.
The Job 41 Chapter Overview identifies the chapter as the second of two poems in the Lord’s final discourse. It also describes the fiery language as exaggerated poetic imagery and introduces different ways Leviathan has been understood.
With Bible Gateway Plus, you can open the trusted sources behind the overview and explore the study notes and insights for yourself.
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4. Follow the connections.
A word or image can take on different dimensions depending on where it appears. Following cross-references can help you notice patterns, differences, and connections across Scripture.
One of the trusted sources behind the Job 41 Chapter Overview is the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Its note on Leviathan points readers to other places in Scripture:
There is a close affinity between the description of Leviathan in Isa 27:1 as a “coiling serpent.”
Several other passages in the OT mention Leviathan, but most of them, like Ps 74:14, speak in terms of God’s creative act....
In Isa 27:1, however, that struggle between order and chaos occurs at the end of time
The note also points to Revelation 12:3–9, continue reading this note, which can help you follow the imagery through Scripture.
What stays the same as you compare these passages? What changes with the context? What does each passage add to the picture?
A word or image can take on different dimensions depending on where it appears. Following cross-references can help you notice patterns, differences, and connections across Scripture.
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5. Add background with trusted study resources.
Study Bible notes, commentaries, dictionaries, and other resources can add historical and cultural background that helps you explore unfamiliar language and imagery.
The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, available with Bible Gateway Plus, also explains:
Biblically, Leviathan would therefore most easily fit into the category of a “supernatural” creature (like cherubim) as opposed to a natural or purely mythological creature.
And then brings that background back to Job:
The point in Job is that if Job cannot domesticate and control Leviathan, he certainly should not expect to control God.
As you identify the type of writing, notice its imagery, zoom out for context, follow connections across Scripture, and explore trusted study resources, you can build a fuller picture of the passage and see connections you might not notice at first.
Explore Job 41:18–21 with the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible →
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Go Deeper from the Chapter Overview
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Follow the connections, explore the context, and keep studying in one place.
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