THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S
Behemoth and Leviathan, from Illustrations of the Book of Job, 1825–26
WILLIAM BLAKE
Engraving, 411 x 275 mm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Gift of Edward Bement 1917, 17.17.1–15, www.metmuseum.org
Opening Prayer:
O LORD, as we spend time with art and Scripture today, stir within us those longings which tie us to our awaited togetherness with You.
Rustle within us the ache for truth, goodness, and beauty as we gaze upon the work of this artist’s hands - the product of his own pull toward these eternal qualities of which we get glimpses in this life.
Open our minds to the evidence of our souls’ longings for You, that we may more deeply rejoice in the ultimate satisfaction You will be to these questions, curiosities, and desires.
Guide our eyes to connections between our hearts and minds and those of your children who penned Scripture millennia ago: the questions we ponder, confidence for which we grasp, and beauty we crave.
Visual Commentary on Scripture
Behemoth and Leviathan commentary by Gerald West
What is surprising in William Blake’s depiction of Behemoth and Leviathan in both his watercolours and engraving of the subject is how constrained these creatures are, encapsulated in a circle, the womb of God’s creation. Earlier, in 1794, Blake’s well-known poem ‘The Tyger’ asks a Job-like question of God concerning creatures like Behemoth and Leviathan: ‘Did he who made the Lamb make thee?’ But in Blake’s reflections on the book of Job the only questions are God’s.
In the watercolours and engraving both Behemoth and Leviathan are contained, clearly within and under God’s control, though Leviathan in particular conveys a sense of impending movement and power. God, angelic creatures, Job, Job’s wife, and Job’s three friends look on as God points to these mighty creatures, the apex of God’s creation: ‘Behold now Behemoth, which I made with thee’.
Initial Reflections:
Which details identified in Blake’s Behemoth and Leviathan stood out to you? God’s relaxed posture in proximity to the massive creatures? The humans’ positions above Behemoth and Leviathan despite their lack of strength, riches, or any other personal reason to be over them? The visual kinship between the humans and God, imaging the spiritual kinship of the Imago Dei that connects these two and not the beasts?
What do the artist’s choices in depicting each group of beings and composing the overall piece tell us about what concepts were captivating to him?
Take some time now to read the following passage of Scripture:
Job 40.15 - 41.11
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
15 ‘Look at Behemoth,
which I made just as I made you;
it eats grass like an ox.
16 Its strength is in its loins,
and its power in the muscles of its belly. 17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are knit together. 18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like bars of iron.
19 ‘It is the first of the great acts of God—
only its Maker can approach it with the sword. 20 For the mountains yield food for it
where all the wild animals play. 21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh. 22 The lotus trees cover it for shade;
the willows of the wadi surround it.
23 Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth. 24 Can one take it with hooks
or pierce its nose with a snare?
41 ‘Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish-hook, or press down its tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope in its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it make many supplications to you? Will it speak soft words to you?
4 Will it make a covenant with you
to be taken as your servant for ever?
5 Will you play with it as with a bird,
or will you put it on a leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its skin with harpoons, or its head with fishing-spears?
8 Lay hands on it;
think of the battle; you will not do it again!
9 Any hope of capturing it will be disappointed;
were not even the gods overwhelmed at the sight of it?
10 No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up. Who can stand before it?
11 Who can confront it and be safe? —under the whole heaven, who?
Closing Reflections:
“Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you” (Job 40.15). This precursor to the following lines about Behemoth’s terror and grandeur so pointedly colors the message being sent to Job about this creature, about himself, and about God. God, with the same ease illustrated by Blake, puts Behemoth and man in the same category, Himself being the Maker of both. The disparity between the humans’ and creatures’ designs by Blake is rightly extreme. The magnificence of Behemoth and Leviathan in comparison to the humans, even smaller in their bent-over postures, is apparent; yet the humans are depicted over the creatures, closer to God. This position is baseless without the authority of that Maker surpassing all that can be observed. God’s supremacy over Creation is the foundation for the identities and power of all created things. The value of His image born in humankind is unmerited, and it is infinite.
How does the connection God draws between humans and Behemoth in Job 40.15 frame the rest of the passage? What possible reasoning does this provide for the compositional choices Blake made in Behemoth and Leviathan?
Take a few minutes to sit with the part(s) of this artwork that caught your attention. Reflect on how those ring true with what Scripture tells us of God and how He created us to relate to Him. Ask Him to more deeply reveal to your heart the truth within this overlap of art, our response, and His Word.
