Created great whales— The word התנינם hathaninim, which we render great whales, signifies "any kind of large aquatic or amphibious animals;" under which, whales, crocodiles, and the like, may properly be classed. The sacred writer intends only to inform us by that expression of the creation of that class of aquatic or amphibious creatures which are of the more enormous size.
REFLECTIONS.—The greatest, as well as the least, owe to God their breath and being; and the whale, which unwieldly rolls along the ocean, costs him no more than the worm which twinkles in the drop before the microscope: each endued with powers so exactly suited to his state, and so exquisitely fashioned, that he who looks without wonder and adoration must be blind indeed.