Good Omens S2: What Is Job 41:19 & Why It Could Mean More Than You Think

Contains spoilers for "Good Omens" Season 2, Episode 1

In "Good Omens" Season 2, there's something up in the Up. The high archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) is no longer the high archangel, he's just a guy waltzing around on Earth without a shred of clothing or memory to his name ... which is now Jim, which is short for James, which is short Gabriel. It's a whole thing. But what's happening to Gabriel seems to be only a symptom of something larger, something far more sinister. And one of the only clues that audiences are provided in the first few episodes is a Bible verse printed on the side of an empty matchbox.

The verse in question is Job 41:19 which, in the King James edition, reads, "Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out." As far as scripture goes, it's not exactly a comforting bit of text, is it? That said, it isn't exactly foreboding, either. It's a verse about creating fire inscribed on the side of a matchbox, after all. It couldn't be more appropriately placed. But anyone who ever paid attention to religious spaces can understand the detrimental effects of taking a bit of scripture away from its larger context. Fortunately, at least one of the possible interpretations here is surprisingly tender. Less fortunately, the other option is an unkillable dragon monster. Let's hope for the first one!

But knowing Neil Gaiman, co-author of "Good Omens" and co-showrunner for Amazon Prim's adaptation of his and Terry Pratchett's work, it's probably an unholy combination of the two.

The verses leading up to Job 41:19 are hard to ignore because it sounds as if they're describing the romance between Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and Crowley (David Tennant). Job 41:16 – 18 reads, "One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another, they stick together, [and] they cannot be sundered. By his [sneezing] a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning." In the larger context of Job, these verses are part of a prolonged speech delivered to Job by God, in which the latter is admonishing the former for being upset by the latter allowing the former's life to be destroyed by Satan as part of some deific wager between Heaven and Hell. No, seriously.

But in the context of "Good Omens," these verses kind of sound like they're about the passionate, if not well-expressed, love between Crowley and Aziraphale. What's more, Season 2 depicts the pair as being deeply involved in the tragic tale of Job (Peter Davison). The pair undermine their respective leadership's will by saving the lives of Job's children and no small number of his goats. In "Good Omens," it's unclear how much attention God (Frances McDormand) pays to the goings-on of her creation. She seems rather detached from it all but there's a certain Neil Gaiman-esque joy about the possibility of her gushing over an angel and a demon's love story to Job, who would have no idea what she was talking about.

Of course, it's also possible that Job 41:19 was selected for a darker reason ... because that particular section of God's holier-than-thou speech to Job is describing the indestructible form and vicious, all-consuming nature of an ancient beast known only as the Leviathan. God actually has a concerning number of poetic, seemingly complimentary, descriptions to share about this mythical monster. Job 41 contains 34 verses, all of which describe the futility of battle against such a mighty creature, whose scales are impenetrable, whose breath is a lashing flame, and whose heart is made of stone. In no uncertain terms, anything that can "esteemeth iron as straw and brass as rotten wood" is not to be trifled with.

As a general rule, narratives are required to raise the stakes with each subsequent adventure. In "Good Omens" Season 1, Aziraphale and Crowley bungle their way into and out of the literal apocalypse. Is there anywhere that Season 2 can go which would match that level of drama? Well, unearthing the Leviathan, the "King over all the children of pride" would be a solid start.

There's little evidence otherwise to suggest that "Good Omens" Season 2 is gearing up for a dragon reveal but it can't be a coincidence that the second season features two disparate references to the book of Job when there are at least 65 other books in the Bible for "Good Omens" to draw from. "Good Omens" Season 2, Episode 1 is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.