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Job 41:14

in Job 41

Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror.

KJV

Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

This verse in Job 41

Commentary

11 notes on this verse
Who can open the doors of his face?.... Of his mouth, the jaws thereof, which are like a pair of folding doors: the jaws of a crocodile have a prodigious opening. Peter Martyr (u) speaks of one, whose jaws opened seven feet broad; and Leo Africanus (w) affirms he saw some, whose jaws, when opened, would hold a whole cow.

This site's exposition

I cannot keep silent about his limbs

on Job 41:12-21

Verse 12 opens an inventory of armor. Gill takes the bridle of verse 13 as a warhorse's gear, dressing Leviathan for battle. Delitzsch reads the snorting that “flashes with light” and the smoke “as from a boiling pot” as poetry built on the crocodile surfacing and spouting.

This site's exposition

ringed by his fearsome teeth

Barnes finds the jaws and fearsome teeth true to the crocodile. Sixty teeth ring the open jaws, say Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, some jagged and fitting together like a comb.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

FRAGMENTS ON JOB 28.95 · Written before 253.

proposed

Why did he not say, "Who can disclose his face?" What is the purpose of these doors? "Who can open," he says, "the doors of his face?" In order to understand what is said here, let us take the example of the actors, who wear masks not in order to show what they are but in order to show what they want to look like. Indeed, those who play a certain character on the scene wear masks, so that they sometimes play the role of a general or a king, and often of a woman.

A commentator

Olympiodorus of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON JOB 41:5 · Written before 600.

proposed

This is not the fear of God but the fear that is all around [the Leviathan's] teeth. But if you have Christ in you, you must not be worried by this fear. Indeed, you will fear the Lord God and will fear no one else.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

Another author says that the whale has a large opening of the mouth "provided with teeth which are very large and very long, and two teeth especially are longer than the others like elephants or boars." Thus to show these two largest teeth are farthest …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII · Written before 604.

proposed

Who will open the gates of his face? In a circle is the terror of his teeth. 46. The 'gates of his face' are wicked teachers, who are called the gates of his face for this reason, because, every one enters through them, in order that this Leviathan may be seen, as it were, in the princedom of his power. For as sacred Scripture is wont to call holy men gates of Sion, [Ps. 87, 2] (for Sion is by interpretation, 'watching,' and we deservedly call holy preachers the gates of Sion, because by their life and doctrine we enter the secrets of heavenly contemplation,) so also are the teachers of errors signified by the gates of this Leviathan; for when their false preaching is received, the way of perdition is opened to their wretched hearers. But these gates are generally opened before the eyes of men, in order to admit, but yet are closed in order to seize; because in appearance they present right things, but in their doings they persuade evil things. They are closed therefore in order to seize, because they are kept by outward hypocrisy from being discerned within. But yet the Lord opens them with wonderful power; because He makes the hearts of hypocrites comprehensible to His Elect. Who, therefore, will open the gates of His face? Thou understandest, except Myself, Who make manifest with clear understanding to My Elect the teachers of errors who are concealed beneath the semblance of sanctity. And because Antichrist, who rages with a twofold error, and endeavours both to draw the hearts of men to himself by sending his preachers, and to bend them by exciting the powers of the world, will also gain possession of these chief powers, the Lord well added concerning this Leviathan, saying, In a circle is the terror of his teeth. 47. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Who dares come so near him while he is alive as to discover or take a distinct view of the face of the garment, the skin with which he is clothed as with a garment, so near him as to bridle him like a horse and so lead him away, so near him as to be within reach of his jaws, which are like a double bridle?
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Who can open the doors of his face? - His mouth. The same term is sti 1 used to denote the mouth - from its resemblance to a door. The idea is, that no one would dare to force open his mouth. This agrees better with the crocodile than almost any other animal. It would not apply to the whale. The crocodile is armed with a more formidable set of teeth than almost any other animal; see the description in the notes at Job 41:

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

doors of . . . face--his mouth. His teeth are sixty in number, larger in proportion than his body, some standing out, some serrated, fitting into each other like a comb [BOCHART].

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The doors of his face? - His jaws which are most tremendous.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

His breath kindles coals Burning and blazing coals. and flame And burning flames emerge from his mouth.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Job 41:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • דַּלְתֵ֣י[the] doors of

    dalteiH1817 →88 times

  • פָ֭נָיוface its

    fanavH6440 →2123 times

  • מִ֣יwho?

    miH4310 →423 times

  • פִתֵּ֑חַhas he opened

    fiteachH6605 →144 times

  • סְבִיב֖וֹת[is] around

    sevivotH5439 →336 times

  • שִׁנָּ֣יוteeth its

    shinavH8127 →55 times

  • אֵימָֽה׃terror

    ʾeimahH367 →17 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Daniel 7:7

    After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 13:1

      Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

    • Revelation 12:3

      Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.

    • Revelation 17:12

      The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings, along with the beast.

    • Daniel 7:23–24

      This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth, trample it down,…

    • Daniel 7:19–20

      Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others—extremely terrifying—devouring and crushing with iron teeth and bronze claws, then trampling underfoot whatever was left.

  • Through

    Psalms 58:6

    O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 3:7

      Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

  • Through

    Psalms 57:4

    My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 58:6

      O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.

    • Proverbs 30:14

      there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 41:5; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 28.95 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.