Job 41:15
in Job 41His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
His strong scales are his pride, Shut up together as with a close seal.
KJV
His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
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This verse in Job 41
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Rather, his "furrows of shields" (as "tubes," "channels," see on Job 40:18), are, &c., that is, the rows of scales, like shields covering him: he has seventeen such rows. shut up--firmly closed together.
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
His rows of scales are his pride
Barnes renders the Hebrew as pride, the strong of shields, the scales tightly sealed together. Wesley gives these scales to the crocodile. The whale has smooth skin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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
When the Lord has described these characteristics of the head of Leviathan, he proceeds to the order of his body which he describes as like a fish having scales. So according to the great size of his body, he should have great scales like shields, …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIII · Written before 604.
proposed
His body as molten shields. Compacted with scales pressing each other. 49. Holy Scripture is wont to use the word 'shield,' sometimes in a favourable, sometimes in an unfavourable way. For the defence of a shield is often put for Divine protection, but it is sometimes used for the opposition of man. For it is put for Divine protection, as is said by the Psalmist, Thou hast crowned us with the shield of Thy good will. [Ps. 5, 12] The Lord is said to crown as with a shield, because those whom He assists by protecting, He crowns by rewarding.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Shut - Closely compacted together, as things that are fastened together by a seal. This likewise is true of the crocodile, but the skin of the whale is smooth and entire without any scales at all.
His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That which is remarkable concerning the scales is that they stick so close together, by which he is not only kept warm, for no air can pierce him, but kept safe, for no sword can pierce him through those scales.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
His scales are his pride - They are impenetrable, as we have already seen.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
His scales are his pride - Margin, “strong pieces of shields.” The literal translation of this would be, “Pride, the strong of shields;” that is, the strong shields. There can be no doubt that there is reference to the scales of the animal, as having a resemblance to strong shields laid close to each other. But there is considerable variety of opinion as to its meaning. Umbreit and Prof.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֭אֲוָה | gaavah | pride | H1346 → | |
| אֲפִיקֵ֣י | ʾafikei | [is] rows of | H650 → | 19 times |
| מָֽגִנִּ֑ים | maginim | shields | H4043 → | |
| סָ֝ג֗וּר | sagur | shut up | H5462 → | 91 times |
| חוֹתָ֥ם | chotam | a seal | H2368 → | |
| צָֽר׃ | tzar | tight | H6862 → | 109 times |
גַּ֭אֲוָהpride
gaavahH1346 →
אֲפִיקֵ֣י[is] rows of
ʾafikeiH650 →19 times
מָֽגִנִּ֑יםshields
maginimH4043 →
סָ֝ג֗וּרshut up
sagurH5462 →91 times
חוֹתָ֥םa seal
chotamH2368 →
צָֽר׃tight
tzarH6862 →109 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Jeremiah 9:23This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 1:27–29
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- Isaiah 5:21
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11
I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor…
- Romans 1:22
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- 1 Corinthians 3:18–20
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- 1 Corinthians 1:27–29
Through
Revelation 5:5Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:1
Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
- Jeremiah 23:5–6
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Isaiah 11:1
About Job
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 41:5 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.