Job 41:26
in Job 41The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail; Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
KJV
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
⋯
This verse in Job 41
Commentary
9 notes on this verseWhen a sword has reached him, it will not be able to remain, nor a spear, nor a breastplate. 17. In Holy Scripture by a 'sword' is sometimes designated holy preaching, sometimes eternal damnation, sometimes temporal tribulation, sometimes the wrath or persuasion of the ancient enemy.
This site's exposition
Strength resides in his neck
on Job 41:22-29
His chest is “as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone”, a doubled figure Barnes reads as courage nothing within can shake. Every weapon fails, “the spear or dart or arrow”. Clarke hears in these useless weapons an answer to Job's demand for legal means against God.
This site's exposition
The sword that reaches him
Barnes takes the sword here as a harpoon. Wesley says no sword, dart or bullet can pierce a crocodile's skin. Gregory the Dialogist lists the senses a sword carries in Scripture, from holy preaching to eternal judgment.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
So after he has described the way the devil bears himself for the assault of God, he shows how he is disposed to the assault of a creature, and first for the assault of man. Man attacks someone at close quarters or at a distance. …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is the picture of a hard-hearted sinner, that despises the terrors of the Almighty and laughs at all the threatenings of his word. The leviathan so little dreads the weapons that are used against him that, to show how hardy he is, he chooses to lie on the sharp stones, the sharp-pointed things (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Hold - Hebrew. cannot stand, cannot endure the stroke, but will be broken by it. The crocodile's skin, no sword, nor dart, nor musquet bullet can pierce.
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The sword of him that layeth at him - The word “sword” here (חרב chereb) means undoubtedly “harpoon,” or a sharp instrument by which an attempt is made to pierce the skin of the monster. Cannot hold - That is, in the hard skin. It does not penetrate it. The spear, the dart - These were doubtless often used in the attempt to take the animal. The meaning is, that “they” would not hold or stick to the animal. They flew off when hurled at him. Nor the habergeon - Margin, “breastplate.” Noyes, “javelin.” Prof.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Habergeon - The hauberk, the Norman armor for the head, neck, and breast, formed of rings. See on Neh 4:16 (note).
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַשִּׂיגֵ֣הוּ | masigehu | [one who] reaches it | H5381 → | 50 times |
| חֶ֭רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בְּלִ֣י | beli | not | H1097 → | 58 times |
| תָק֑וּם | takum | it is established | H6965 → | 628 times |
| חֲנִ֖ית | chanit | a spear | H2595 → | |
| מַסָּ֣ע | masa' | a dart | H4551 → | |
| וְשִׁרְיָֽה׃ | veshiryah | and a javelin | H8302 → |
מַשִּׂיגֵ֣הוּ[one who] reaches it
masigehuH5381 →50 times
חֶ֭רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
בְּלִ֣יnot
beliH1097 →58 times
תָק֑וּםit is established
takumH6965 →628 times
חֲנִ֖יתa spear
chanitH2595 →
מַסָּ֣עa dart
masa'H4551 →
וְשִׁרְיָֽה׃and a javelin
veshiryahH8302 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXIV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.