Job 41:3
Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly?
BSB
ASV
Will he make many supplications unto thee? Or will he speak soft words unto thee?
KJV
Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
Will he make many supplications unto thee? - In the manner of a captive begging for his life. That is, will he quietly submit to you? Prof. Lee supposes that there is an allusion here to the well-known cries of the dolphin when taken; but it is not necessary to suppose such an allusion. The idea is, that the animal here referred to would not tamely submit to his captor. Will he speak soft words unto thee? - Pleading for his life in tones of tender and plaintive supplication.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 15:1A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
leads to
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.
Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.
Through
Psalms 55:21His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
leads to
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.
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.