Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 41:12
I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
12 34. Description of the parts of Leviathan.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will not conceal his parts – This is the commencement of a more particular description of the animal than had been before given. In the previous part of the chapter, the remarks are general, speaking of it merely as one of great power, and not to be taken by any of the ordinary methods. A description follows of the various parts of the animal, all tending to confirm this general impression, and to fill the hearer with a deep conviction of his formidable character. The words rendered, I will not conceal, mean, I will not be silent; that is, he would speak of them. The description which follows of the parts of the animal refers particularly to his mouth, his teeth, his scales, his eyelids, his nostrils, his neck, and his heart.
Nor his comely proportion – The crocodile is not an object of beauty, and the animal described here is not spoken of as one of beauty, but as one of great power and fierceness. The phrase used here ( chyn ereko) means properly the grace of his armature, or the beauty of his armor. It does not refer to the beauty of the animal as such, but to the armor or defense which it had. Though there might be no beauty in an animal like the one here described, yet there might be a grace or fitness in its means of defense which could not fail to attract admiration. This is the idea in the passage. So Gesenius, Umbreit, and Noyes render it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. I will not conceal his parts] This is most certainly no just translation of the original. The Vulgate is to this effect: I will not spare him: nor yield to his powerful words, framed for the purpose of entreaty. Mr. Good applies it to leviathan: –
“I cannot be confounded at his limbs and violence;
The strength and structure of his frame.”
The Creator cannot be intimidated at the most formidable of his own works: man may and should tremble; GOD cannot.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. I will particularly speak of them. Here is a meiosis, as there is Job 14:11; 15:18, and oft elsewhere.
His parts, Heb. His bars, i.e. the members of his body, which are strong, like bars of iron.
His comely proportion, which is more amiable and admirable in so vast a bulk.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. I will not concealaresumption of the description broken off by the digression, whichformed an agreeable change.
his powerliterally,”the way,” that is, true proportion or expression of hisstrength (so Hebrew, De19:4).
comely proportionliterally,”the comeliness of his structure” (his apparatus: so”suit of apparel” Jud17:10) [MAURER].UMBREIT translates, “hisarmor.” But that follows after.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will not conceal his parts,…. The parts of the leviathan; or “his bars”, the members of his body, which are like bars of iron:
nor his power; which is very great, whether of the crocodile or the whale:
nor his comely proportion; the symmetry of his body, and the members of it; which, though large, every part is in just proportion to each other.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12 I will not keep silence about his members,
The proportion of his power and the comeliness of his structure.
13 Who could raise the front of his coat of mail?
Into his double teeth-who cometh therein?
14 The doors of his face-who openeth them?
Round about his teeth is terror.
The Ker authorized by the Masora assumes an interrogative rendering: as to it, should I be silent about its members ( at the head of the clause, as Lev 7:7-9; Isa 9:2), – what perhaps might appear more poetic to many. (once, Job 11:3, to cause to keep silence) here, as usually: to be silent. , as Job 18:13. signifies the relation of the matter, a matter of fact, as , facts, Psa 65:4; Psa 105:27; Psa 145:5. (compared by Ew. with , a measure) signifies grace, (as synon. ), here delicate regularity, and is made easy of pronunciation from , just as the more usual ; the language has avoided the form , as observed above. . clothing, we have translated “coat of mail,” which the Arab. libas usually signifies; is not its face’s covering (Schlottm.), which ought to be ; but is the upper or front side turned to the observer (comp. Isa 25:7), as Arab. wjh , ( wag’h ), si rem desuper spectes, summa ejus pars, si ex adverso, prima (Fleischer, Glossae, i. 57). That which is the “doubled of its mouth” ( , prop. a bit in the mouth, then the mouth itself) is its upper and lower jaws armed with powerful teeth. The “doors of the face” are the jaws; the jaws are divided back to the ears, the teeth are not covered by lips; the impression of the teeth is therefore the more terrible, which the substantival clause, Job 41:14 (comp. Job 39:20), affirms. gen. subjecti: the circle, , which is formed by its teeth (Hahn).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The divine Speaker resumes the description of leviathan, in order that he may dwell more at large upon the artistic skill and the esthetic wisdom displayed in the making of a reptile whose eyes, mouth, nostrils and breath are a source of terror: and show that even so insignificant a thing as his garment has been exquisitely elaborated, so as to serve the twofold object of covering and martial defence, Job 41:12-22.
12. Conceal his parts Hebrews, baddim; pass in silence his members. Same as in Job 18:13. See note. The divine Being has thus far spoken of the invincibility of leviathan; he will now speak of his bodily structure and mode of life.
Nor his power Literally, and the word of powers. , word, Vaihinger understands to mean “fame;” Delitzsch, “proportion.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 41:12. I will not conceal his parts, &c. I will not pass over in silence his limbs, nor any thing of his bravery, nor the gracefulness of his proportion. Heath. I will not on account of him hold silence, I will declare his fortitude, and the strength of his nerves. Houb.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 41:12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
Ver. 12. I will not conceal his parts, nor his power ] That therein, as in a picture of the most principal piece of my workmanship, thou mayest behold how great and how glorious a God I am. In the year of grace 1577, July 2nd, the shipmen took a whale not far from Antwerp, the picture whereof was printed and published to this effect: His hide was without scales, and of a leaden colour. He was eighty-five feet long and sixteen feet high. From his mouth to his eyes was fifteen feet; from his eyes to his fins four feet and three fingers, &c. Such a kind of picture or character of this sea monster we have here, from the most skilful hand of heaven. Pliny observeth that pictures of things, exact and excellent, are seldom drawn but with great disadvantage. Not so this in the text, as will appear in the sequel.
Nor his comely proportion
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 41:12-17
Job 41:12-17
“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who shall come within his jaws?
Who can open the doors of his face?
Round about his teeth is terror.
His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up together as with a close seal.
One is so near to another,
That no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;
They stick together so that they cannot be sundered.”
“His mighty strength … etc.” (Job 41:12). Driver, and other scholars, have complained that the text here is corrupt; but one thing is clear, the mighty strength of the crocodile is stressed. Moreover, the crocodile of the Old Testament was a full 18 feet in length, contrasting with the American crocodile some four feet shorter.
“Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror” (Job 41:14). “`The doors of his face,’ his lower and upper jaws. `Round his teeth is terror,’ in the upper jaw usually 36, in the lower jaw 20, long and terrible to look at.”[17] Rowley, however, wrote that, “The formidable teeth of the crocodile inspire terror; in the upper jaw, there are thirty-six, and in the lower thirty”! This writer must confess that he does not know which one of these scholars is correct regarding the number of crocodile teeth in that lower jaw!
“His strong scales are his pride” (Job 41:15). “These plates are of exceeding hardness, so hard, that they were employed as armour by ancient warriors, and one may see a coat of natural scale armour in the British Museum.” “The skin (scales) of the crocodile is actually so hard that a musket ball will not penetrate it.”
E.M. Zerr:
Job 41:12. I stands for God who declares that he will not conceal, that is, he will not refrain from mentioning all the parts of leviathan.
Job 41:13-14. This is a further challenge, expressed in figurative language, for man to match his strength against the creature being considered.Job 41:2015-17. Scales is from MEGINNAH and Strong defines it, “a shield (i. e. the small one or buckler); figuratively a protector; also the scaly hide of the crocodile.” These scales resemble somewhat those of a large fish. Man did not form them for the crocodile or fisJob 41:22 ther has he learned from them to make metallic armor for himself.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
comely: Gen 1:25
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 41:12. I will not conceal his parts That is, I will particularly speak of them. Hebrew, , bad-dav, his bars, or the members of his body, which are strong like bars of iron. R. Levi interprets it of his strength; nor his power , udebar geburoth, nec verbum fortitudinum, nor the word, or the matter, of his fortitude; nor his comely proportion Which is more remarkable and admirable in a creature of such vast bulk: Hebrew, , vechin gnercho, nor the gracefulness of his disposition, that is, the disposition or adjustment of his parts.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
41:12 I will not conceal {c} his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
(c) The parts and members of the whale?