The Meaning of Job 41:7 Explained

Job 41:7

KJV: Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

YLT: Dost thou fill with barbed irons his skin? And with fish-spears his head?

Darby: Wilt thou fill his skin with darts, and his head with fish-spears?

ASV: Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, Or his head with fish-spears?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Canst thou fill  his skin  with barbed irons?  or his head  with fish  spears? 

What does Job 41:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 41:1-34 - The Parable Of The Crocodile
The last paragraph described the hippopotamus; the whole of this chapter is devoted to the crocodile. In a series of striking questions the voice of the Almighty suggests his greatness. He is not an animal with whom you can play, or to whom you can speak soft words, or whose skin can be reached withsharpened weapons. His scales, Job 41:12-17; his eyes, mouth, and nostrils, Job 41:18-24; his fearlessness of human attack, Job 41:25-29; his power to lash the sea into a fury, making it to boil, Job 41:30-34 -each of these features is described in graphic terms.
As before, it is clear that the object is to throw into strong contrast the puniness and littleness of man. We may not be so much given to speculations about the organic world in which we live. But we are able to appreciate the argument. Surely He who tells the number of the stars, and weighs the mountains in scales, will have His pathway through the deep, and His footsteps in mighty waters. Being all that He is, He cannot but baffle the eye of man, but the heart can fully trust Him. We know that He does all things well. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 41

1  Of God's great power in the leviathan

What do the individual words in Job 41:7 mean?

can you fill with harpoons his skin Or with spears fishing his head
הַֽתְמַלֵּ֣א ؟ בְשֻׂכּ֣וֹת עוֹר֑וֹ ؟ וּבְצִלְצַ֖ל דָּגִ֣ים רֹאשֽׁוֹ

הַֽתְמַלֵּ֣א  can  you  fill 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: מָלֵא 
Sense: to fill, be full.
؟ בְשֻׂכּ֣וֹת  with  harpoons 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine plural
Root: שֻׂכָּה  
Sense: barb, spear.
עוֹר֑וֹ  his  skin 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עֹור  
Sense: skin, hide.
؟ וּבְצִלְצַ֖ל  Or  with  spears 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: צְלָצַל 
Sense: whirring, buzzing.
דָּגִ֣ים  fishing 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: דָּאג 
Sense: fish.
רֹאשֽׁוֹ  his  head 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.

What are the major concepts related to Job 41:7?

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