1539. geled

Lexical Summary

geled: skin, hide

Original Word: גֶּלֶד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: geled
Pronunciation: geh'-led
Phonetic Spelling: (ghe'-led)
KJV: skin
NASB: skin
Word Origin: [from an unused root probably meaning to polish]

1. the (human) skin (as smooth)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

skin

From an unused root probably meaning to polish; the (human) skin (as smooth) -- skin.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
skin
NASB Translation
skin (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[גֶּ֫לֶד] noun masculine skin (Arabic , Aramaic גִּלְדָּא, ) of man Job 16:15 שַׂק תָּפַרְתִּי עֲלֵי גִלְדִּ֑י.

Topical Lexicon

Definition and Scope

A rarely used Hebrew noun that denotes the outer covering of the body—“skin” or “hide”—with an added sense of hardness or encrustation, suggesting scabbed or calloused flesh. The word serves to heighten imagery of affliction, making plain the depth of physical and emotional anguish.

Biblical Occurrence

Job 16:15 is the sole attestation. Job laments, “I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust” (Berean Standard Bible). The uncommon vocabulary intensifies the scene: Job’s misery is not superficial; it has penetrated to the very surface of his body, now roughened and wounded.

Literary and Theological Context

1. Intensified Lament: Job 16 consists of Job’s rebuttal to his friends’ misjudgments. By choosing an unusual term for “skin,” the author underscores the grotesque reality of Job’s suffering in contrast to the friends’ tidy theological formulas.
2. Embodied Suffering: Scripture often links skin with vulnerability (Job 19:26; Lamentations 4:8). Here the word conveys not merely exposure but deterioration, foreshadowing Job’s later hope of seeing God “in my flesh” (Job 19:26).
3. Symbol of Impenetrable Grief: In Ancient Near Eastern mourning rites, sewing sackcloth directly onto the body would leave coarse fibers rubbing against sores. Job intentionally aggravates his wounds, dramatizing the intensity of his petition before God (compare Jeremiah 6:26; Jonah 3:6).

Historical and Cultural Background

• Sackcloth was woven from goat hair—itchy and abrasive. Attaching it to injured skin magnified discomfort.
• Dust on the head or face (Job 2:12) and the lowering of “horn” (symbolic strength) expressed humiliation. The verse merges the two actions: bodily torment and social abasement.
• The Hebrew penchant for concrete language means even rare words carry vivid sensory resonance. Listeners in an agrarian society, accustomed to animal hides and healing scabs, would picture Job’s ruined body without gloss.

Related Biblical Motifs

• Affliction of the Skin: Exodus 9:10; Leviticus 13 narrate plague and leprosy, diseases that segregate sufferers. Job’s plight, though not leprous, evokes similar ostracism.
• Sackcloth and Repentance: Isaiah 22:12; Joel 1:13 link sackcloth with corporate repentance. Job uses it in protest, not penitence, showing that genuine lament can coexist with integrity.
• Horn as Strength: 1 Samuel 2:1; Psalms 92:10 portray the “horn” exalted by God. Job buries his, anticipating divine reversal (Job 42:10).

Ministry and Pastoral Significance

1. Validating Deep Pain: Congregants wrestling with chronic illness or social shame may resonate with Job’s visceral description. Acknowledging the rawness of suffering can prevent shallow counsel.
2. Encouraging Honest Prayer: Job’s candid language models how believers may pour out grief without forfeiting faith.
3. Anticipation of Redemption: The ruined skin in Job 16 becomes a backdrop for the hope of restored flesh (Job 19:25-27) and, in the larger canon, for the incarnate Christ who bore scourging “for our healing” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).

Practical Reflections

• Lament as Worship: Incorporate psalms of lament and readings from Job in corporate worship during seasons of communal tragedy.
• Physicality in Ministry: Hospital visitation and anointing with oil (James 5:14) affirm that God cares for the body as well as the soul, countering any dualistic tendencies.
• Teaching on Suffering: Use Job 16:15 to demonstrate that the Bible neither sanitizes pain nor leaves it unanswered; it moves from gĕled-covered bodies to resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

Conclusion

Though found only once, גֶּלֶד enriches Scripture’s portrayal of human misery under the sovereign gaze of God. It invites readers to grapple honestly with bodily suffering while anticipating the ultimate healing secured through the Redeemer.

Forms and Transliterations

גִלְדִּ֑י גלדי ḡil·dî gilDi ḡildî

Englishman's Concordance

Job 16:15
HEB: תָּ֭פַרְתִּי עֲלֵ֣י גִלְדִּ֑י וְעֹלַ֖לְתִּי בֶעָפָ֣ר
NAS: over my skin And thrust
KJV: sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled
INT: have sewed over my skin and thrust the dust

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 1539
1 Occurrence

ḡil·dî — 1 Occ.