4300. metil

Lexical Summary

metil: Cord, String

Original Word: מְטִיל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: mtiyl
Pronunciation: meh-TEEL
Phonetic Spelling: (met-eel')
KJV: bar
NASB: bars
Word Origin: [from H2904 (טּוּל - hurled) in the sense of hammering out]

1. an iron bar (as forged)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

bar

From tuwl in the sense of hammering out; an iron bar (as forged) -- bar.

see HEBREW tuwl

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
a wrought metal rod
NASB Translation
bars (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

מְטִיל noun masculine wrought-metal rod (Aramaic (ᵑ7) מְטָל); — construct מְטִיל בַּרְזֶל Job 40:18 figurative of bones (גְּרָמִים) of hippopotamus ("" עֲצָמָיו אֲפִיקֵי נְחֻשָׁה).

מַטְמוֺן see טמן. מַטָּע see נטע.

[מַטְעָם], מַטִעַמִּים see טעם.

מִטְמַּ֫חַת see טפח.

Topical Lexicon

Overview

A single Hebrew term, מְטִיל conveys a massive, weight-bearing bar or rod. Its lone appearance, Job 40:18, likens Behemoth’s limbs to iron bars, highlighting creation’s might and the Creator’s supremacy.

Biblical Occurrence

Job 40:18 – “His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are rods of iron.”

Context in Job

Within God’s answer to Job (Job 38–41), Behemoth serves as a living illustration of power that only the LORD can create and control. The comparison to מְטִיל presses home human smallness and divine sovereignty.

Symbolism of Strength and Security

• Enduring strength (Deuteronomy 33:25; Psalm 147:13).
• Impenetrable defence—only God “cuts through bars of iron” (Isaiah 45:2; Psalm 107:16).
• Immutable purpose—iron imagery accentuates the unchangeable nature of God’s decrees (Job 42:2).

Historical and Archaeological Insights

Iron bars secured gates and palace doors in the second millennium B.C. Excavated examples weigh dozens of kilograms, fitting the word’s nuance of heft and rigidity. Hearing Behemoth’s limbs compared to such bars would have stunned an ancient audience.

Theological Themes

1. Creator versus creation: the world’s greatest strength derives from God (Job 40:19).
2. Human limitation: Job, and by extension every believer, must bow before the One who forges such power (Job 40:4–5).
3. Divine security: the God who grants iron-like strength also grants unbreakable protection to His covenant people (Psalm 107:16).

Ministry Applications

• Assurance: believers confronting spiritual or physical trials may recall that the LORD engineers strength greater than any foe.
• Humility: the image invites worshippers to acknowledge finite understanding and submit to the all-wise Maker.
• Steadfastness: preachers can urge congregations to “be steadfast, immovable” (1 Corinthians 15:58) by invoking the iron-bar metaphor.

Related Passages

Deuteronomy 33:25; Psalm 107:16; Psalm 147:13; Isaiah 45:2; Jeremiah 1:18; Acts 12:10—each speaks of iron bars to illustrate fortification or divine intervention.

Conclusion

Though מְטִיל appears but once, it furnishes a vivid snapshot of creation’s strongest elements serving to magnify the unassailable might of the LORD. Those who trust Him rest behind iron bars no adversary can breach until He Himself opens the way.

Forms and Transliterations

כִּמְטִ֥יל כמטיל kim·ṭîl kimTil kimṭîl

Englishman's Concordance

Job 40:18
HEB: נְחוּשָׁ֑ה גְּ֝רָמָ֗יו כִּמְטִ֥יל בַּרְזֶֽל׃
NAS: His limbs are like bars of iron.
KJV: his bones [are] like bars of iron.
INT: of bronze his limbs bars of iron

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 4300
1 Occurrence

kim·ṭîl — 1 Occ.