Job 41:7
New International Version
Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

New Living Translation
Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?

English Standard Version
Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

Berean Standard Bible
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

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

New King James Version
Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

New American Standard Bible
“Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

NASB 1995
“Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

NASB 1977
“Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

Legacy Standard Bible
Can you fill its skin with harpoons, Or its head with fishing spears?

Amplified Bible
“Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?

Christian Standard Bible
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

American Standard Version
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, Or his head with fish-spears?

Contemporary English Version
Can it be killed with harpoons or spears?

English Revised Version
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

Good News Translation
Can you fill his hide with fishing spears or pierce his head with a harpoon?

International Standard Version
Will you fill his flesh with harpoons, or his head with lances?

Majority Standard Bible
Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

NET Bible
Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

New Heart English Bible
Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears?

Webster's Bible Translation
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

World English Bible
Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Do you fill his skin with barbed irons? And his head with fish-spears?

Young's Literal Translation
Dost thou fill with barbed irons his skin? And with fish-spears his head?

Smith's Literal Translation
Wilt thou fill his skin with pointed weapons? and his head with fish spears?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Will you fill up bags with his hide, and let his head be used as a home for fishes?

New American Bible
Can you fill his hide with barbs, or his head with fish spears?

New Revised Standard Version
Can you fill its skin with harpoons, or its head with fishing spears?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Can you fill his skin with meat? Or bake his head with fire?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Do you fill his skin with meat and his head in the shadow of fire
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? Or his head with fish-spears?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And all the ships come together would not be able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither shall they carry his head in fishing-vessels.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God's Power Shown in Leviathan
6Will traders barter for him or divide him among the merchants? 7Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 8If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the battle and never repeat it!…

Cross References
Psalm 74:14
You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

Ezekiel 29:3-5
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’ / But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales. / I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.

Ezekiel 32:2-3
“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet and muddying the streams.’ / This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, and they will draw you up in My net.

Amos 9:3
Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

Matthew 12:29
Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

Mark 3:27
Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

Luke 11:21-22
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure. / But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted, and then he divides up his plunder.

Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Revelation 20:2
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Genesis 1:21
So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Exodus 7:9-12
“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.” / So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. / But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. ...

Deuteronomy 32:33
Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.

Psalm 104:26
There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?


Treasury of Scripture

Can you fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

fish

Job 41:26-29
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon…

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Darts Fill Fish Fishing Head Hide Irons Sharp-Pointed Skin Spears Wilt
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Darts Fill Fish Fishing Head Hide Irons Sharp-Pointed Skin Spears Wilt
Job 41
1. Of God's great power in the leviathan














Can you fill
The phrase "Can you fill" challenges human capability and power. In the Hebrew text, the verb used here implies an action of completion or fulfillment. This rhetorical question emphasizes the limitations of human strength and wisdom compared to God's omnipotence. It invites reflection on the divine sovereignty and the futility of human attempts to control or dominate what God has created.

his hide
The term "his hide" refers to the skin or outer covering of the creature described, traditionally understood as the Leviathan. In ancient Near Eastern texts, Leviathan is often depicted as a formidable sea monster, symbolizing chaos and untamable power. The hide represents the creature's impenetrable defense, highlighting the futility of human efforts to conquer or harm it. This imagery serves to remind believers of the impenetrable nature of God's creation and the respect it commands.

with harpoons
"With harpoons" suggests tools of hunting and warfare, typically used to capture large sea creatures. The Hebrew word for harpoon indicates a sharp, piercing weapon. The mention of harpoons underscores the futility of human attempts to subdue Leviathan, symbolizing the broader theme of human limitations in the face of divine creation. It serves as a metaphor for the spiritual battles believers face, where reliance on God's strength is paramount.

or his head
The phrase "or his head" shifts focus to the most vulnerable and vital part of the creature. In biblical symbolism, the head often represents authority and power. The rhetorical question implies that even the most strategic human efforts to attack the creature's head would be in vain. This serves as a reminder of the ultimate authority of God over all creation, including the most powerful and fearsome entities.

with fishing spears?
"With fishing spears?" continues the imagery of human attempts to capture or control the Leviathan. The fishing spear, a tool for catching fish, is inadequate against such a formidable creature. This highlights the disparity between human tools and the divine power that created and sustains the Leviathan. It encourages believers to trust in God's wisdom and power rather than relying solely on human means.

Verse 7. - Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? The hippopotamus was captured in this way by the Egyptians at an early date, and hence the idea of trying the same mode of capture with the crocodile would naturally arise; but in the time of Job it would seem that no one had been bold enough to attempt it. The skin of the crocodile is penetrable in very few places, and his capture by a single man with a harpoon, though now sometimes practised (Wilkinson, in the author's 'Herodotus,' vol. 2. p. 99), is still a work of danger and difficulty. Or his head with fish-spears? Fish-spears would have small effect on the head of a crocodile, which is bony and covered by a very tough skin. There is a vulnerable place, however, at the point where the head joins the spine, at which the ancient Egyptians, when they ventured to attack the crocodile, were wont to strike (see the author's 'History of Ancient Egypt,' vol. 1. p. 545).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Can you fill
הַֽתְמַלֵּ֣א (haṯ·mal·lê)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 4390: To fill, be full of

his hide
עוֹר֑וֹ (‘ō·w·rōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5785: Skin, hide, leather

with harpoons
בְשֻׂכּ֣וֹת (ḇə·śuk·kō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 7905: A barb, spear

or his head
רֹאשֽׁוֹ׃ (rō·šōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7218: The head

with fishing
דָּגִ֣ים (dā·ḡîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1709: A fish

spears?
וּבְצִלְצַ֖ל (ū·ḇə·ṣil·ṣal)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6767: A clatter, whirring, a cricket, a harpoon, a cymbal


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OT Poetry: Job 41:7 Can you fill his skin with barbed (Jb)
Job 41:6
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