Job 41:12

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] Heb. Nor the grace of his disposition, i.e. Dicam quam egregio et concinne membra eius composita sint, I will declare how finely and fitly all his parts are proportioned and put together (Vatab.). In the most deformed creatures (as we count them) there is no part superfluous, useless, or uncomely. Deus est magnus in minimis, nec parvus in maximis. God is great in the smallest things and not small in the greatest things.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 41:12. I will not conceal his parts — That is, I will particularly speak of them. Hebrew, בדיו, 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 — ודבר גבורות, 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, וחין ערכו, vechin gnercho, nor the gracefulness of his disposition, that is, the disposition or adjustment of his parts.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

β — 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. דבר, word, Vaihinger understands to mean “fame;” Delitzsch, “proportion.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will not conceal--a resumption of the description broken off by the digression, which formed an agreeable change.

his power--literally, "the way," that is, true proportion or expression of his strength (so Hebrew, Deu 19:4).

comely proportion--literally, "the comeliness of his structure" (his apparatus: so "suit of apparel" Jdg 17:10) [MAURER]. UMBREIT translates, "his armor." But that follows after.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12–34. Description of the parts of Leviathan.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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 (ערכוּ חין chı̂yn ‛êrekô) 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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Breath, like bellows, ver. 10. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. The further description is introduced by this formal announcement, which is perhaps best rendered, I will not keep silence concerning his limbs" nor concerning the matter of his might" or the comeliness of his proportion (see the Revised Version); i.e. I will enter upon these points seriatim" and set them forth severally.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 לו authorized by the Masora assumes an interrogative rendering: as to it, should I be silent about its members (לו at the head of the clause, as Lev 7:7-9; Isa 9:2), - what perhaps might appear more poetic to many. החרישׁ (once, Job 11:3, to cause to keep silence) here, as usually: to be silent. בּדּיו, as Job 18:13. דּבר signifies the relation of the matter, a matter of fact, as דּברי, facts, Psa 65:4; Psa 105:27; Psa 145:5. חין (compared by Ew. with הין, a measure) signifies grace, χάρις (as synon. חסד), here delicate regularity, and is made easy of pronunciation from חנן, just as the more usual חן; the language has avoided the form חנן, as observed above. לבוּשׁ . clothing, we have translated "coat of mail," which the Arab. libâs usually signifies; פּני לבוּשׁו is not its face's covering (Schlottm.), which ought to be לבוּשׁ פּניו; but פּני 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" (רסן, 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. שׁנּיו gen. subjecti: the circle, ἓρκος, which is formed by its teeth (Hahn).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

From his nostrils smoke goes forth like a bubbling pot on the fire, which raises smoke.

and an earthenware vessel ואגמן. Its interpretation is according to its context: an expression of an earthenware vessel, like a bubbling pot; according to the matter that is stated (Jer. 1:13): “I see a bubbling pot.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.