Job 41:23

Job 41:23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.

Ver. 23. The flakes of his flesh are joined together] Heb. The failings, or the refuse and vilest parts, as the word is rendered, Amo 8:6. Now if God be so punctual in the description of these also, can any one think that he hath let pass anything in the Holy Scriptures that belong to our salvation? What need is there then of human traditions?

They are firm in themselves] Heb. molten. Firm they must be, because so joined together. Vis unita fortior; but dissension is the mother of dissolution. England is a mighty animal (saith a great politician) which can never die, except it kill itself.

They cannot be moved] Or, he cannot be moved. He may say, as Terminus of old, Nulli cedo, I give place to none unless I please.

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.

γ. This section resumes the subject left at Job_41:17, (from which Job_41:18-22 are a digression, setting forth the terribleness of leviathan,) and shows that even the fleshy parts of this monster have been fitted close to it like a metal casting, and his heart made firm as a stone, and that even his path through the mire resembles the impress of a threshing machine; so that he fears neither the assaults of man nor those of the entire brute creation. Monster of monsters! there is not on earth a dominion like his, who is made without fear, and who looketh down upon every high thing, Job_41:23-34.

23. Firm in themselves — Literally, molten upon them. On him is no flabby, pendulous flesh as on other animals; all is welded together as if made of metal.

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

That is, a white froth and shining stream before him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

flakes--rather, "dewlaps"; that which falls down (Margin). They are "joined" fast and firm, together, not hanging loose, as in the ox.

are firm--UMBREIT and MAURER, "are spread."

in themselves--rather, "upon him."

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 23. The flakes of his flesh] His muscles are strongly and firmly compacted.

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

(23) The flakes of his flesh—i.e., the parts that in other animals hang down: e.g., dewlaps, &c., are not flabby, as with them.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. The verse reads,

The flakes of his flesh cleave fast together;

It is firm upon him, it is not moved.

The “flakes” of his flesh are the parts beneath the neck and belly, which in most animals are soft and pendulous; in him they are firm and hard. In the second clause it refers to his flesh, which is “firm,” lit. cast or molten, and does not move, or shake, with the motions of his body.

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.

His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. Which must be understood not of the substance but of the qualities of it, being bold, courageous, undaunted, and unmerciful; which is true both of the whale and crocodile, and particularly of the crocodile: Aelianus (z) relates of one sort of them that they are unmerciful, though elsewhere (a), he represents them as fearful.

(z) De Animal. l. 12. c. 41. (a) Ibid. l. 10. c. 24.

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

The flakes of his flesh are joined together - Margin, “fallings.” The Hebrew word used here means anything “falling,” or “pendulous,” and the reference here is, probably, to the pendulous parts of the flesh of the animal; the flabby parts; the dew-laps. In animals commonly these parts about the neck and belly are soft, pendulous, and contribute little to their strength. The meaning here is, that in the leviathan, instead of being thus flabby and pendulous, they were compact and firm. This is strikingly true of the crocodile. The belly is, indeed, more soft and penetrable than the other parts of the body, but there is nothing like the soft and pendulous dew-laps of most animals.

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

The deep as growing old. Growing hoary, as it were, with the froth which he leaves behind him. (Challoner) --- The Vulgate has well expressed the force of the original, and shews the rapidity with which the crocodile moves. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "one would think the deep to be hoary." The devil transforms himself into an angel (Haydock) of light. (Du Hamel)

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).

The flakes, or parts, which stick out, or hang loose, and are ready to fall from other fishes or creatures.

Of his flesh: the word flesh is used of fishes also, as Lev 11:11; 1Co 15:39.

They cannot, without difficulty,

be moved, to wit, out of their place, or from the other members of the body.

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

The flakes of his flesh are joined together. Even the softer muscles, and parts which in most animals are yielding and flabby, in the crocodile are bound up, and, as it were, soldered together (scrap. ver. 17). They are firm in themselves; rather, they are firm upon him; literally, fused upon him, like detached pieces of metal, which are melted one into another. They cannot be moved. His whole body is so firmly compacted together that it is all one piece; the separate parts cannot be moved separately. One result is that the crocodile has great difficulty in turning.

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

He makes the deep seethe like a pot Like a small bubbling pot, that quickly raises bubbles one after another, so does he cause the deep, which is large and deep, to seethe.

he makes the sea like a seething mixture Like a mixture of a concoction of spices, which is compounded and mixed, so does he make and mix the sea when he moves from his place.

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.