Job 41:26

Job 41:26

The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.

a. ASV: If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail; Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

b. YLT: The sword of his overtaker standeth not, Spear -- dart -- and lance.

c. Classic Amplified: Even if one strikes at him with the sword, it cannot get any hold, nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

d. Septuagint [Job 41:26 in our Bible is Job 41:18 in the Septuagint]: If spears should come against him, [men] will effect nothing, [either with] the spear or the breast-plate. 

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings [Job 41:26 in our Bible is Job 41:18]: If someone would apprehend him, a sword would not prevail, not would a spear, a slingshot, or armor. 

1. “The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear…”

a. [The] sword[of him] [Strong: 2719 chereb kheh'-reb from 2717; drought; also a cutting instrument (from its destructive effect), as a knife, sword, or other sharp implement:--axe, dagger, knife, mattock, sword, tool.]

b. [that] layeth [at him] [Strong:  5381 nasag naw-sag' a primitive root; to reach (literally or figuratively):--ability, be able, attain (unto), (be able to, can) get, lay at, put, reach, remove, wax rich, X surely, (over-)take (hold of, on, upon).]

c. cannot [Strong: 1097 bliy bel-ee' from 1086; properly, failure, i.e. nothing or destruction; usually (with preposition) without, not yet, because not, as long as, etc.:--corruption, ig(norantly), for lack of, where no...is, so that no, none, not, un(awares), without.]

d. hold [Strong: 6965 quwm koom a primitive root; to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative):--abide, accomplish, X be clearer, confirm, continue, decree, X be dim, endure, X enemy, enjoin, get up, make good, help, hold, (help to) lift up (again), make, X but newly, ordain, perform, pitch, raise (up), rear (up), remain, (a-)rise (up) (again, against), rouse up, set (up), (e-)stablish, (make to) stand (up), stir up, strengthen, succeed, (as-, make) sure(-ly), (be) up(-hold, - rising).]

e. [the] spear [Strong: 2595 chaniyth khan-eeth' from 2583; a lance (for thrusting, like pitching a tent):--javelin, spear.]

2. “...the dart, nor the habergeon.”

a. [the] dart [Strong: 4551 macca` mas-saw' from 5265 in the sense of projecting; a missile (spear or arrow); also a quarry (whence stones are, as it were, ejected):--before it was brought, dart.]

b. [nor the] habergeon [Strong: 8302 shiryown shir-yone' or shiryon {shir-yone'}; and shiryan {shir- yawn'}; also (feminine) shiryah {shir-yaw'}; and shiryonah {shir-yo-naw'}; from 8281 in the original sense of turning; a corslet (as if twisted):--breastplate, coat of mail, habergeon, harness.]

1). Four straight verses (Job 41:18-21), speak of this creature’s ability to breathe fire. It was not a crocodile. Isaiah 27:1 describes it as a “dragon”. This creature was a fire breathing dragon. Alive in Job’s day but extinct today.

2). The Amplified Bible labels this animal a crocodile, and if we left out the other descriptions of it in this passage, that would be fair. As fierce as a crocodile is (the Australian crocodile reaches over 17 feet and over 2000 pounds), this beast is much more fierce, because he breathes fire. Though he was ocean dwelling he sometimes left the sea for land. Needless to say he was not a crocodile and he was present in Job’s day, but is now extinct. This creature Leviathan was a sea monster, his description is given in Job 41, which follows.

a). Job 41:1-34 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

41:2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?

41:3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

41:5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

41:6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?

41:7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

41:8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.

41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

41:10None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

41:11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

41:12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.

41:13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?

41:14 Who can open the doors of his face?  his teeth are terrible round about.

41:15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.

41:16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

41:17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

41:18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

41:19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.

41:20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.

41:21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.

41:22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.

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

41:24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.

41:25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.

41:26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.

41:27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

41:28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.

41:29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.

41:30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.

41:31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

41:32  He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.

41:33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.

41:34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

3). This creature was huge, he was so dangerous that those hunting him had to use the utmost caution. His teeth inspired fear and terror. He was covered with scales all over his body and he was fire breathing. It appears he left the water sometimes because as the NIV says in verse 30, “His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.” We know though that even as fearful as this creature was, he was hunted for food as was the creature called a “dragon” in Isaiah 27:1.

b). Psalm 74:13, 14 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 

74:14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

4). Institute of Creation Research Days of Praise  10/31/1993: “In that day the LORD with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1). There is a remarkable animal called a “leviathan,” described in the direct words of God in the 41st chapter of Job. It is surprising that most modern expositors call this animal merely a crocodile. Our text plainly calls it a “piercing serpent . . . the dragon that is in the sea.” He is also said to “play” in the “great and wide sea” (Psalm 104:25,26). God’s description in Job 41 says “a flame goeth out of his mouth” (v.21), and “he maketh the deep to boil like a pot” (v.31). The entire description is awesome! Whatever a leviathan might have been, it was not a crocodile! In fact, there is no animal living today which fits the description. Therefore, it is an extinct animal, almost certainly a great marine reptile with “terrible teeth” and “scales” (vv.14,15) still surviving in the oceans of Job’s day, evidently one of the fearsome reptiles that gave rise to the worldwide tales of great sea dragons, before they became extinct. But that is not all. In ending His discourse, God called leviathan “a king over all the children of pride” (Job 41:34), so the animal is also symbolic of Satan, whose challenge to God instigated Job’s strange trials. He is “the great dragon . . . that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Perhaps, therefore, the mysterious and notorious extinction of the dinosaurs is a secular prophecy of the coming Day of Judgment, when God “shall punish leviathan” (Isaiah 27:1), and the “devil that deceived them” will be “cast into the lake of fire . . . and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). HMM