If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
Parallel Translations
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If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
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The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
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(41-18) If one lay at him with the sword, it will not hold; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Job 41:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 39:21-24 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men. He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin. He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 41:26 The sword of him that layeth at…
Job 41:26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
Ver. 26. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold] So close are his scales, so thick his skin, that there is no wounding of him. There was not of old, it seemeth. But now there is a way found of shooting and piercing him, so that he dieth with a horrible noise and outcry.
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Nor the habergeon] A defensive weapon will be as useless as those other offensive; for the whale will soon swallow up the armed as well as the unarmed.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That layeth at him; that approacheth to him, and…
That layeth at him; that approacheth to him, and dare strike at him.
Cannot hold, Heb. cannot stand, i.e. either,
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1. Cannot endure the stroke, but will be broken by it. Or rather,
2. Cannot abide or take hold of him, or be fixed in him; but is instantly beaten back by the excessive hardness of the skin, which cannot be pierced by it, as may be gathered from this and other passages before and after it. This also seems better to agree to the crocodile, whose skin no sword, nor dart, nor musket bullet (as others add) can pierce, than to the whale, whose skin is easily pierced, as experience showeth in our whales; except the whale here spoken of were of another kind, which is not impossible.
Nor the habergeon; or, breastplate. As offensive weapons cannot hurt him, so defensive weapons cannot secure a man from him. But men that go upon the design of taking either whales or crocodiles do not use to fortify themselves in that manner. Some therefore take this to be another offensive weapon, a kind of dart, as this word signifies in the Arabic language; which is but a dialect of the Hebrew, and from which the true signification of many Hebrew words must be gathered.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He esteemeth iron as straw,.... You may as well…
He esteemeth iron as straw,.... You may as well cast a straw at him as a bar of iron; it will make no impression on his steeled back, which is as a coat of mail to him; so Eustathius affirms (d) that the sharpest iron is rebounded and blunted by him;
and brass as rotten wood; or steel, any instrument made of it, though ever so strong or piercing.
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(d) Apud ibid. (Bochard. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 17. col. 785.)
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Hold - Hebrew. cannot stand, cannot endure the stroke,…
Hold - Hebrew. cannot stand, cannot endure the stroke, but will be broken by it. The crocodile's skin, no sword, nor dart, nor musquet bullet can pierce.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. Habergeon.] The hauberk, the Norman armour for…
Verse 26. Habergeon.] The hauberk, the Norman armour for the head, neck, and breast, formed of rings. See on Ne 4:16.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 41:26. The sword of him that layeth at…
Job 41:26. The sword of him that layeth at him — That approacheth to him, and dares to strike at him; cannot hold — Hebrew, בלי תקום, beli takum, cannot stand. Either, 1st, Cannot endure the stroke, but will be broken by it; or, 2d, Cannot take hold of him, or abide fixed in him; but is instantly beaten back by the excessive hardness of his skin, which cannot be pierced by it. This also seems much better to agree to the crocodile, whose skin no sword, nor dart, nor (as some add) musket-ball can pierce, than to the whale, whose skin is easily pierced, as experience shows, except the whales here spoken of were of another kind than those we are acquainted with. Nor the habergeon — Hebrew, שׁריה, shirjah, which the margin of our Bible renders, breast-plate, and Ab. Ezra, a coat of mail, as the word means 1Sa 17:38. But Heath and Houbigant translate it here, the pike; and it evidently means some missile weapon.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The sword of him that layeth at him -…
The sword of him that layeth at him - The word “sword” here (חרב chereb) means undoubtedly “harpoon,” or a sharp instrument by which an attempt is made to pierce the skin of the monster.
Cannot hold - That is, in the hard skin. It does not penetrate it.
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The spear, the dart - These were doubtless often used in the attempt to take the animal. The meaning is, that “they” would not hold or stick to the animal. They flew off when hurled at him.
Nor the habergeon - Margin, “breastplate.” Noyes, “javelin.” Prof. Lee, “lance.” Vulgate, “thorax, breastplate.” So the Septuagint, θώρακα thōraka. The word used here (שׁריה shiryâh), the same as שׁריון shiryôn 1Sa 17:5, 1Sa 17:38; Neh 4:16; 2Ch 26:14, means properly a “coat of mail,” and is so called from its shining - from שׁרה shârâh, “to shine.” It is not used in the sense of spear or javelin elsewhere, though perhaps it may have that meaning here - denoting a “bright” or “shining” weapon. This agrees best with the connection.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain cannot hold--on his hard skin.
cannot hold--on his hard skin.
habergeon--coat of mail; avail must be taken by zeugma out of "hold," as the verb in the second clause: "hold" cannot apply to the "coat of mail."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. The sword of him that layeth at him,…
26. The sword of him that layeth at him, etc. — If one (literally, he who) reaches him with the sword.
Cannot hold — Literally, stand, stand fast, keep hold.
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The spear — Hhanith, Delitzsch erroneously supposes to be the long lance, in contradistinction to the kidhon. See on Job_41:29. The dart — Massa’h, from nasa’h. “to move on,” “to hasten,” probably signified some missile. The Septuagint and Targum regard this and the preceding word as one, and render it “spear.”
The habergeon — French, haubergeon. The rendering of our Authorized Version answers to the hauberk, the old Norman armour for the neck, head, and breast, formed of rings. (Dr. Clarke.) The shiryah, of which the Hebrew speaks, was a coat of mail. (Furst.) Others suppose some kind of missile to be meant. “The poet means to say, the defensive weapons, also, are useless, and that the breastplate of the warrior affords no protection against the monster.” — Umbreit.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. that layeth at him] That is, that striketh…
26. that layeth at him] That is, that striketh at him; lit. he that layeth at him with the sword,—it doth not hold. The sword does not hold, or bite, but glances off his adamantine armour.
the habergeon] That is, the mail. “And be ye apparelled or clothed, saith Paul, with the habergeon, or coat armour of justice,” Latimer, Serm. p. 29 (Wright, Bible Word-Book).
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26–29. He can be subdued by no weapon.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) The sword of him that layeth at him.—Literally,…
(26) The sword of him that layeth at him.—Literally, As to one approaching him (to slay him), his sword cannot stand; it will snap in his hand.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The sword of him that layeth at him cannot…
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold. It either makes no impression or it snaps in his hand. Equally vain are the spear, the dart, and the javelin. Habergeon is a mistranslation.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Or, breastplate.
habergeon
Or, breastplate.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.