Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
Parallel Translations
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Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
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Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
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(40-28) Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Job 41:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 21:6 then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
- Deuteronomy 15:17 then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise.
- Genesis 1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
- 1 Kings 20:31-34 His servants said to him, “See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life.” So they put sackcloth on their bodies and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” He said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, “Your brother Ben Hadad.” Then he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” “I”, said Ahab, “will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
- Psalms 8:5-6 For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, who dare pull off his skin?
That is, who dare pull off his skin?
Who dare put a bridle in his mouth?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee?…
Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
Ver. 4. Will he make a covenant with thee?] And compound, where he cannot conquer.
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Wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?] To be at thy disposal, and to do thy drudgery? q.d. He scorns the motion. Before the fall this and all other creatures were at man’s service, Gen 1:28; Gen 2:19-20; but now, alas! it is otherwise. Howbeit to those that are in Christ this part of God’s lost image is in part restored, Heb 2:6, with Psa 8:4-5, and shall be perfectly, Rev 2:26. What singular service the whale did Jonas in shipping him to land who knows not?
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 A covenant, to wit, to do thee faithful service,…
A covenant, to wit, to do thee faithful service, as the next words explain it. Canst thou bring him into bondage, and force him to serve thee?
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 Will he make a covenant with thee?.... To live…
Will he make a covenant with thee?.... To live in friendship or servitude, as follows;
wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? oblige him to serve thee for life, or reduce him to perpetual bondage; signifying, that he is not to be tamed or brought into subjection; which is true of the whale, but not of the crocodile; for several authors (i) speak of them as making a sort of a truce with the priests of Egypt for a certain time, and of their being tamed so as to be handled, and fed, and brought up in the house.
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(i) Herodot, ut supra, (Euterpe, sive, l. 2.) c. 69. Aelian. l. 8. c. 2. & l. 10. c. 21. Solin. c. 45. Plin. l. 8. c. 46.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Will he make a covenant] Canst thou…
Verse 4. Will he make a covenant] Canst thou hire him as thou wouldst a servant, who is to be so attached to thy family as to have his ear bored, that he may abide in thy house for ever? Is not this an allusion to the law, Ex 21:1-6?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Will he make a covenant with thee? - That…
Will he make a covenant with thee? - That is, will he submit himself to thee, and enter into a compact to serve thee? Such a compact was made by those who agreed to serve another; and the idea here is, that the animal here referred to could not be reduced to such service - that is, could not be tamed.
Wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? - Canst thou so subdue him that he will be a perpetual slave? The meaning of all this is, that he was an untamable animal, and could not be reduced, as many others could, to domestic use.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Garment, or the skin. (Menochius) --- Who shall look…
Garment, or the skin. (Menochius) --- Who shall look steadfastly, or dare to take off its skin? --- Mouth. Protestants, "Who can come to him with his double bridle?" (Haydock) though it be of the greatest strength; or, who will enter its jaws, or put bits in them? It is reported that the Tentyrites jump on the crocodile’s back, and having thrown a piece of wood into its open mouth, like bits, which they hold with both hands, they conduct it to the river side, and kill it. (Pliny viii. 25.) --- Septuagint, "Who would enter the wrinkles of his breast, (Calmet) or the folds of its coat of arms?" which may allude to the almost impenetrable scales of the leviathan. (Haydock) --- Symmachus, "Who will enter the folds of its scales?" The crocodile can open its mouth so wide as to swallow a heifer, or to let a man stand upright. (Calmet) --- Each jaw is furnished with thirty-six teeth. (Vansleb.)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Can he be tamed for domestic use (so Job…
Can he be tamed for domestic use (so Job 39:10-12)?
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 4. Will he make a covenant? — The same…
4. Will he make a covenant? — The same phrase, כרת ברית, is used in the description in Gen_15:18, of the covenant between the Lord and Abraham. The phrase means literally, “cut a covenant,” and reappears in the Greek and the Latin, and apparently springs from a like primeval custom common to them all.
A servant for ever — Will he, as a consideration for sparing his life, enter into a covenant of perpetual service? On the hypothesis that this book was written subsequently to the Mosaic economy, there may be in the phrase “servant for ever,” an allusion to the mode by which Israelitish servants covenanted to serve for ever. Exo_21:6.
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 4. Will he consent to be one of thy…
4. Will he consent to be one of thy domesticated animals, and serve thee?
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 (4) A servant for ever.—The crocodile being probably quite…
(4) A servant for ever.—The crocodile being probably quite untameable.
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 Will he make a covenant with thee? As captive…
Will he make a covenant with thee? As captive monarchs do. Wilt thou take him as a servant for ever? (comp. Exo_21:6 Deu_15:17)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues to rebuke Job. He uses rhetorical questions to remind Job that Job is not powerful like Leviathan.
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Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You know that he will not make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever." (See: Rhetorical Question)
he ... him
The words "he" and "him" refer to Leviathan.
Will you play with him as you would with a bird?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You know that you cannot play with him as you would play with a bird." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You know that you cannot tie him up for your servant girls." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You know that the groups of fishermen will not bargain for him." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You know that they will not divide him up to trade among the merchants." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Will they divide
"Will the groups of fishermen divide"
translationWords
servant
eternity
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.