Job 41:4

4 Will he make a covenant with thee, That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?

Job 41:4 Meaning and Commentary

Job 41:4

Will he make a covenant with thee?
&c.] 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 ^F9 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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FOOTNOTES:

F9 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.

Job 41:4 In-Context

2 Canst thou put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

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

4 Will he make a covenant with thee, That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?

5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

6 Will the bands [of fishermen] make traffic of him? Will they part him among the merchants?