Job 41:4

4 Will he agree with you to be your slave forever?

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.


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 Can you put a ring in his nose or pierce his jaw with a barb?
3 Will he entreat you at length? Will he speak with you softly?
4 Will he agree with you to be your slave forever?
5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird or keep him on a string to amuse your little girls?
6 Will a group of fishermen turn him into a banquet? Will they divide him among the merchants?
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.