Job 41:2

2 (40-21) Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?

Job 41:2 Meaning and Commentary

Job 41:2

Canst thou put an hook into his nose?
&c.] Or a rush, that is, a rope made of rushes; for of such ropes were made, as Pliny ^F7 affirms;

or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
as men do herrings, or such like small fish, for the convenience of carrying them, or hanging them up to dry; the whale is not to be used in such a manner: but the Tentyritae, a people in Egypt, great enemies to crocodiles, had methods of taking thorn in nets, and of binding and bridling them, and carrying them as they pleased ^F8.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Nat. Hist. l. 19. c. 2.
F8 Strabo. Geograph. l. 17. p. 560. Aelian. de Animal. l. 10. c. 21. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 25.

Job 41:2 In-Context

1 (40-20) Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord?

2 (40-21) Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?

3 (40-22) Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee?

4 (40-23) Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever,

5 (40-24) Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids?