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Job 40:18

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His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are rods of iron.

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Commentaries

Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.

Matthew Henry Bible Commentaryv. 18

Many humbling confounding questions God had put to Job, in the foregoing chapter; now, in this chapter, I. He demands an answer to them (Job 40:1, Job 40:2). II. Job submits in a humble silence (Job 40:3-5). III. God proceeds to reason with him, for his conviction, concerning the infinite distance and disproportion between him and God, showing that he was by no means an equal match for God. He challenges him (Job 40:6, Job 40:7) to vie with him, if he durst, for justice (Job 40:8), power (Job 40:9), majesty (Job 40:10), and dominion over the proud (Job 40:11-14), and he gives an instance of his power in one particular animal, here called "Behemoth," (Job 40:15-24).

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Original language

The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).

Strong's Concordancev. 18

עֶצֶם (ʻetsem, H6106) — a bone (as strong); by extension, the body; figuratively, the substance, i.e. (as pron.)… אָפִיק (ʼâphîyq, H650) — properly, containing, i.e. a tube; also a bed or valley of astream; also a strong thing… נְחוּשָׁה (nᵉchûwshâh, H5154) — copper גֶּרֶם (gerem, H1634) — a bone (as the skeleton of the body); hence, self, i.e. (figuratively) very מְטִיל (mᵉṭîyl, H4300) — an iron bar (as forged) בַּרְזֶל (barzel, H1270) — iron (as cutting); by extension, an iron implement

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Cross-references

Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.

Job 7:12rank 2

Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?

Isaiah 48:4rank 2

For I knew that you are stubborn; your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

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