Bible Strands
Job 41:15
His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Job addresses his friends while detailing the armor of a massive creature to demonstrate the limits of human power. He speaks during a rhetorical challenge about who can stand against this being.
The words — אֲפִיקֵי מָגִנִּים ('a.fi.Kei ma.gi.Nim) translates literally as rows of shields, and סָגוּר חוֹתָם (sa.Gur cho.Tam) means shut up with a seal. The text states the scales form an impenetrable barrier that cannot be forced apart.
The thread — The theme of pride links to Jeremiah 9:23, which warns against boasting in human strength. The imagery of unbreakable seals runs parallel to Revelation 5:2, which asks who is worthy to break the seals on the scroll.
Why it lands — The passage demands the reader acknowledge boundaries that human force cannot cross. It requires the abandonment of self-reliant boasting when confronted with designs that defy manipulation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 9:23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Revelation 5:2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
- Revelation 5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”