The rows of his shields are a pride, shut up together [as with] a close seal.
God is still speaking out of the storm, describing leviathan — a creature no man can catch or tame. Here He points to its back, and the question is why such armour should matter to a suffering man.
One writer reads the verse first of all as a description of a real animal:
His frame is strong. His outer garment cannot be pierced — who can strip it off? His scales, his armour, are his pride. Here is a good description of the crocodile's hide. The scales are so close to each other that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another and stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
Older translations read the first line as "his scales are his pride." One writer points to what lies behind that pride:
"His scales are his pride." It is not only his enormous strength, and the fact that no ordinary weapon can pierce him. He is also so confident in that armour himself.
The Bible uses a seal in more than one sense. One of them shapes the picture in this verse:
A second idea connected with it is the closing up for safety of something important and vital... Job 41:15-17 gives a remarkable illustration: the scales of "leviathan" are like a close seal, and not even air can get through them.
The scales do more than describe a body. One writer sees in them the way pride guards a person:
The scales on his head and body are, like pride, an armour nothing can get through — each scale linked to the next, with no gap in the armour where an arrow could pierce.
If the creature cannot be tamed, neither can the thing it pictures in man:
Coming to how this applies to each person, we see in this "crooked serpent" a picture of the twisted will of man. All sin has its roots in disobedience. Men may smile at it, but what is more terrible than this self-will — the mind of the flesh... What use is the effort to reform the world, to tame the crocodile? Men may dream and plan, and try to drive misery off the earth. But even while it groans, creation mocks at human efforts to subdue its own twisted will.
Commentators differ on what the creature stands for. Some see Satan behind leviathan and behemoth, the other great creature God has just described. They read the scales as a mirror held up to Job's own heart:
Both the behemoth and the leviathan picture Satan, his character and his rule. He is king over all the sons of pride... And now comes the conclusion Job could easily draw. If he is proud, then he belongs to leviathan, the king who rules over the sons of pride. God has touched the secret in Job's heart. He has searched out its depths. Job has cherished pride, the Devil's own sin.
Others take it as a portrait of a coming world ruler who guards himself the same way:
These rows of scales are shut up tightly as with a seal, so that he is protected as by a coat of armour. The Roman Beast too will use every means of protecting himself against the attacks of any enemy.
The chapter is not a nature lesson. Its aim is to move Job off his own ground:
Men talk as if God's aim was only to occupy us with His works. God does the opposite. He brings forward His works to turn us away from our own thoughts and bow us to Himself. For if the works of God are so wonderful, who is He that made them? And what is man, if he dares to judge such a God?... Do you think that after this Job was taken up with behemoth or with leviathan? Not at all, but with God. That was the design of it all.
- Sealed — the rows of shields fit so tightly that not even air passes between them. A seal here means a closing up that nothing can enter.
- Proud — the same armour that keeps the creature safe makes it sure of itself. Strength it can trust in becomes pride.
- Impervious — pride works the same way in a person: linked scale to scale, with no gap where an arrow could reach.
- Untameable — writers differ on what leviathan pictures: Satan, or a coming world ruler. Either way, no human effort can tame it.
- Bowed — God does not show the creature for us to study. He shows it so Job stops judging Him and trusts Him instead.
One is so near to another that no air can come between them;
God answers Job with a whole chapter about one creature, and here He lingers on its skin: scale locked to scale, with no gap anywhere. Why would God settle a suffering man's questions by describing an animal's armour?
One writer sums up the chapter, moving from the sealed shields to the weapons that fail against them.
Then what majesty (or pride) in those curved shields! They close like a seal, so that breath cannot enter, and every part holds to the next so that nothing can pull them apart. ... No wonder the mightiest tremble when he rises. They miss their mark through fear. If one of them does reach him, the sword does not hold, nor spear, mace, nor lance, for he counts iron as straw and copper as rotten wood.
The tight fit is not only a fact about the animal. One writer reads that gap-free covering as a picture of pride.
The scales on his head and body are, like pride, an armour nothing can get through — each scale linked to the next, and no joint in the armour where an arrow could pierce.
Commentators agree the language fits a real animal, and they differ on what it stands for. One reads the verse as an exact account of a crocodile's hide, and reasons from the creature back to its Maker:
If a creature is so mighty and strong, what must the One be who called this creature into existence? ... Here is a good description of the crocodile's hide. The scales are so near each other that no air can come between them; they are joined one to another, they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart. ... The final statement about leviathan is that he is king over all the sons of pride.
Another sees in the sealed plating a picture of the last world ruler, who will make himself untouchable:
So he is protected as if by a coat of armour. The Roman Beast too will use every means to protect himself against the attacks of any enemy.
The chapter is not there to turn us into students of the animal.
Men talk as if God's object was only to occupy us with His works. God, on the contrary, brings forward His works to turn us away from our thoughts and bow us to Himself. For if the works of God are so wonderful, who is He that did the work? And what is man, if he dares to judge such a God? ... Do you think that after this Job was occupied with behemoth or with leviathan? Not at all, but with God; and this was the design of it all.
Another writer reaches the same point from Job's side. A power too great for Job drove him to lean on God.
God now shows Job, under the figure of leviathan, that the power of Satan is too great for him. ... But what could be God's object in describing the power of the adversary like this? Surely it was to lead Job into complete dependence on Himself. "I know," says Job, "that You can do all things."
The same picture works the other way round. One writer lists what sealing means in Scripture, and this verse gives him his sharpest example:
A second idea connected with sealing is the closing up for safety of something important and vital... Job 41:15-17 gives a remarkable illustration: there the scales of "leviathan" are like a close seal, so tight that not even air can pass through.
One writer starts from the two marks of a fish that Israel was allowed to eat:
Long ago there were creatures the people of Israel were not allowed to eat, because they were unclean; others were clean. A clean fish was known by two marks: it had to have both fins and scales. The fins let it swim against the stream... There are times when a fish must swim through filthy water, and to protect it God has given it scales... Fitted with this armour, the fish can pass safely through the filth. So God has provided a way for His own to pass unharmed through all the filth around us, as well as the power to go against the stream.
- Sealed shut. Scale locks to scale like a seal. Not even breath gets in — no seam, no gap, no place for a weapon.
- Sealed by pride. One writer reads that gap-free armour as a picture of pride: no joint anywhere for an arrow to pierce.
- Sealed enemy. Writers differ on what the creature pictures. Some see the power of Satan; another sees the last world ruler. Both read the armour as self-protection.
- Sealed lips. God's aim is not to make Job study the animal but to leave him with nothing to say against God. He brings forward His works to turn us from our own thoughts to Himself.
- Sealed safe. The same picture turns kind. A seal can also mean closing something precious up for safety. God gives His own an armour for the filth around them and power to swim against the stream.
They are joined each to its fellow; they stick together, and cannot be sundered.
The verse sits inside God's long description of leviathan, the creature Job could never catch or tame. One writer identifies the animal and explains why the detail about the scales matters so much:
Commentators have generally identified the leviathan with the crocodile. Like the behemoth, the leviathan is a strong and untameable beast... And if a creature is so mighty and strong, what must the One be who called this creature into existence? Verses 10 and 11 should read: "Who then is able to stand before Me (the Creator)? Who gave to Me first, that I should repay him? Since all beneath the heavens is Mine."
Verse 15 compares the rows of scales to a seal. One writer picks up that image to show what sealing means in Scripture:
One of the meanings of sealing in Scripture is the closing up for safety of something important and vital. Job 41:15-17 gives a remarkable illustration: it compares the scales of "leviathan" to a close seal and describes them as so tight that not even air can get through.
The chapter itself names what the scales stand for. In the older translation this writer uses, verse 15 reads, "His scales are his pride."
"His scales are his pride." It is not only his enormous strength, and the fact that no ordinary weapon can pierce him. He is also completely confident in that strength himself.
Another writer goes over the creature piece by piece. He finds the same sealed hardness in every part:
The scales on his head and body are, like pride, an armour nothing can get through — each scale linked to the next, with no gap in the armour where an arrow could pierce... In most animals the flanks are a weak spot, since the ribs do not cover them; his flanks are solid and cannot be pierced. Within is a heart like stone, indifferent to all fear.
Commentators differ on how far the picture reaches. Some read the chapter as the portrait of a real animal. Others see a figure behind it, and point to the chapter's closing line, that leviathan is king over all the sons of pride:
In Isaiah 27:1 we read: "In that day the LORD ... will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the dragon that is in the sea." Here leviathan stands for the power of darkness... And now the deduction which Job could easily make. If he is proud, then he belongs to leviathan, the king who rules over the sons of pride. Jehovah has touched the secret in Job's heart.
Others carry the picture forward to a coming world ruler, and read the sealed scales as his defences:
So he is protected as if by a coat of armour. The Roman Beast too will use every means to protect himself against the attacks of any enemy.
The point of the whole speech was never the creatures themselves.
So God's purpose in describing them in such grand language is not at all to make us stop there, turning them into a study that fills our minds and holds our souls. His purpose is the opposite. He would turn us away from ourselves to trust in Himself. Do you think Job spent his time on behemoth or leviathan after this? Not at all — his thoughts were on God, and that was the design of it all.
Another writer draws the same conclusion, and names the enemy he sees behind the picture:
God now shows to Job, under the figure of leviathan, that the power of Satan is too great for him... But what could be God's object in thus describing the power of the adversary? Surely it was to lead Job into entire dependence on Himself. "I know," says Job, "that You can do all things."
- Sealed. The scales lock so tightly that not even air passes between them — a seal closed for safety, with no gap an arrow could find.
- Pride. The chapter calls that seamless armour the creature's pride: strength, safety from every weapon, and self-confidence in one covering.
- Stone. The same hardness runs inward — compact flanks, a heart like stone, indifferent to all fear. Pride armours the outside and deadens the inside.
- King. Commentators differ on the figure. Those who look past the crocodile see the power of darkness, or a coming world ruler, who shields himself the same way. The chapter calls him king over all the sons of pride, and Isaiah says the LORD's sword will slay him.
- Dependence. God showed Job an enemy he could not scratch. The aim was not to fascinate him with nature but to turn him from himself. Job ended by saying that God can do all things.