They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
Armour That Cannot Be Parted
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:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinCommentators 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."
A Seal Closed Tight
Verse 15 compares the rows of scales to a seal. One writer picks up that image to show what sealing means in Scripture:
W. H. WestcottOne 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.
Pride as the Covering
The chapter itself names what the scales stand for. In the older translation this writer uses, verse 15 reads, "His scales are his pride."
William Kelly"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:
Samuel RidoutThe 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.
What the Creature Pictures
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:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn 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:
Leslie M. GrantSo 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.
Why God Described It
The point of the whole speech was never the creatures themselves.
William KellySo 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:
Charles StanleyGod 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."
Summary
- 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.