Job 41:16

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 41:16 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “One is so near to another, That no air can come between them.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

One is so near to another, That no air can come between them.
Job 41:16 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 41

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
16One is so near to another, That no air can come between them.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.] This shows that it cannot be understood of the skin of the whale, and the hardness and strength of that, which is alike and of a piece; whereas those scales, or be they what they may, though closely joined, yet are distinct: those who interpret this of whales that have teeth, and these of the teeth, observe, that as they have teeth to the number of forty or fifty in the lower jaw, in the upper one fire holes or sockets into which they go; and they are so very close that no wind or air can come between them f1543.”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification