Job 41:4
New International Version
Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?

New Living Translation
Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life?

English Standard Version
Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?

Berean Standard Bible
Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?

King James Bible
Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

New King James Version
Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever?

New American Standard Bible
“Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever?

NASB 1995
“Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?

NASB 1977
“Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?

Legacy Standard Bible
Will it cut a covenant with you? Will you take it for a slave forever?

Amplified Bible
“Will he make a covenant or an arrangement with you? Will you take him for your servant forever?

Christian Standard Bible
Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever?

American Standard Version
Will he make a covenant with thee, That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?

Contemporary English Version
Will it surrender as a slave for life?

English Revised Version
Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Will it make an agreement with you so that you can take it as your permanent slave?

Good News Translation
Will he make an agreement with you and promise to serve you forever?

International Standard Version
Will he try to make a deal with you, so that you may take him in servitude forever?

Majority Standard Bible
Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life?

NET Bible
Will it make a pact with you, so you could take it as your slave for life?

New Heart English Bible
Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?

Webster's Bible Translation
Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

World English Bible
Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Does he make a covenant with you? Do you take him for a perpetual servant?

Young's Literal Translation
Doth he make a covenant with thee? Dost thou take him for a servant age-during?

Smith's Literal Translation
Will he cut out a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant forever?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Will he form a covenant with you, and will you accept him as a servant forever?

New American Bible
Will he make a covenant with you that you may have him as a slave forever?

New Revised Standard Version
Will it make a covenant with you to be taken as your servant forever?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Will he make a covenant with you? Or will you count him as a servant for ever?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Does he establish a covenant with you, or do you account him as a Servant forever?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Will he make a covenant with thee, That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And will he make a covenant with thee? and wilt thou take him for a perpetual servant?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God's Power Shown in Leviathan
3Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly? 4Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life? 5Can you pet him like a bird or put him on a leash for your maidens?…

Cross References
Psalm 74:14
You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.

Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’

Psalm 104:26
There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.

Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?

Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Revelation 20:2
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Genesis 1:21
So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Psalm 89:10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

Isaiah 43:20
The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.

Revelation 13:1
Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

Revelation 17:8
The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.

Psalm 148:7
Praise the LORD from the earth, all great sea creatures and ocean depths,

Isaiah 45:7
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.

Matthew 12:29
Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.


Treasury of Scripture

Will he make a covenant with you? will you take him for a servant for ever?

Will he

1 Kings 20:31-34
And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life…

wilt thou

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Psalm 8:5,6
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour…

a servant

Exodus 21:6
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

Deuteronomy 15:17
Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

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Job 41
1. Of God's great power in the leviathan














Will he make a covenant with you
The word "covenant" in Hebrew is "berith," which signifies a solemn agreement or promise, often involving commitments and obligations. In the ancient Near Eastern context, covenants were binding and sacred, often sealed with rituals or sacrifices. Here, the rhetorical question highlights the absurdity of a creature like Leviathan, a symbol of chaos and power, entering into a mutual agreement with a human. This emphasizes God's sovereignty and the futility of human attempts to control or domesticate the divine or the chaotic forces of nature. The imagery challenges the reader to recognize the limits of human power and the need for humility before God's creation.

to take him as a slave
The concept of slavery in the ancient world was vastly different from modern understandings. In the Hebrew context, a slave, or "ebed," could be a servant or bondman, often working in a household or field. The rhetorical question suggests the impossibility of subjugating Leviathan, a creature of immense strength and independence, to servitude. This serves as a metaphor for the untamable aspects of creation that only God can govern. It reminds believers of the divine order and the respect due to God's creation, which cannot be manipulated or controlled by human means.

for life
The phrase "for life" underscores the permanence and totality of the proposed servitude. In the biblical context, lifelong servitude was a serious commitment, often involving a deep bond between master and servant. However, the notion of binding Leviathan, a representation of untamed nature or chaos, for life is presented as an absurdity. This highlights the eternal nature of God's dominion over creation, contrasting with the temporal and limited authority humans possess. It serves as a call to acknowledge God's eternal power and the enduring nature of His covenant with humanity, which surpasses any earthly agreements or control.

(4) A servant for ever.--The crocodile being probably quite untameable.

Verse 4 - Will he make a covenant with thee? As captive monarchs do. Wilt thou take him as a servant for ever? (comp. Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Will he make
הֲיִכְרֹ֣ת (hă·yiḵ·rōṯ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

a covenant
בְּרִ֣ית (bə·rîṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1285: A covenant

with you
עִמָּ֑ךְ (‘im·māḵ)
Preposition | second person feminine singular
Strong's 5973: With, equally with

to take him
תִּ֝קָּחֶ֗נּוּ (tiq·qā·ḥen·nū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

as a slave
לְעֶ֣בֶד (lə·‘e·ḇeḏ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

for life?
עוֹלָֽם׃ (‘ō·w·lām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5769: Concealed, eternity, frequentatively, always


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OT Poetry: Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with you (Jb)
Job 41:3
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