Job 40:16
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
See now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
American King James Version (AKJV)
See now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Lo now, his strength is in his loins, And his force is in the muscles of his belly.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
His strength is in his body, and his force in the muscles of his stomach.
Webster's Revision
Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
World English Bible
Look now, his strength is in his thighs. His force is in the muscles of his belly.
English Revised Version (ERV)
Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly.
Definitions for Job 40:16
Clarke's Job 40:16 Bible Commentary
His strength is in his loins - This refers to his great agility, notwithstanding his bulk; by the strength of his loins he was able to take vast springs, and make astonishing bounds.
Barnes's Job 40:16 Bible Commentary
Lo now, his strength is in his loins - The inspection of the figure of the hippopotamus will show the accuracy of this. The strength of the elephant is in the neck; of the lion in the paw; of the horse and ox in the shoulders; but the principal power of the river-horse is in the loins; compare Nahum 2:1. This passage is one that proves that the elephant cannot be referred to.
And his force is in the navel of his belly - The word which is here rendered "navel" (שׁריר shârı̂yr) means properly "firm, hard, tough," and in the plural form, which occurs here, means the "firm," or "tough" parts of the belly. It is not used to denote the "navel" in any place in the Bible, and should not have been so rendered here. The reference is to the muscles and tendons of this part of the body, and perhaps particularly to the fact that the hippopotamus, by crawling so much on his belly among the stones of the stream or on land, acquires a special hardness or strength in those parts of the body. This clearly proves that the elephant is not intended. In that animal, this is the most tender part of the body. Pliny and Solinus both remark that the elephant has a thick, hard skin on the back, but that the skin of the belly is soft and tender. Pliny says ("Hist. Nat." Lib. viii. c. 20), that the rhinoceros, when about to attack an elephant, "seeks his belly, as if he knew that that was the most tender part." So Aelian, "Hist." Lib. xvii. c. 44; see Bochart, as above.
Wesley's Job 40:16 Bible Commentary
40:16 Strength - He hath strength answerable to his bulk, but this strength by God's wise and merciful providence is not an offensive strength, consisting in, or put forth by horns or claws, as it is in ravenous creatures, but only defensive and seated in his loins, as it is in other creatures.