Ayub 40:19

40:19 It ranks first among the works of God, ¹ 

the One who made it

has furnished it with a sword. ² 

Ayub 41:16

41:16 each one is so close to the next ³ 

that no air can come between them.

[40:19]  ¹ tn Heb “the ways of God.”

[40:19]  sn This may be a reference to Gen 1:24, where the first of the animal creation was the cattle – bÿhemah (בְּהֵמָה).

[40:19]  ² tc The literal reading of the MT is “let the one who made him draw near [with] his sword.” The sword is apparently a reference to the teeth or tusks of the animal, which cut vegetation like a sword. But the idea of a weapon is easier to see, and so the people who favor the mythological background see here a reference to God’s slaying the Beast. There are again many suggestions on how to read the line. The RV probably has the safest: “He that made him has furnished him with his sword” (the sword being a reference to the sharp tusks with which he can attack).

[41:16]  ³ tn The expression “each one…to the next” is literally “one with one.”