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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Legacy Standard Bible

Job 41:24

Its heart is as hard as a stone,Even as hard as a lower millstone.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   Mill;   Millstone;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Leviathan;   Mills;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Corn;   Leviathan;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Mill;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Leviathan;   Mill, Millstone;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Mill-Stone ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Leviathan;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Stone;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Hard;   Leviathan;   Mill;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Concordance;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
His heart is as hard as a rock,as hard as a lower millstone!
Hebrew Names Version
His heart is as firm as a stone, Yes, firm as the lower millstone.
King James Version
His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
English Standard Version
His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone.
New Century Version
Its chest is as hard as a rock, even as hard as a grinding stone.
New English Translation
Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
Amplified Bible
"His heart is as hard as a stone, Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.
New American Standard Bible
"His heart is as firm as a stone, And as firm as a lower millstone.
World English Bible
His heart is as firm as a stone, Yes, firm as the lower millstone.
Geneva Bible (1587)
His heart is as strong as a stone, & as hard as the nether milstone.
Berean Standard Bible
His chest is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!
Contemporary English Version
and its heart is stone.
Complete Jewish Bible
He leaves a shining wake behind him, making the deep seem to have white hair.
Darby Translation
His heart is firm as a stone, yea, firm as the nether [millstone].
Easy-to-Read Version
His heart is like a rock; he has no fear. It is as hard as a millstone.
George Lamsa Translation
His meat is good and fat, and it is nourishing.
Good News Translation
His stony heart is without fear, as unyielding and hard as a millstone.
Lexham English Bible
Its heart is cast as stone; yes, it is cast as the lower millstone.
Literal Translation
His heart is cast hard as a stone, even cast hard as a piece of a lower millstone .
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
His hert is as harde as a stone, ad as fast as the styth ye that the hammer man smyteth vpon.
American Standard Version
His heart is as firm as a stone; Yea, firm as the nether millstone.
Bible in Basic English
His heart is as strong as a stone, hard as the lower crushing-stone.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
King James Version (1611)
His heart is as firme as a stone, yea as hard as a peece of the nether mil-stone.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
His heart is as hard as a stone, and as fast as the stythie that the smyth smiteth vpon.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
There is nothing upon the earth like to him, formed to be sported with by my angels.
English Revised Version
His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, firm as the nether millstone.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
His herte schal be maad hard as a stoon; and it schal be streyned togidere as the anefeld of a smith.
Update Bible Version
His heart is as firm as a stone; Yes, firm as the nether millstone.
Webster's Bible Translation
His heart is as firm as a stone; yes, as hard as a piece of the nether [millstone].
New King James Version
His heart is as hard as stone, Even as hard as the lower millstone.
New Living Translation
Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone.
New Life Bible
His heart is as hard as a stone, even as hard as a grinding-stone.
New Revised Standard
Its heart is as hard as stone, as hard as the lower millstone.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
His heart, is hardened like a stone, yea hardened, like the nether millstone;
Douay-Rheims Bible
(41-15) His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith’s anvil,
Revised Standard Version
His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the nether millstone.
Young's Literal Translation
His heart [is] firm as a stone, Yea, firm as the lower piece.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"His heart is as hard as a stone, Even as hard as a lower millstone.

Contextual Overview

11Who has given to Me that I should repay him?Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. 12"I will not keep silence concerning its limbs,Or its mighty strength or its graceful frame. 13Who can strip off its outer armor?Who can come with its doubled bridle? 14Who can open the doors of its face?Around its teeth there is dreadful terror. 15Its strong scales are its pride,Shut up as with a tight seal. 16One is so near to anotherThat no air can come between them. 17They cling one to another;They are interlocked and cannot be separated. 18Its sneezes flash forth light,And its eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. 19Out of its mouth go burning torches;Sparks of fire leap forth. 20Out of its nostrils smoke goes forthAs from a boiling pot and burning reeds.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as hard: Isaiah 48:4, Jeremiah 5:3, Zechariah 7:12

Reciprocal: Job 6:12 - of brass Job 41:33 - is made

Cross-References

Genesis 41:8
Now it happened that in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh recounted to them his dream, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
Exodus 8:19
And the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether [millstone]. Which must be understood not of the substance but of the qualities of it, being bold, courageous, undaunted, and unmerciful; which is true both of the whale and crocodile, and particularly of the crocodile: Aelianus z relates of one sort of them that they are unmerciful, though elsewhere a, he represents them as fearful.

z De Animal. l. 12. c. 41. a Ibid. l. 10. c. 24.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

His heart is as firm as a stone - As hard; as solid. Bochart remarks that the word “heart” here is not to be regarded as denoting the “courage” of the animal, as it sometimes does, but the heart literally. The statement occurs in the description of the various parts of the animal, and the object is to show that there was special firmness or solidity in every one of his members. There is special firmness or strength needed in the “hearts” of all animals, to enable them to propel the blood through the arteries of the body; and in an animal of the size of the crocodile, it is easy to see that the heart must be made capable of exerting vast force. But there is no reason to suppose that the affirmation here is made on the supposition that there is need of extraordinary strength in the heart to propel the blood. The doctrine of the circulation of the blood was not then known to mankind, and it is to be presumed that the argument here would be based on what “was” known, or what might be easily observed. The presumption therefore is, that the statement here is based on what had been “seen” of the remarkable compactness and firmness of the heart of the animal here referred to. Probably there was nothing so unique in the heart of the crocodile that this description would be applicable to that animal alone, but it is such doubtless as would apply to the heart of any animal of extraordinary size and strength.

Yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone - The mills commonly used in ancient times were hand-mills; see a description of them in the notes at Matthew 24:41. Why the lower stone was the hardest, is not quite apparent. Perhaps a more solid stone might have been chosen for this, because it was supposed that there was more wear on the lower than the upper stone, or because its weight would make the machine more solid and steady.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 41:24. Hard as a piece of the nether millstone.] Which is required to be harder than that which runs above.


 
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