Job 41:16 (KJV)

What does Job 41:16 mean?

Job 41:16 describes the protective covering on the back of Leviathan, a powerful creature in God’s speech to Job. The verse pictures its rows of scales fitting so tightly together that even air cannot pass between them.

The image invites the listener to imagine a surface without an exposed gap. After describing the rows as shut together in verse 15, God makes their closeness vivid by measuring it against something as fine as air.

The Hebrew behind Job 41:16

• “air” — רוּחַ (ruaḥ): This Hebrew word can mean “air,” “wind,” or “breath,” depending on its setting. Here the KJV’s “air” gives the picture its striking force: even something invisible cannot get through.

Why Job 41:16 matters

• The covering’s strength comes from the way its parts fit together. The words “one” and “another” draw attention to the meeting point between neighboring parts, rather than to the toughness of a single scale.

• The image helps explain why Leviathan is presented as hard to attack. The following verse says the parts “stick together,” and later the passage describes weapons as ineffective against the creature.