Job 40:16 - Exposition

Lo now, his strength is in his loins . The strength of the hippopotamus is its principal characteristic. Weighing often two thousand kilogrammes, and of a short thick make, when roused to anger it has a force which is irresistible. In the water it upsets large beats; on land it forces its way through dense thickets and fences of all kinds. The loins are especially strong, being deep, broad, and immensely muscular . And his force is in the navel of his belly ; rather, in the muscles of his belly. The word used ( שׁרידים ) occurs only in this place. It is a plural form, and therefore cannot designate a single object, like the navel. The root seems to be the Syriac serir , "firm," whence Schultens proposes to translate שׁרירים by firmitates.