The Meaning of Job 41:14 Explained

Job 41:14

KJV: Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

YLT: The doors of his face who hath opened? Round about his teeth are terrible.

Darby: Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror.

ASV: Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Who can open  the doors  of his face?  his teeth  [are] terrible  round about. 

What does Job 41:14 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 41:1-34 - The Parable Of The Crocodile
The last paragraph described the hippopotamus; the whole of this chapter is devoted to the crocodile. In a series of striking questions the voice of the Almighty suggests his greatness. He is not an animal with whom you can play, or to whom you can speak soft words, or whose skin can be reached withsharpened weapons. His scales, Job 41:12-17; his eyes, mouth, and nostrils, Job 41:18-24; his fearlessness of human attack, Job 41:25-29; his power to lash the sea into a fury, making it to boil, Job 41:30-34 -each of these features is described in graphic terms.
As before, it is clear that the object is to throw into strong contrast the puniness and littleness of man. We may not be so much given to speculations about the organic world in which we live. But we are able to appreciate the argument. Surely He who tells the number of the stars, and weighs the mountains in scales, will have His pathway through the deep, and His footsteps in mighty waters. Being all that He is, He cannot but baffle the eye of man, but the heart can fully trust Him. We know that He does all things well. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 41

1  Of God's great power in the leviathan

What do the individual words in Job 41:14 mean?

The doors of his face who can open all around his teeth [is] terror
דַּלְתֵ֣י ؟ פָ֭נָיו מִ֣י פִתֵּ֑חַ סְבִיב֖וֹת שִׁנָּ֣יו אֵימָֽה

דַּלְתֵ֣י  The  doors 
Parse: Noun, fdc
Root: דַּל 
Sense: door, gate.
؟ פָ֭נָיו  of  his  face 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
פִתֵּ֑חַ  can  open 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: פָּתַח 
Sense: to open.
סְבִיב֖וֹת  all  around 
Parse: Adverb
Root: מוּסָב 
Sense: places round about, circuit, round about adv.
שִׁנָּ֣יו  his  teeth 
Parse: Noun, cdc, third person masculine singular
Root: שֵׁן  
Sense: tooth, ivory.
אֵימָֽה  [is]  terror 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֵימָה 
Sense: terror, dread.