H7539 H7539
rottenness, decay, rotten wood (worthlessness)
This noun denotes rottenness or decay, appearing in Job 41:27 (English 41:19) where Leviathan regards iron as 'rotten wood'—utterly contemptible and ineffective. The term emphasizes advanced decomposition, wood so decayed it has lost all structural integrity. In this context, rottenness becomes a metaphor for worthlessness: even strong iron is, to Leviathan, as useless as punk wood. The multilingual evidence (Spanish 'podrida') consistently captures the decay aspect.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Job 41:27 uses this vivid image in God's speech about Leviathan's invulnerability: to this creature, iron weapons are no more threatening than 'wood of rottenness.' The phrase evokes completely degraded timber—spongy, crumbling, powerless. Spanish 'podrida' (rotten) precisely captures the state. The rhetorical force lies in the reversal: iron, symbol of strength, is dismissed as thoroughly as decomposed wood. Leviathan's superiority makes the strong seem pathetically weak. 1×
AR["نَخِرًا"]·ben["পচা"]·DE["[רקבון]"]·EN["rottenness"]·FR["רקבון"]·heb["רקבון"]·HI["सड़ी"]·ID["busuk"]·IT["rottenness"]·jav["bosok"]·KO["썬은"]·PT["podridão"]·RU["гнилое"]·ES["podrida"]·SW["uliooza"]·TR["çürüklk"]·urd["سڑی-ہوئی"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† רִקָּבוֹן n.[m.] id.;—עֵץ ר׳ Jb 41:19 wood of rottenness, = rotten wood (in fig.).