Albert Barnes Commentary Job 41:6

"Will the bands [of fishermen] make traffic of him? Will they part him among the merchants?" — Job 41:6 (ASV)

Shall thy companions make a banquet of him?—This is one of the “vexed passages” about which there has been much difference of opinion. Gesenius renders it, “Do the companions (that is, the fishermen in company) lay snares for him?” So Noyes renders it. Dr. Harris translates it, “Shall thy partners spread a banquet for him?” The Septuagint renders it, “Do the nations feed upon him?” The Vulgate, “Will friends cut him up?” that is, for a banquet. Rosenmuller renders it, “Will friends feast upon him?”

The word rendered “thy companions” (חברים chabbâriym) properly means those joined or associated together for any purpose, whether for friendship or for business. It may refer here either to those associated for the purpose of fishing or feasting. The word “thy” is improperly introduced by our translators, and there is no evidence that the reference is to the companions or friends of Job, as that would seem to suppose.

The word rendered “make a banquet” (יכרוּ yikârû) is from כרה kârâh— “to dig,” and then to make a plot or device against someone—derived from the fact that a “pitfall” was dug to take animals (Psalms 7:15; Psalms 57:6). According to this, it means, “Do the companions (that is, the fishermen in company) lay snares for him?”

The word, however, has another meaning: to buy, to purchase, and also to give a feast, to make a banquet, perhaps from the idea of “purchasing” the provisions necessary for a banquet. According to this, the meaning is, “Do the companions (that is, those associated for the purpose of feasting) make a banquet of him?”

Which is the true sense here, is not easy to determine. The majority of versions incline to the idea that it refers to a feast, and means that those associated for eating do not make a part of their entertainment of him. This interpretation is the most simple and obvious.

Shall they part him among the merchants?—That is, shall they cut him up and expose him for sale? The word rendered “merchants” (כנענים k'na'aniym) properly means “Canaanites.” It is used in the sense of “merchants, or traffickers,” because the Canaanites were commonly engaged in this employment; see the notes at Isaiah 23:8. The crocodile is never made a part of a banquet, or an article of traffic.