Job 41:5 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Wilt thou play with him - Is he such a creature as thou canst tame; and of which thou canst make a pet, and give as a plaything to thy little girls? נערותיך naarotheycha; probably alluding to the custom of catching birds, tying a string to their legs, and giving them to children to play with; a custom execrable as ancient, and disgraceful as modern.