Bible Dictionary
CURDLE
To curdle means to congeal or harden. Job uses the process of milk becoming cheese as a humble and reverent image of the formation of the human body in the womb.
Definition
To curdle means to congeal, harden, or take solid form. The word describes the process by which milk becomes cheese.
Biblical Usage
Job uses the image of milk being curdled like cheese to describe the formation of the human body in the womb with reverent awe.
Historical Background
The image of bodily formation as a mysterious process is also found in the Koran and in oriental poetry.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kur'-dl (qapha', "to congeal," "harden," "curdle"): Occurs in Job 10:10, "Hast thou not .... curdled me like cheese?" i.e. made him take solid form. "The formation of the embryo is a mystery on which the Hebrew dwells with a deep and reverential awe: compare Ps 139:13-16." These similes are often met with in the Koran and oriental poetry. See Speaker's Commentary in the place cited</p>