Job 10:15
in Job 10If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If I be wicked, woe unto me; And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head; Being filled with ignominy, And looking upon mine affliction.
KJV
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
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This verse in Job 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIf I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head: I am full of affliction and misery. Yea, the wicked man has 'woe,' and the righteous man 'affliction,' in that both everlasting damnation follows the lost sinner, and each one of the Elect is purified by the pains of temporary affliction. The wicked man lifts up his head, yet when so lifted up he cannot escape the woe that pursues him.
This site's exposition
If I am guilty, woe to me
on Job 10:15-17
"If I am guilty, woe to me" and "even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head" state the trap closing on Job. "You would hunt me like a lion" pictures relentless pursuit. "Hardships assault me in wave after wave" pictures a besieging army sent in successive companies.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He also adds another argument as a consequence which is this: If sin is the whole cause for the present adversities, it would follow that the just would not suffer adversities in this world like sinners do. Now, we see that adversities are universally suffered …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
), and as he was so was his discourse: he knew not what to say, and perhaps sometimes scarcely knew what he said. He complains of the hardships he was under (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
. [1.] If he be wicked, he is certainly undone in the other world: If I be wicked, woe to me. Note, A sinful state is a woeful state. This we should each of us believe, as Job here, with application to ourselves: " If I be wicked, though prosperous and living in pleasure, yet woe to me." Some especially have reason to dread double woes if they be wicked.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Wicked - An hypocrite, as my friends esteem me. Righteous - An upright man; so whether good or bad, all comes to one. Yet - Yet I have no comfort, or hopes of any good.
If I be wicked, woe is me,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If I be wicked, woe unto me - The meaning of this in this connection is, “I am full of perplexity and sorrow. Whether I am wicked or righteous, I find no comfort. Whatever is my character, my efforts to be happy are unavailing, and my mind is full of anguish. Woe follows if I have been guilty of sin; and if I am not a sinful man, I am equally incapable of enjoyment. In every way I am doomed to wretchedness.” And if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head.
If I be wicked - I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity. If I be righteous - I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot therefore suppose that on this account I can deserve any thing by way of favor from the justice of my Maker. I am full of confusion - I am confounded at my state and circumstances. I know that thou art merciful, and dost not afflict willingly the children of men; I know I have not wickedly departed from thee; and yet I am treated by thee as if I were an apostate from every good. I am therefore full of confusion. See thou to my affliction; and bring me out of it in such a way as shall at once prove my innocence, the righteousness of thy ways, and the mercy of thy nature.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
If I sinned, You watched me You laid Your eyes on me so as not to ignore [my sins] nor to forbear retaliation, and [from now on] You are not cleansing me of my iniquity but are requiting me for everything.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| רָשַׁ֡עְתִּי | rasha'ti | I am guilty | H7561 → | 34 times |
| אַלְלַ֬י | ʾalai | woe! | H480 → | |
| לִ֗י | li | to me | ||
| וְ֭צָדַקְתִּי | vetzadakti | and I have been righteous | H6663 → | 41 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶשָּׂ֣א | ʾesa' | I will lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| רֹאשִׁ֑י | roshi | head my | H7218 → | 599 times |
| שְׂבַ֥ע | seva' | surfeited of | H7649 → | 10 times |
| קָ֝ל֗וֹן | kalon | shame | H7036 → | |
| וּרְאֵ֥ה | ureeh | and see | H7202 → | |
| עָנְיִֽי׃ | ʾaneyi | affliction my | H6040 → | 36 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
רָשַׁ֡עְתִּיI am guilty
rasha'tiH7561 →34 times
אַלְלַ֬יwoe!
ʾalaiH480 →
לִ֗יto me
li
וְ֭צָדַקְתִּיand I have been righteous
vetzadaktiH6663 →41 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֶשָּׂ֣אI will lift up
ʾesa'H5375 →656 times
רֹאשִׁ֑יhead my
roshiH7218 →599 times
שְׂבַ֥עsurfeited of
seva'H7649 →10 times
קָ֝ל֗וֹןshame
kalonH7036 →
וּרְאֵ֥הand see
ureehH7202 →
עָנְיִֽי׃affliction my
ʾaneyiH6040 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 3:11Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 8:13
Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
- James 2:13
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Psalms 120:3–4
What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
- Psalms 28:4
Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- Isaiah 65:20
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Ecclesiastes 8:13
Through
Psalms 25:18Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:12
Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”
- 2 Samuel 16:12
Through
Job 10:7though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
- Deuteronomy 32:39
Through
Job 9:15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
it leads to
- Job 8:5
But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy,
- Job 8:5
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IX; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.