Job 13:18
in Job 13Behold, now that I have prepared my case, I know that I will be vindicated.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold now, I have set my cause in order; I know that I am righteous.
KJV
Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
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This verse in Job 13
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIf I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just. Which too is not at variance with the person of the self-same blessed Job, since he is only telling that concerning himself without, which 'Truth' had inwardly declared to his enemy concerning him; Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth? And yet it is much less that the holy man records concerning himself, than what the Lord declared concerning him. For it is one thing to be 'just,' and another to have 'none like him.'
This site's exposition
this will be my salvation
on Job 13:16-19
Job carries the confidence of verse 15 into an argument, "this will be my salvation, for no godless man can appear before Him". The words "now that I have prepared my case" present him as a plaintiff with his brief, and Gill gives the verb its legal sense.
This site's exposition
I know that I will be vindicated
Job has prepared his case like a man ready for court, as Clarke and Barnes read it. Matthew Henry links his certainty to Job 19:25, where Job says that he knows his Redeemer lives. God Himself had called Job blameless at Job 1:8, as Gregory recalls.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The Lord is near those, it is said, who invoke him, and therefore God is kindly disposed toward them. So listen, Job says, to what I am about to say: I will maintain my kindly disposed judgment upon God, who is just and speaks truthfully; …
The Medieval Church1 voice
In another way he renders them attentive by assuring them of the truth of what he is about to say, and so he says, "If I am judged, I know I will be found just," which he certainly does not say about his own innocence, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This he knew because he knew that his Redeemer lived, ch. xix. Those whose hearts are upright with God, in walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit, may be sure that through Christ there shall be no condemnation to them, but that, whoever lays any thing to their charge, they shall be justified: they may know that they shall.
) and then nothing can come amiss to me." Note, Those that are upright, and have the assurance of their uprightness, may cheerfully welcome every event. Come what will, bene præparatum pectus--they are ready for it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Behold now, I have ordered my cause,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Behold now, I have ordered - I am now ready to come into court, and care not how many I have to contend with, provided they speak truth.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have ordered my cause - literally. “judgment?” - משׁפט mı̂shpâṭ. The Septuagint renders it, “I am near (ἐγγύς εἰμί engus eimi) to my judgment,” or my trial. The meaning may be, that he had gone through the pleading, and had said what he wished in self-vindication, and he was willing to leave the cause with God, and did not doubt the issue. Or more probably, I think, the word ערכתי ‛âraketı̂y should be taken, as the word ידעתי yāda‛tı̂y is, in the present tense, meaning “I now set in order my cause; I enter on the pleading; I am confident that I shall so present it as to be declared righteous.” I know that I shall be justified - I have no doubt as to the issue. I shall be declared to be an holy man, and not a hypocrite. The word rendered “I shall be justified” (אצדק 'etsâdaq) is used here in the proper and literal sense of the word justify. It is a term of law; and means, “I shall be declared to be righteous. I shall be shown not to be guilty in the form charged on me, and shall be acquitted or vindicated.” This sense is different from that which so often occurs in the Scriptures when applied to the doctrine of the justification of a sinner. Then it means, to treat one AS IF he were righteous, though he is personally guilty and undeserving.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּה־ | hineh- | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נָ֭א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| עָרַ֣כְתִּי | ʾarakhti | I have arranged | H6186 → | 74 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֑ט | mishpat | a case | H4941 → | 422 times |
| יָ֝דַ֗עְתִּי | yada'ti | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֶצְדָּֽק׃ | ʾetzdak | I am in [the] right | H6663 → | 41 times |
הִנֵּה־here!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
נָ֭אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
עָרַ֣כְתִּיI have arranged
ʾarakhtiH6186 →74 times
מִשְׁפָּ֑טa case
mishpatH4941 →422 times
יָ֝דַ֗עְתִּיI know
yada'tiH3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֶצְדָּֽק׃I am in [the] right
ʾetzdakH6663 →41 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
Job 16:21Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 6:10
Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
- Isaiah 45:9
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Romans 9:20
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Job 31:35
(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
- Job 23:3–7
If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- Ecclesiastes 6:10
Through
Job 9:20Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
it leads to
- Philippians 3:12–15
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
- Psalms 143:2
Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.
- Job 4:17
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
- Philippians 3:12–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XI; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 13:17-18 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.