Job 14:16
in Job 14For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But now thou numberest my steps: Dost thou not watch over my sin?
KJV
For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
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This verse in Job 14
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor now thou numberest my steps,.... Or "but now" (g), at this present time thou seemest to have no desire to me, or affection for me, but the reverse.
This site's exposition
You would count my steps
on Job 14:16-17
Verse 16 speaks of what God would do: "You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin". Job pictures "My transgression would be sealed in a bag". Gill gives the figure of a merchant's sealed bag, its contents unchanged until the day it is opened.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 16. For now Thou numberest my steps, but Thou sparest my sins. God 'numbers our steps,' when He marks each one of our several deeds for the recompensing them. For what is denoted by the steps, but each particular act of ours? Thus Almighty God both 'numbers our steps' and 'spares our sins,' in that He at once surveys our actions with exactness, and yet remits them in mercy to those that repent, Who both sees obduracy in those that sin, and yet softens it into penitence by preventing grace.
Now that he has posited his opinion about the resurrection of the dead, he returns to the subject of his wonder before at how much careful attention God gives to the works of man. He expressed this when he said, "You observed all my paths …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
God does indeed see all our sins; he sees sin in his own people; but he is not severe in reckoning with us, nor is the law ever stretched against us, but we are punished less than our iniquities deserve. God does indeed seal and sew up, against the day of wrath, the transgression of the impenitent, but the sins of his people he blots out as a cloud.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For now thou numberest my steps - כי עתה ki attah, Although thou, etc. Though thou, by thy conduct towards me, seemest bent on my utter destruction, yet thou delightest in mercy, and I shall be saved.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Rather, "Yea, thou wilt number my steps, and wilt not (as now) jealously watch over my sin." Thenceforward, instead of severe watching for every sin of Job, God will guard him against every sin. number . . . steps--that is, minutely attend to them, that they may not wander [UMBREIT] (1Sa 2:9;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For now thou numberest my steps - Thou dost make strict inquiry into all my conduct, that thou mayest mark my errors, and hold me bound to punishment. The sense is, that God treated him now with severity; and he besought him to have pity on him, and bring him to trial, and give him an opportunity to vindicate himself.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Call This is a supplication. Call to me and I will answer you to prove my case.
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. 6 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַ֭תָּה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| צְעָדַ֣י | tzeadai | steps my | H6806 → | 14 times |
| תִּסְפּ֑וֹר | tispor | you will count | H5608 → | 159 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִ֝שְׁמ֗וֹר | tishmor | you will watch | H8104 → | 468 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| חַטָּאתִֽי׃ | chatati | sin my | H2403 → | 295 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עַ֭תָּהnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
צְעָדַ֣יsteps my
tzeadaiH6806 →14 times
תִּסְפּ֑וֹרyou will count
tisporH5608 →159 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִ֝שְׁמ֗וֹרyou will watch
tishmorH8104 →468 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
חַטָּאתִֽי׃sin my
chatatiH2403 →295 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 34:21For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 31:4
Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
- Jeremiah 16:17
For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
- Proverbs 15:3
Through
Proverbs 5:21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:19
the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Jeremiah 32:19
Through
Job 31:4Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
it leads to
- Job 34:21
For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 5:21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…
- Job 34:21
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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 XII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.