Job 15:13
in Job 15as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That against God thou turnest thy spirit, And lettest words go out of thy mouth?
KJV
That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseVer. 13. Why dost thy spirit swell against God, that thou lettest such words go out of thy mouth? Very often when the righteous are afflicted with any woes, they are forced to confess their works, as blessed Job had done, who after just living was pressed down by the strokes of the rod; but when the unrighteous hear their sayings, they think that they are uttered in self-exaltation rather than in truth. For they weigh the words of the righteous by their own feelings, and do not think that good words can be said in a humble spirit.
This site's exposition
Why has your heart carried you away
on Job 15:12-13
Eliphaz reads Job's protests as a loss of self-control: "Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash". His next words restate the charge of chapter 4 more sharply. Henry notes Eliphaz assumes the point in question, whether Job's words attack God or plead with Him.
This site's exposition
turn your spirit against God
Eliphaz reads the flashing eyes of verse 12 as the sign of a spirit turned against God. Clarke draws the picture of an archer who fixes his eye on the mark and lets the arrow fly. Barnes traces Job's words to pride and self-confidence.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he shows that this dispute was presumptuous and impious, also explaining a previous statement, "You blame with words someone who is not equal to you." (v.3) Here then he says, "What causes your spirit to swell against God so that you speak words like …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " Why doth thy heart carry thee away into such indecent irreligious expressions?" Note, Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, Jam. i. If we fly off from God and our duty, or fly out into anything amiss, it is our own heart that carries us away.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
That thou turnest thy spirit against God,.... Not against men, his friends only, but against God himself, being filled with wrath and indignation at him; showing the enmity of his heart unto him, and committing hostilities upon him, stretching out his hand, and strengthening himself against him, running upon him, on the thick bosses of his buckler, as after expressed: and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? as in Job 9:22.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
That thou turnest thy spirit against God - The ideas here seem to be taken from an archer, who turns his eye and his spirit - his desire - against the object which he wishes to hit; and then lets loose his arrow that it may attain the mark.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That thou turnest thy spirit - That your mind is turned against God instead of acquiescing in his dealings. The views of Job he traces to pride and to overweening self-confidence, and perhaps not improperly.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
What is man that he should be innocent What is his strength, that he can be innocent against the Holy One, blessed be He?
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- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תָשִׁ֣יב | tashiv | you will turn | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֵ֣ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| רוּחֶ֑ךָ | ruchekha | spirit your | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וְהֹצֵ֖אתָ | vehotzeta | and you will bring out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מִפִּ֣יךָ | mipikha | from mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| מִלִּֽין׃ | milin | words | H4405 → | 38 times |
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תָשִׁ֣יבyou will turn
tashivH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֵ֣לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
רוּחֶ֑ךָspirit your
ruchekhaH7307 →378 times
וְהֹצֵ֖אתָand you will bring out
vehotzetaH3318 →1067 times
מִפִּ֣יךָfrom mouth your
mipikhaH6310 →498 times
מִלִּֽין׃words
milinH4405 →38 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
Psalms 34:13Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
it leads to
- James 3:5–10
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
- Psalms 141:3
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.
- Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- 1 Peter 2:22
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
- James 1:26
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- James 3:5–10
Through
Job 12:6The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.
it leads to
- Job 9:24
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
- Psalms 73:11–12
The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
- Psalms 17:14
from such men, O LORD, by Your hand— from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they…
- Job 9:24
About Job
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 XII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.