Job 19:4
in Job 19Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.
KJV
And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
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This verse in Job 19
Commentary
11 notes on this verse"And if I—let us suppose—had done things that should not have been done, even if I had been in such a condition, was it not necessary just the same that you felt ashamed while seeing my afflictions, disease, worms and loss of goods? But you approach me without commiserating with me and without feeling any sympathy for my adversities."
This site's exposition
Then Job answered
on Job 19:1-5
Gill notes that "Ten times now you have reproached me" is a round number of completeness. His answer to their exalting themselves is "my error concerns me alone": a hidden fault, if there were one, would be God's business alone. Henry sets their treatment against the better silence of 2:13.
This site's exposition
my error concerns me alone
Chrysostom reads the line as a concession: grant that Job has gone astray, and the error still harms no one else. Henry sets it against the friends, who press their own errors on others. Barnes calls their reproach a meddlesome interference.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Job says this as a concession. He always acts in this manner, by multiplying his concessions. He does not allow the discussion to languish on the same point but begins his fight again. Let us admit, he says, that you reprove my words for being foolish, vain and inopportune. You, nonetheless, had no reason to insult me, even if things were so, but it was necessary to respect my distress, to fear him who had struck me, to forgive because of the greatness of my misfortunes.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Among other reproaches Baldath seems to have blamed him for ignorance, when he had said, "Understand first and then we will speak." (18:2) The friends certainly should have tolerated this ignorance. He should been excused because of it, but he should not have been reproached …
And be it indeed that I have been ignorant, my ignorance remaineth with myself. Heretics have this about them, that they are swoln by the empty pretensions of their knowledge, and often turn to ridicule the simplicity of those that believe rightly, and account the life of the humble to be of no worth. On the other hand Holy Church, in all that she has really wise in her, keeps low the level of her view in humility, that she be not puffed up by knowledge, nor be made to swell high on the seeking out of things hidden, and venture to dive into points, that are above her powers. For with more profit to herself she is anxious not to know things she is unable to fathom, rather than boldly to define things she does not know. As it is written; It is not good to eat much honey: so he that is a searcher of majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory. For if the sweetness of honey be taken in greater measure than there is occasion for, from the same source whence the palate is gratified, the life of the eater is destroyed, The 'searching into majesty' is also sweet; but he, that seeks to dive into it deeper than the cognizance of human nature admits, finds the mere gloriousness thereof by itself oppress him, in that, like honey takes in excess, it bursts the sense of the searcher which is not capable of holding it. Now that is said to be 'with' us, which is for us; and on the other hand that is said not to be with us, that is against us; and so, because his own knowledge puffs out the heart of the heretic, while his perception of his own ignorance abases the faithful, let blessed Job say in his own voice, let him say also in the confession of the Church Universal, And be it indeed that I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"I see you will magnify yourselves against me, notwithstanding all I have said in my own justification." Those that speak too much seldom think they have said enough; and, when the mouth is opened in passion, the ear is shut to reason.
It is folly to think ourselves infallible. "But be it so," said Job, " my error remaineth with myself, " that is, "I speak according to the best of my judgment, with all sincerity, and not from a spirit of contradiction." Or, "If I be in an error, I keep it to myself, and do not impose it upon others as you do.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And be it indeed that I have erred,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
And be it indeed that I have erred - Suppose indeed that I have been mistaken in any thing, that in the simplicity of my heart I have gone astray, and that this matter remains with myself, (for most certainly there is no public stain on my life), you must grant that this error, whatsoever it is, has hurt no person except myself. Why then do ye treat me as a person whose life has been a general blot, and whose example must be a public curse?
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And be it indeed that I have erred - Admitting that I have erred, it is my own concern. You have a right to reproach and revile me in this manner. Mine error abideth with myself - I must abide the consequences of the error.” The design of this seems to be to reprove what he regarded as an improper and meddlesome interference with his concerns. Or it may be an expression of a willingness to bear all the consequences himself. He was willing to meet all the fair results of his own conduct.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַף־ | veaf- | and even | H637 → | 134 times |
| אָמְנָ֥ם | ʾamenam | truly | H551 → | 9 times |
| שָׁגִ֑יתִי | shagiti | I have erred | H7686 → | 21 times |
| אִ֝תִּ֗י | ʾiti | with me | H854 → | 929 times |
| תָּלִ֥ין | talin | it lodges | H3885 → | 84 times |
| מְשׁוּגָתִֽי׃ | meshugati | error my | H4879 → |
וְאַף־and even
veaf-H637 →134 times
אָמְנָ֥םtruly
ʾamenamH551 →9 times
שָׁגִ֑יתִיI have erred
shagitiH7686 →21 times
אִ֝תִּ֗יwith me
ʾitiH854 →929 times
תָּלִ֥יןit lodges
talinH3885 →84 times
מְשׁוּגָתִֽי׃error my
meshugatiH4879 →
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
2 Corinthians 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
it leads to
- Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- Revelation 22:12
“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Ephesians 6:8
because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
- Psalms 62:12
and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
- Matthew 16:27
Through
Ezekiel 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Numbers 16:22
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Ezekiel 18:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Job
This page draws on 11 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 XIV; John Chrysostom, Commentary on Job; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 19:3B-6A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 13.15, 29 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.