Job 27:3
in Job 27as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(For my life is yet whole in me, And the spirit of God is in my nostrils);
KJV
All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAll the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips shall not speak iniquity, nor my tongue meditate falsehood. What he first calls 'iniquity,' this repeating afterwards he calls 'falsehood.' For both all 'falsehood' is 'iniquity,' and all 'iniquity' 'falsehood,' because, whatever thing is at variance with truth is surely at odds with equity. But between this which he expresses, 'to speak' and that which he adds afterwards, to 'meditate,' there is a wide difference. For sometimes it is a worse thing to 'meditate' falsehood than to speak it.
This site's exposition
as long as my breath is still within me
on Job 27:3-4
Job ties his honesty to the breath God gave him, an echo of Genesis 2:7. He pledges that "my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit", under his suffering. Clarke notes the oath's scope, which binds Job's speech for as long as his life lasts.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He relates this oath to what the text adds, "For while breath still exists in me," while I have life which is conserved by breathing. To show that he recognizes that the gift of life comes from God, he then says, "and the spirit of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): All the while my breath is in me. Our resolutions against sin should be thus constant, resolutions for life. In things doubtful and indifferent, it is not safe to be thus peremptory.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
All the while my breath is in me,.... So long the oath of God would be upon him, or he bound himself under it: and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; which signifies the same thing.
On the other hand, since he was conscious to himself of his integrity, and that he was not such a man as his friends represented him, he would never betray his integrity, nor charge himself with that which he was innocent of.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Implying Job's knowledge of the fact that the living soul was breathed into man by God (Ge 2:7). "All the while." But MAURER, "As yet all my breath is in me" (notwithstanding my trials): the reason why I can speak so boldly.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
All the while my breath is in me - As Job appears to allude to the creation of Adam, whom God made out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, the whole of Job’s assertion may be no more than a periphrasis for As long as I live and have my understanding. Indeed נשמתי nishmathi may be rendered my mind or understanding, and רוח אלוה ruach Eloah, the breath of God, the principle of animal life, the same that he breathed into Adam; for it is there said, Gen 2:7, He breathed into his nostrils, נשמת חיים nismath chaiyim, the breath of lives, or that principle from which animal and spiritual life proceeds; in consequence of which he became לנפש חיה lenephesh chaiyah, an intelligent or rational animal.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the spirit of God is in my nostrils - As long as I live. The “spirit of God” here means the breath that God breathed into man when he created him, Gen 2:7. It would seem probable that there was an allusion to that fact by the language here, and that the knowledge of the way in which man was created was thus handed down by tradition.
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 |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| ע֣וֹד | od | still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| נִשְׁמָתִ֣י | nishmati | breath my | H5397 → | 24 times |
| בִ֑י | vi | [is] in me | ||
| וְר֖וּחַ | veruach | and [the] spirit of | H7307 → | 378 times |
| אֱל֣וֹהַּ | ʾeloah | God | H433 → | 57 times |
| בְּאַפִּֽי׃ | beapi | [is] in nostril[s] my | H639 → | 276 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
ע֣וֹדstill
odH5750 →490 times
נִשְׁמָתִ֣יbreath my
nishmatiH5397 →24 times
בִ֑י[is] in me
vi
וְר֖וּחַand [the] spirit of
veruachH7307 →378 times
אֱל֣וֹהַּGod
ʾeloahH433 →57 times
בְּאַפִּֽי׃[is] in nostril[s] my
beapiH639 →276 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
Genesis 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
it leads to
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Acts 17:25
Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- Job 33:4
Through
Job 33:4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
it leads to
- Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 32:8
But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
- Genesis 2:7
Through
Isaiah 2:22Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.