Job 9:15
in Job 9For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge.
KJV
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
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This verse in Job 9
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWho, though I possessed any thing righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my Judge. For, as we have often said, all human righteousness is proved unrighteousness, if it be judged by strict rules. And so there is need of prayer following after righteousness, that this, which if sifted to the bottom might be brought down, may be firmly established in the mere pitifulness of the Judge. And when this is possessed fully by the more perfect sort, it is said that they possess a something of it.
This site's exposition
How then can I answer Him
on Job 9:14-19
"How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him" draws the conclusion. If mountains and stars obey without argument, a man has less standing still. "For even if I were right, I could not answer" states Job's fear that real innocence would find no hearing.
This site's exposition
I could only beg my Judge for mercy
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown compare Paul at 1 Corinthians 4:4, whose clear conscience still left the verdict to the Lord. Even if he were right, Job would beg his Judge for mercy. He lays down his plea.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Sometimes although one is not powerful or wise, he is still not afraid to argue with a judge because of the security of his conscience. But Job excludes this reason for disputing with God from his case when he says, "Even if I were somewhat …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
"I dare not put myself upon that issue, lest God should charge that upon me which I did not discover in myself." Job will therefore wave that plea, and make supplication to his Judge, that is, will cast himself upon God's mercy, and not think come off by his own merit.
Tho' - Though I were not conscious to myself of any sin. Would not - I durst not undertake to plead my cause against him; or maintain my integrity before him, because he knows me better than I know myself.
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer,....
He knew how to make his part good with his friends, and thought himself able to deal with them; but, though his cause had been better than it was, he knew it was to no purpose to debate it with God.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Though I were conscious of no sin, yet I would not dare to say so, but leave it to His judgment and mercy to justify me (1Co 4:4). 16, 17. would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice--who breaketh me (as a tree stripped of its leaves) with a tempest.
Though I were righteous - Though clear of all the crimes, public and secret, of which you accuse me, yet I would not dare to stand before his immaculate holiness. Man’s holiness may profit man, but in the sight of the infinite purity of God it is nothing. Thus sung an eminent poet: - “I loathe myself when God I see, And into nothing fall; Content that thou exalted be, And Christ be all in all.” I would make supplication to my Judge - Though not conscious of any sin, I should not think myself thereby justified; but would, from a conviction of the exceeding breadth of the commandment, and the limited nature of my own perfection, cry out, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults!”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Whom, though I were righteous - That is, if I felt the utmost confidence that I was righteous, yet, if God judged otherwise, and regarded me as a sinner, I would not reply to him, but would make supplication to him as a sinner. I would have so much confidence in him, and would feel that he was so much better qualified than I am to judge, and that I am so liable to be deceived, that I would come to him as a sinner, if he judged and declared me to be one, and would plead for pardon.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | [I] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | though | H518 → | 1069 times |
| צָ֭דַקְתִּי | tzadakti | I am righteous | H6663 → | 41 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶעֱנֶ֑ה | ʾeeneh | I will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| לִ֝מְשֹׁפְטִ֗י | limshofeti | to judge my | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶתְחַנָּֽן׃ | ʾetchanan | I will seek favor | H2603 → | 78 times |
אֲשֶׁ֣ר[I] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אִם־though
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
צָ֭דַקְתִּיI am righteous
tzadaktiH6663 →41 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶעֱנֶ֑הI will answer
ʾeenehH6030 →331 times
לִ֝מְשֹׁפְטִ֗יto judge my
limshofetiH8199 →202 times
אֶתְחַנָּֽן׃I will seek favor
ʾetchananH2603 →78 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
1 Peter 2:23When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
it leads to
- Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not…
- 1 Peter 4:19
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
- Hebrews 12:3
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Psalms 37:5
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.
- Isaiah 53:7
Through
Job 10:2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
it leads to
- Psalms 139:23–24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Psalms 139:23–24
Through
Job 22:27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
it leads to
- Isaiah 58:9
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and…
- 1 John 5:14–15
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
- Psalms 116:1
I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice— my appeal for mercy.
- Isaiah 58:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IX; 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.