Job 9:21
in Job 9Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I am perfect; I regard not myself; I despise my life.
KJV
Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
⋯
This verse in Job 9
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThough I were perfect, even this my soul shall not know. Most commonly if we know the good things that we do, we are led to entertain pride; if we are ignorant of them, we cannot keep them.
This site's exposition
Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me
on Job 9:20-22
"Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me" states Job's despair of the process: any words he offers could be turned against him. "He destroys both the blameless and the wicked" is the hardest sentence Job speaks, a charge God never repeats and Job himself retracts at 42:6.
This site's exposition
Though I am blameless
Blameless is the word the narrator used of Job at Job 1:1. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, citing Rosenmuller, read the verse as Job forced before God to despise his own life as if it were guilty. He knows he is blameless.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"If I think I have attained purity in my actions, I will be proved perverse in my words. If I am found blameless in my words, I will be reproached for my actions." In the same manner, if one is righteous in his actions and …
The Medieval Church1 voice
The third degree is when someone, although he might be interiorly conscious of sin, still takes for granted either he had no evil intention or he did not do it from malice and deceit, but from ignorance and weakness. But this testimony also does not …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In the judgment of Sodom indeed, which is called the vengeance of eternal fire ( Jude 7 ), far be it from God to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked ( Gen. xviii. 25 ); but, in judgments merely temporal, the righteous have their share, and sometimes the greatest share.
I could not own nor plead before God the integrity of my soul, but would only make supplication to my judge, I would abhor, or condemn my life, I would not trust to the integrity either of my soul and heart, or of my life, so as to justify myself before the pure and piercing eyes of the all-seeing God.
Though I were perfect,....
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)
Literally, here (and in Job 9:20), "I perfect! I should not know my soul! I would despise," [that is], "disown my life"; that is, Though conscious of innocence, I should be compelled, in contending with the infinite God, to ignore my own soul and despise my past life as if it were guilty [ROSENMULLER].
Though I were perfect - Had I the fullest conviction that, in every thought, word, and deed, I were blameless before him, yet I would not plead this; nor would I think it any security for a life of ease and prosperity, or any proof that my days should be prolonged.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Though I were perfect - The same mode of expression occurs here again. “I perfect! I would not know it, or recognize it. If this were my view, and God judged otherwise, I would seem to be ignorant of it. I would not mention it.” Yet would I not know my soul - Or, “I could not know my soul. If I should advance such a claim, it must be from my ignorance of myself.” Is not this true of all the claims to perfection which have ever been set up by man?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תָּֽם־ | tam- | [am] blameless | H8535 → | 16 times |
| אָ֭נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֵדַ֥ע | ʾeda' | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֗י | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אֶמְאַ֥ס | ʾemas | I reject | H3988 → | 76 times |
| חַיָּֽי׃ | chaiyai | life my | H2416 → | 498 times |
תָּֽם־[am] blameless
tam-H8535 →16 times
אָ֭נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֵדַ֥עI know
ʾeda'H3045 →945 times
נַפְשִׁ֗יself my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
אֶמְאַ֥סI reject
ʾemasH3988 →76 times
חַיָּֽי׃life my
chaiyaiH2416 →498 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 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.
it leads to
- James 5:11
See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
- Ezekiel 14:14
then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ezekiel 14:20
then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves.
- Job 2:3
Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.…
- James 5:11
Through
Proverbs 28:26He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
it leads to
- Job 28:28
And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Romans 8:7
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- Job 28:28
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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IX; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 12.9.20; 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.