Job 27:3

3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

Job 27:3 Meaning and Commentary

Job 27:3

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. The breath of a man is his spirit, and this is of God, the Father of spirits; he first breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul or spirit, ( Genesis 2:7 ) ; it is he that gives life and breath to every man, ( Acts 17:25 ) , and continues it as long as he pleases, which is a very precarious thing; for it is in his nostrils, where it is drawn to and fro and soon and easily stopped; nor will it always continue, it will some time not be, it will go forth, and then man dies, and returns to the earth, ( Ecclesiastes 12:7 ) ; but as long as there is breath there is life; so that to say this is the same as to say, as long as I live, or have a being, ( Psalms 104:33 ) ( 116:2 ) ; and while that continued, Job looked upon himself under the oath he had taken by the living God.

Job 27:3 In-Context

1 And Job continued his parable and said,
2 [As] God liveth, who hath taken away my right, and the Almighty, who hath embittered my soul,
3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 My lips shall not speak unrighteousness, nor my tongue utter deceit!
5 Be it far from me that I should justify you; till I die I will not remove my blamelessness from me.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Spirit of Eloah: see Eccles. 12.7; Num. 16.22; 27.16; Heb. 12.9.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.