Job 9:28-35

28 I become afraid of all my sufferings; I know that you do not consider me innocent.
29 [If] I shall be [declared] guilty, why then should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap, and I cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you plunge me into the [slime] pit, and my clothes abhor me.
32 "For [he is] not a mortal like me [that] I can answer him, [that] {we can come to trial together}.
33 There is no arbiter between us [that] he might lay his hand on both of us.
34 May he remove his rod from me, and let his dread not terrify me;
35 [then] I would speak and not fear him, for {in myself I am not fearful}.

Job 9:28-35 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 9

This and the following chapter contain Job's answer to Bildad, and in this he asserts the strict justice at God; which is such, that no man can be just in his sight, not being able to answer to one charge, or for one sin, of a thousand he is guilty of, Job 9:1-3; and that such are his wisdom and power, that the most daring man cannot expect to succeed in an opposition to him, Job 9:4; instances are given of his power in the works of nature and providence, Job 9:5-10; notice is taken of the imperceptibleness of his actions and motions, and of his sovereignty in all his ways, Job 9:11,12; and of his fierce wrath and anger, which is such as obliges the proudest of men to stoop under him; and therefore Job chose not to contend in a judicial way with him, but in a suppliant manner would entreat him, since his hand was so heavy upon him, Job 9:13-21; he affirms, in direct opposition to Bildad and his friends, and insists upon it, that God afflicts both the righteous and the wicked; yea, gives the earth to the latter when he slays the former, Job 9:22-24; he then observes the shortness of his days, and complains of his heavy afflictions, Job 9:25-28; and concludes, that it was in vain for him to expect his cause to be heard before God, there being no daysman between them; and wishes that the dread of the Divine Majesty might be taken from him, and then he would freely and without fear speak unto him, Job 9:29-35.

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Or "with snow," or "in snow"
  • [b]. Or the emphatic "Indeed"
  • [c]. Literally "we come together in the justice," or "we come together in the judgment"
  • [d]. Hebrew "and I will not fear him"
  • [e]. Literally "not so I with me"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.