Job 27:3

3 as long as God gives me breath,

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 I swear by the living Almighty God,
2 who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter -
3 as long as God gives me breath,
4 my lips will never say anything evil, my tongue will never tell a lie.
5 I will never say that you men are right; I will insist on my innocence to my dying day.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.