Job 23:12

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Job

Job 23

Job 23:12

12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

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Job 23:12 in Other Translations

KJV

12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

ESV

12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

NLT

12 I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.

MSG

12 I've obeyed every word he's spoken, and not just obeyed his advice - I've treasured it.

CSB

12 I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily food.

Job 23:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 23:12

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips,
&c.] From any of the commandments his lips had uttered; meaning not the ten commandments given to Israel, which perhaps as yet were not given, or had not come to the knowledge of Job; some speak of the seven commandments, given to the sons of Noah; (See Gill on Genesis 9:4). It seems to design any and every commandment that God had given to Noah or Abraham, or any of the patriarchs, before the times of Job, and which he had knowledge of, and which he carefully observed, kept close to, and did not deviate from; but made it the rule of his walk and practice:

I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary [food];
the words of the Lord, the doctrines of grace that came from his mouth, are food for faith; there are in them milk for babes, and meat for strong men; they are savoury, salutary, and wholesome words, by which the people of God are nourished up unto eternal life; and they are esteemed by them more than the food that is necessary and convenient for their bodies; see ( Proverbs 30:8 ) ; for as the soul is preferable to the body, so the food of the one is preferable to the food of the other, and is sweeter, as the words of God are, to the taste of a believer, than honey, or the honeycomb: or "I have hid or laid up, the words of his mouth" ^F2; he had laid them up in his heart, in order to meditate upon them, and receive comfort and spiritual nourishment from them when he should want it, as men lay up their food in a proper place against the time they want it for their support and refreshment; and Job was more careful to lay up the one than the other; see ( Psalms 119:11 ) ; here Job meets with, and has respect unto, the advice of Eliphaz, ( Job 22:22 ) ; and signifies that he had no need to have given him it, he had done this already.

FOOTNOTES:

F2 (ytnpu) "abscondi", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Bolducius; "recondidi", Tigurine version, Beza, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens; so Broughton.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible