Job 27:4

4 my lips shall not speak iniquity, nor my tongue utter deceit.

Job 27:4 Meaning and Commentary

Job 27:4

My lips shall not speak wickedness
This is the thing he swears to, this the matter of his oath, not only that he would not speak a wicked word not anything corrupt, unsavoury, unchaste, profane, and idle nor speak evil of his neighbours and friends or of any man; but that he would not speak wickedly of himself, as he must do, if he owned himself to be a wicked man and an hypocrite as his friends charged him, and they would have had him confessed; but he swears he would not utter such wickedness as long as he had any breath in him:

nor my tongue utter deceit;
which respects the same thing; not merely any fallacy or lie, or what might impose upon and deceive another, which yet he was careful of; but such deceit and falsehood as would be a belying himself, which would be the case should he say that he was devoid of integrity and sincerity.

Job 27:4 In-Context

2 As God lives, who has taken away my rights; and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
3 that all the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips shall not speak iniquity, nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 In no wise should I justify you; until I die I will not remove my integrity from me.
6 I hold fast to my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010