Job 9:29

Job 9:29 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
• New International Version (NIV)Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?
• English Standard Version (ESV)I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain?
• New King James Version (NKJV)If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain?

Context of Job 9:29

27If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad appearance, and be cheerful and brighten up,’ 28I am afraid of all my pains and worries [yet to come]; I know that You will not acquit me and leave me unpunished. I am accounted wicked and held guilty; Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]? 30If I were to wash myself with snow And cleanse my hands with lye, 31You would still plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would hate me [and refuse to cover my foul body].

Job 9:29 word by word

אָנֹכִ֥י אֶרְשָׁ֑ע לָמָּה־זֶּ֝֗ה הֶ֣בֶל אִיגָֽע׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I be wickedרָשַׁעrâsha‛ · be wickedH7561
• why then labourיָגֵעַyâga‛ · be weary/toilH3021
• I in vainהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892

Cross-references for Job 9:29

• Job 9:22It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’
• Job 10:7Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked, Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.
• Job 21:16But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power); The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God’s dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension.
• Job 22:5Is not your wickedness great, And your sins without end?
• Psalms 73:13Surely then in vain I have cleansed my heart And washed my hands in innocence.
• Jeremiah 2:35Yet you keep saying, ‘I am innocent; Surely His anger has turned away from me.’ Behold (listen very carefully), I will bring you to judgment and will plead my case against you Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

Commentaries on Job 9:29

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 29If I be wicked - If I am the sinner you suppose me to be, in vain should I labor to counterfeit joy, and cease to complain of my sufferings.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 29If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? - The word “if,” here introduced by our translators, greatly obscures the sense. The meaning evidently is, “I am held to be guilty, and cannot answer to that charge. God regards me as such, and if I should attempt to meet him on the charge, it would be a vain attempt; and I must admit its truth. It would be labor in vain to deny it against one so mighty as he is.” This interpretation accords with the argument in…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 25-35Verses 25-35 What little need have we of pastimes, and what great need to redeem time, when it runs on so fast towards eternity! How vain the enjoyments of time, which we may quite lose while yet time continues! The remembrance of having done our duty will be pleasing afterwards; so will not the remembrance of having got worldly wealth, when it is all lost and gone. Job's complaint of God, as one that could not be appeased and would not relent, was the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-35Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case. It includes: A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32). The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20). A "mediator" (9:33–34). A question of accusation (9:12). A legal sentence (9:22). A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2929. The "if" is better omitted; I (am treated by God as) wicked; why then labor I in vain (to disprove His charge)? Job submits, not so much because he is convinced that God is right, as because God is powerful and he weak [Barnes].Read the comment

Topics related to Job 9:29

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Depravity of Man
• God

In the dictionaries

• Chamber
• Contend
• Daysman
• Pillar
• Job, Book of
• condemn, condemned, condemnation

Commentaries on Job 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings