American Standard Version
Job 9:20
20Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me:Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse.
Job 9:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
- New International Version (NIV)Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
Context of Job 9:20
18He will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness. 19Ifwe speakof strength, lo, he ismighty! And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me? Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me: Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse. 21I am perfect; I regard not myself; I despise my life. 22It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
Read all of Job 9Job 9:20 word by word
אִם־אֶ֭צְדָּק פִּ֣י יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי תָּֽם־אָ֝֗נִי וַֽיַּעְקְשֵֽׁנִי׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Job 9:20
- Job 9:2Of a truth I know that it is so: But how can man be just with God?
- Job 4:17Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
- Job 32:1So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Psalms 130:3If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
- Psalms 143:2And enter not into judgment with thy servant; For in thy sight no man living is righteous.
- Luke 10:29But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
- Luke 16:15And he said unto them, Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
- Job 15:5For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth, And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
- Job 34:35Job speaketh without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom.
- Job 35:16Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity; He multiplieth words without knowledge.
- Proverbs 10:19In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression; But he that refraineth his lips doeth wisely.
- Isaiah 6:5Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.
- Matthew 12:36And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
- James 3:2For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.
- Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.
Commentaries on Job 9:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If I justify myself - God must have some reason for his conduct towards me; I therefore do not pretend to justify myself; the attempt to do it would be an insult to his majesty and justice. Though I am conscious of none of the crimes of which you accuse me; and know not why he contends with me; yet he must have some reason, and that reason he does not choose to explain.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me - That is, referring still to the form of a judicial trial, if I should undertake to manage my own cause, I should lay myself open to condemnation even in my argument on the subject, and should show that I was far from the perfection which I had undertaken to maintain. By passionate expressions; by the language of complaint and murmuring; by a want of suitable reverence; by showing my ignorance of the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 Job is still righteous in his own eyes, ch. 32:1, and this answer, though it sets forth the power and majesty of God, implies that the question between the afflicted and the Lord of providence, is a question of might, and not of right; and we begin to discover the evil fruits of pride and of a self-righteous spirit. Job begins to manifest a disposition to condemn God, that he may justify himself, for which he is afterwards reproved. Still Job…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. 2020. it--(Job 15:6; Lu 19:22); or "He," God.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 9:20
In the dictionaries
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
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries