Christian Standard Bible
Job 9:20
20Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.
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 doesn’t let me catch my breath but fills me with bitter experiences. 19If it is a matter of strength, look, he is the powerful one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty. 21Though I am blameless, I no longer care about myself; I renounce my life. 22It is all the same. Therefore I say, “He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”
Read all of Job 9Job 9:20 word by word
אִם־אֶ֭צְדָּק פִּ֣י יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי תָּֽם־אָ֝֗נִי וַֽיַּעְקְשֵֽׁנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 9:20
- Job 9:2Yes, I know what you’ve said is true, but how can a person be justified before God?
- Job 4:17“Can a mortal be righteous before God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”
- Job 32:1So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Psalms 130:3Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
- Psalms 143:2Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous in your sight.
- Luke 10:29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Luke 16:15And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.
- Job 15:5Your iniquity teaches you what to say, and you choose the language of the crafty.
- Job 34:35“Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.”
- Job 35:16Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.
- Proverbs 10:19When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent.
- Isaiah 6:5Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.
- Matthew 12:36I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.
- James 3:2For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.
- Philippians 3:12Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of 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
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