Darby Bible
Job 9:20
20If I justified myself, mine own mouth would condemn me; were I perfect, he would 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 suffereth me not to take my breath, for he filleth me with bitternesses. 19Be it a question of strength, lo, [he is] strong; and be it of judgment, who will set me a time? If I justified myself, mine own mouth would condemn me; were I perfect, he would prove me perverse. 21Were I perfect, [yet] would I not know my soul: I would despise my life. 22It is all one; therefore I said, 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 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 purer than his Maker?
- Job 32:1And these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Psalms 130:3If thou, Jah, shouldest mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand?
- Psalms 143:2And enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.
- Luke 10:29But he, desirous of justifying himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
- Luke 16:15And he said to them, Ye are they who justify themselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what amongst men is highly thought of is an abomination before God.
- Job 15:5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty.
- Job 34:35Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were not with intelligence.
- Job 35:16For Job hath opened his mouth in vanity, and made words abundant without knowledge.
- Proverbs 10:19In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression; but he that restraineth his lips doeth wisely.
- Isaiah 6:5And I said, Woe unto me! for I am undone; for 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 12:36But I say unto you, that every idle word which men shall say, they shall render an account of it in judgment-day:
- James 3:2For we all often offend. If any one offend not in word, he [is] a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body too.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil.
- Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained [the prize], or am already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may get possession [of it], seeing that also I have been taken possession 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
Darby Bible — 1889 — Public Domain
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