English Standard Version
Job 13:14
14Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?
Job 13:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
- New International Version (NIV)Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hands?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Why should I put myself in mortal danger and take my life in my own hands?
Context of Job 13:14
12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. 13"Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may. Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand? 15Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face. 16This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.
Read all of Job 13Job 13:14 word by word
עַל־מָ֤ה׀ אֶשָּׂ֣א בְשָׂרִ֣י בְשִׁנָּ֑י וְ֝נַפְשִׁ֗י אָשִׂ֥ים בְּכַפִּֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 13:14
- Job 18:4You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?
- Ecclesiastes 4:5The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
- Isaiah 9:20They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm,
- Isaiah 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
- Judges 12:3And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?"
- 1 Samuel 19:5For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?"
- 1 Samuel 28:21And the woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, "Behold, your servant has obeyed you. I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me.
- Psalms 119:109I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.
Commentaries on Job 13:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth - A proverbial expression. I risk every thing on the justice of my cause. I put my life in my hand, 1 Samuel 28:21. I run all hazards; I am fearless of the consequences.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth - The meaning of the proverbial expressions in this verse is not very clear. They indicate a state of great danger; but the exact sense of the proverbs it has been difficult to ascertain. Some have supposed that the phrase “to take the flesh in the teeth,” is significant of a state of famine, where a man dying from this cause would cease upon his own flesh and devour it; others, that it refers to the contentions of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-22Verses 13-22 Job resolved to cleave to the testimony his own conscience gave of his uprightness. He depended upon God for justification and salvation, the two great things we hope for through Christ. Temporal salvation he little expected, but of his eternal salvation he was very confident; that God would not only be his Saviour to make him happy, but his salvation, in the sight and enjoyment of whom he should be happy. He knew himself not to be a…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. A proverb for, "Why should I anxiously desire to save my life?" [Eichorn]. The image in the first clause is that of a wild beast, which in order to preserve his prey, carries it in his teeth. That in the second refers to men who hold in the hand what they want to keep secure.Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 13
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries