New English Translation
Job 13:14
14Why do I put myself in peril, and take my life in my hands?
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?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hands?
Context of Job 13:14
12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. 13“Refrain from talking with me so that I may speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put myself in peril, and take my life in my hands? 15Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face! 16Moreover, this will become my deliverance, for no godless person would 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 to pieces in your anger, will the earth be abandoned for your sake? Or will a rock be moved from its place?
- Ecclesiastes 4:5The fool folds his hands and does no work, so he has nothing to eat but his own flesh.
- Isaiah 9:20They devoured on the right, but were still hungry, they ate on the left, but were not satisfied. People even ate the flesh of their own arm!
- Isaiah 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. Then all humankind will recognize that I am the Lord, your deliverer, your protector, the powerful ruler of Jacob.”
- Judges 12:3When I saw that you were not going to help, I risked my life and advanced against the Ammonites, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why have you come up to fight with me today?”
- 1 Samuel 19:5He risked his life when he struck down the Philistine and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”
- 1 Samuel 28:21When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your servant has done what you asked. I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.
- Psalms 119:109My life is in continual danger, 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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries