New English Translation
Job 9:20
20Although I am innocent, my mouth would condemn me; although I am blameless, it would declare 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 does not allow me to recover my breath, for he fills me with bitterness. 19If it is a matter of strength, most certainly he is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ Although I am innocent, my mouth would condemn me; although I am blameless, it would declare me perverse. 21I am blameless. I do not know myself. I despise my life. 22“It is all one! That is why I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
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 9:2“Truly, I know that this is so. But how can a human be just before God?
- Job 4:17“Is a mortal man righteous before God? Or a man pure before his Creator?
- Job 32:1So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Psalms 130:3If you, O Lord, were to keep track of sins, O Lord, who could stand before you?
- Psalms 143:2Do not sit in judgment on your servant, for no one alive is innocent before you.
- Luke 10:29But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Luke 16:15But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.
- Job 15:5Your sin inspires your mouth; you choose the language of the crafty.
- Job 34:35that Job speaks without knowledge and his words are without understanding.
- Job 35:16So Job opens his mouth to no purpose; without knowledge he multiplies words.”
- Proverbs 10:19When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise.
- Isaiah 6:5I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.”
- Matthew 12:36I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak.
- James 3:2For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was pure and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
- Philippians 3:12Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.
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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