New International Version
Job 13:14
14Why do I put myself in jeopardy 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?
- 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?
- 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“Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? 15Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. 16Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare 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, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?
- Ecclesiastes 4:5Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves.
- Isaiah 9:20On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:
- Isaiah 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
- Judges 12:3When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”
- 1 Samuel 19:5He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
- 1 Samuel 28:21When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.
- Psalms 119:109Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will 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
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Commentaries