New Living Translation
Job 13:14
14Why should I put myself in mortal danger and take my life in my own 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 platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot. 13“Be silent now and leave me alone. Let me speak, and I will face the consequences. Why should I put myself in mortal danger and take my life in my own hands? 15God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him. 16But this is what will save me—I am not godless. If I were, I could not stand 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 may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?
- Ecclesiastes 4:5“Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”
- Isaiah 9:20They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.
- Isaiah 49:26I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.”
- Judges 12:3So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?”
- 1 Samuel 19:5Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the Lord brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!”
- 1 Samuel 28:21When the woman saw how distraught he was, she said, “Sir, I obeyed your command at the risk of my life.
- Psalms 119:109My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions.
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 Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries