Tree of Life Version
Job 9:20
20Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me. If I were guiltless, it will 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 catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. 19If it is a question of strength— certainly, He is the mighty One! If it is a matter of justice— who will summon me? Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me. If I were guiltless, it will declare me perverse. 21“I am guiltless. I have no concern for myself. I despise my life. 22It is all the same, therefore I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
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 it is so, but how can one be righteous before God?
- Job 4:17‘Can a mortal be righteous before God; or a man pure before his Creator?
- Job 32:1So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
- Psalms 130:3If You, Adonai, kept a record of iniquities— my Lord, who could stand?
- Psalms 143:2Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for in Your eyes no one living is righteous.
- Luke 10:29But wanting to vindicate himself, he said to Yeshua, “Then who is my neighbor?”
- Luke 16:15But He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before the people, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable in God’s sight.”
- Job 15:5For your iniquity prompts your mouth and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
- Job 34:35‘Job speaks without knowledge, and his words lack understanding.’
- Job 35:16So Job opens his mouth with nonsense, without knowledge he multiplies words.”
- Proverbs 10:19When words abound, transgression is unavoidable. but whoever restrains his lips is wise.
- Isaiah 6:5Then I said: “Oy to me! For I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I am dwelling among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, Adonai-Tzva’ot!”
- Matthew 12:36But I tell you that on the Day of Judgment, men will give account for every careless word they speak.
- James 3:2For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. Now that man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
- Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained this or been perfected, but I press on if only I might take hold of that for which Messiah Yeshua took 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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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