My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Parallel translations
- WEB My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
- KJV My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
- NKJV My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
- NASB “My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
- NLT I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job is reduced to skin and bones and says he has escaped only by the skin of his teeth. He clings to life by the barest margin.
Overview
Job's body is wasted to the point of death, and the vivid phrase 'by the skin of my teeth' conveys his narrow, precarious survival. His physical ruin matches his social and spiritual desolation. Brought to the very edge, Job has nothing left to lean on but the God who alone can sustain and raise the dying.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 102:5Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones.
- Lam 4:8But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
- Job 33:19–22A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,
- Lam 3:4He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones.
- Lam 5:10Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
- Ps 22:14–17I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
- Ps 32:3–4When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Job 7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
- Job 2:4–6“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
- Ps 38:3There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.
- Job 30:30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
- Ps 102:3For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 19:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.