Bear with me that I may speak, And after I have spoken, keep mocking.
Parallel translations
- WEB Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on.
- KJV Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
- BSB Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
- NASB “Bear with me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may mock me.
- NLT Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me.
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 asks them to bear with him while he speaks, and then they may mock on afterward. He claims his turn to be heard.
Overview
With a touch of weary irony, Job requests space to make his case, granting that they can resume their mockery once he has finished. He insists on his right to speak before being dismissed. The verse reflects the dignity owed even to the suffering to voice their grief, and the patience love should extend before passing judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 17:2Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation.
- Job 16:10They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.
- Job 16:20My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,
- Job 13:9Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him?
- Job 12:4–5I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
- Job 33:31–33Mark well, Job, and listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will speak.
- Job 13:13“Be silent, leave me alone, that I may speak. Let come on me what will.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 21:3 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.