I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Parallel translations
- KJV Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
- BSB I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
- NKJV I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.
- NASB “I have not failed the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
- NLT I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.
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 has prized God's commands more than his daily food. It matters as a portrait of someone who treasures God's word above bodily need.
Overview
Job claims he has never turned from God's commandments but valued His words above necessary nourishment. This echoes the conviction that man does not live by bread alone but by every word from God's mouth (Deut. 8:3). Jesus quoted that very truth in His temptation, embodying perfectly the love for the Father's word that Job here professes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Jer 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
- Ps 119:11I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
- Ps 119:103How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!
- John 4:34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.
- Ps 19:9–10The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.
- Job 22:22Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
- John 8:31Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
- John 4:32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.
- John 6:66–69At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
- Job 6:10Be it still my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn’t spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
- Acts 14:22confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.
- 1 Pet 2:2as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow,
- Luke 12:42The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
- Luke 12:46then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn’t expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful.
- Heb 10:38–39But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 23:12 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.