Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- 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 15:16Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
- Ps 119:11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
- Ps 119:103How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
- John 4:34Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
- Ps 19:9–10The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
- Job 22:22Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
- John 8:31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
- John 4:32But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
- John 6:66–69From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
- Job 6:10Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
- Acts 14:22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
- 1 Pet 2:2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
- Luke 12:42And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
- Luke 12:46The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
- Heb 10:38–39Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 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.