Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
Parallel translations
- WEB There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.
- KJV There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
- NKJV There the upright could reason with Him, And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
- NASB “There the upright would argue with Him; And I would be free of my Judge forever.
- NLT Honest people can reason with him, so I would be forever acquitted by my judge.
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 sure that an upright person could reason with God and be acquitted forever by his Judge. He trusts that a fair trial would clear his name.
Overview
Job affirms his confidence that, before a just God, the upright would be vindicated and delivered from condemnation. This longing for permanent acquittal before the divine Judge anticipates the gospel doctrine of justification, where the believer is declared righteous forever, not by his own integrity but through Christ (Rom 8:1, 33-34).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 13:3Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
- Rom 8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- Isa 1:18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Rom 8:33–34Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
- Job 9:15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
- Jer 3:5Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ This you have spoken, but you keep doing all the evil you can.”
- Rom 3:19–22Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Jer 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
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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 23:7 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.