as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,
Parallel translations
- WEB (for the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils);
- KJV All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
- NKJV As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils,
- NASB For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils,
- NLT As long as I live, while I have breath from God,
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
As long as breath and God's spirit remain in him, Job will speak truly. It matters because Job grounds his integrity in his very life and breath.
Overview
Job declares that while life and the breath of God fill his nostrils he will not betray the truth. He recognizes his very breath as God's gift, sustaining him moment by moment (Gen. 2:7). This awareness that life is held in God's hand frames Job's resolve to remain honest before his Maker.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
- Job 33:4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- Isa 2:22Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Job 32:8But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
- Acts 17:25Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
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 27:3 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.