Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
Parallel translations
- WEB then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.
- BSB then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.
- NKJV Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, Let my arm be torn from the socket.
- NASB May my shoulder fall from its socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow.
- NLT then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket!
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 accepts that if he had oppressed the fatherless, his arm should be torn from its socket. He stakes his bodily strength on his innocence.
Overview
Completing the oath of verse 21, Job invites that the arm he might have raised in injustice be broken and fall from his shoulder if he is guilty. The self-curse fits the offense, since the arm was the instrument of any wrongdoing against the weak. The severity shows Job's confidence in his integrity and his reverence for the God who judges injustice, a judgment Christ bore on behalf of the guilty.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Josh 22:22–23The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
- Job 38:15And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
- Job 31:40Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
- Job 31:10Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
- Ps 7:4–5If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
- Ps 137:6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 31:22 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.