Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
Parallel translations
- WEB Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; and I would bind it to me as a crown.
- KJV Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
- NKJV Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like a crown;
- NASB I would certainly carry it on my shoulder, I would tie it to myself like a garland.
- NLT I would face the accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown.
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 declares he would proudly carry the indictment on his shoulder and wear it like a crown. He is so confident of his innocence that he would display the charges with honor.
Overview
Job imagines bearing the written accusation openly, even binding it to himself as a crown, so sure is he that it would vindicate rather than condemn him. The image conveys his profound confidence in his integrity. While Job's self-assurance must later be humbled before God, his desire to stand vindicated points to the gospel hope, where believers are clothed not in their own righteousness but in the righteousness of Christ as a crown of glory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 22:22I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
- Job 29:14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.
- Exod 28:12Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.
- Isa 62:3You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
- Phil 4:1Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
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 31:36 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.