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deliver me from the hand of the enemy; redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless’?
Job 6:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand?’ or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?’
  • KJV Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
  • NKJV Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’? Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’?
  • NASB Or, ‘Save me from the hand of the enemy,’ Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?
  • NLT Have I asked you to rescue me from my enemies, or to save me from ruthless people?

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

Nor did he ask them to rescue him from an enemy or redeem him from oppressors. Job stresses that his need of them required no great sacrifice.

Overview

Job continues that he never begged deliverance from foes or ransom from the powerful, so their failure is not from any heavy request. He needed only their sympathy and honesty. The mention of redemption from the oppressor's hand quietly points beyond his friends to the true Redeemer, for the rescue no human friend could give, God provides in Christ, who ransoms his people from every enemy.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Jer 15:21I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
  • Ps 49:15But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
  • Ps 49:7–8No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
  • Job 5:20In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
  • Ps 107:2Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
  • Neh 5:8and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.
  • Lev 25:48he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 6:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 6:23 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.