So that my soul chooses strangling And death rather than my body.
Parallel translations
- WEB so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
- KJV So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
- BSB so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
- NASB So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.
- NLT I would rather be strangled— rather die than suffer like this.
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 says he would prefer strangling and death to his agonizing existence. His suffering makes death seem a relief.
Overview
In extremity Job confesses he would rather die than endure his bodily torment. This is a cry of despair, not a plan, voiced by a man at the end of his strength. Scripture records such honest depths of human anguish, while ultimately upholding life and pointing the despairing toward hope in God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Matt 27:5He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.
- 2 Sam 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
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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 7:15 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.