For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
Parallel translations
- WEB Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.
- KJV Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
- NKJV For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.
- NASB “For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my Judge.
- NLT Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy.
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 that even if he were righteous, he could not answer God, but could only plead for mercy from his judge. He must appeal to grace, not merit.
Overview
Remarkably, Job admits that even genuine righteousness would not let him argue as an equal with God; he could only beg for mercy. This insight points beyond self-justification to the need for grace. It anticipates the gospel truth that sinners stand before God not on their own merit but by his mercy in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 10:15If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
- Job 8:5But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy,
- 1 Pet 2:23When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
- Job 10:2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
- Job 22:27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
- Job 5:8However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him—
- Job 23:7Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
- 1 Cor 4:4My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.
- Jer 31:9They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
- Job 34:31–32Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more.
- 2 Chr 33:13And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.
- Dan 9:18Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.
- 1 Kgs 8:38–39then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—
- Dan 9:3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
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 9:15 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.