Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
Parallel translations
- WEB Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.
- BSB For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
- 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 be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
- Job 8:5If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
- 1 Pet 2:23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
- Job 10:2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
- Job 22:27Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
- Job 5:8I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
- Job 23:7There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
- 1 Cor 4:4For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
- Jer 31:9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Job 34:31–32Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
- 2 Chr 33:13And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
- Dan 9:18O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
- 1 Kgs 8:38–39What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
- Dan 9:3And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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.