Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
Parallel translations
- WEB I am blameless. I don’t respect myself. I despise my life.
- KJV Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
- NKJV “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.
- NASB “I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I reject my life.
- NLT “I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life.
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 insists he is blameless, yet he no longer cares for himself and despises his life. His integrity brings him no comfort in his misery.
Overview
Job firmly maintains his blamelessness, agreeing with God's own verdict (Job 1:8), yet his suffering has emptied life of value for him. The tension between his clear conscience and his anguish drives him to despair. His honest holding of both integrity and grief reflects the genuine struggle of faith under affliction.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 139:23–24Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.
- Prov 28:26He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
- 1 Cor 4:4My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.
- Job 7:21Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
- 1 Jn 3:20Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.
- Job 7:15–16so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
- Jer 17:9–10The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
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 9:21 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.