Job 13:15

Context

The verse occurs in Job's reply (chapters 12–14) to the rebuke of his friend Zophar, within the first cycle of dialogue in the Book of Job (chapters 4–14). Job rebukes his friends for their worthless comfort and announces that he will now bring his case directly to God rather than to them (Job 13:3). In verses 13–14 he declares that he is prepared to risk his life, and in verse 15 he says that even if God should slay him, he will defend his conduct before God—that is, argue his case and show that he is in the right. Verse 16, which immediately follows, states that the godless cannot come before God, so that standing in His presence will itself be Job's salvation.

Interpretation

• As a confession of trust: Following the King James Version's "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," this reading takes the verse as a declaration that Job will trust God even if God kills him. It has been widely cited as a model of faith that holds fast to God to the end amid suffering.
• As a protest in despair: This reading understands Job to say that God will kill him and that he has no hope of survival, yet he will still argue his ways before God. Many modern commentaries and translations follow this reading, and the rendering "I have no hope" in the Korean Revised Version is close to it.
• Holding both readings together: This interpretation holds that Job's very refusal to stop pleading his case before God is itself an expression of a trust that will not let go of God. Verse 16 and the scene in which God declares that Job has spoken what is right (Job 42:7) are cited in support.

Debates and Issues

• Manuscripts and translation: In the Hebrew Masoretic Text, two homophonous words are bound up in this verse. As written (the ketiv), the word is lo' ("not"), yielding "I will not hope" ("I have no hope"); as marked to be read (the qere), it is lo ("to him" or "for him"), yielding "I will hope in him" ("I will wait for him"). Depending on which reading is followed, the meaning becomes nearly the opposite, and translations differ accordingly. This is a question of translation and textual study rather than a matter of denominational dispute.
• Quotation out of context: Some critics note that using this verse solely to mean "endure without complaint no matter what happens" overlooks the fact that Job's words are not silent submission but a protest that confronts God directly.

Related Passages

• Job 1:20–22: Job's first response immediately after disaster
• Job 9:32–33: Job's lament that there is no one to arbitrate between God and himself
• Job 16:19–21: Job's hope in a witness and intercessor in heaven
• Job 42:7–10: The conclusion, in which God declares that Job has spoken what is right
• Habakkuk 3:19: A confession of God as one's strength even amid hardship