Job 13

Job 13 belongs to the closing part of the first cycle of dialogue, in which Job and his three friends speak in turn. In chapter 11, Zophar urged Job to repent, and Job answers him in chapters 12 through 14. Chapter 13 is the middle portion of that reply.

Outline

• Verses 1–2: Job says that he, too, knows everything his friends know.
• Verses 3–12: Job declares that he will reason (argue his own case) directly with the Almighty. He calls his friends "forgers of lies" and "physicians of no value," and says that keeping silent would actually be their wisdom. He warns that if they speak deceitfully while claiming to take God's side, God will reprove them. Their maxims, he says, are "like unto ashes," and their defenses are "bodies of clay" (mounds of earth that easily crumble).
• Verses 13–19: Job resolves to speak, come what may. Even if God slays him, he will maintain his own ways (defend his conduct and set the matter right) before Him. He says that a hypocrite (one whose heart is not upright) shall not come before God, and he is confident that he is in the right.
• Verses 20–28: Job addresses God directly and makes two requests: that God withdraw His hand, and that He not terrify him with His dread. He then asks to be shown how many are his iniquities and sins. Next he asks why God hides His face and holds him for His enemy. Job compares himself to a leaf driven to and fro, to dry stubble, to a man whose feet are put in the stocks (a wooden frame fastened on the feet), and to a moth-eaten garment.

Key Verses

• Job 13:15 "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him." This is one of the most frequently quoted verses in the book of Job, and its meaning differs greatly depending on the translation. See the article Job 13:15 for details.
• Job 13:4 "Ye are all physicians of no value." This is often cited as a criticism of comfort that offers hasty explanations to those who are suffering.
• Job 13:23 "Make me to know my transgression and my sin." Here Job seeks an answer directly from God rather than from his friends.

People and Places

• Job: A man of the land of Uz who undergoes great suffering and disputes with his friends.
• Job's three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They are the ones Job addresses as "ye" in this chapter; the friend who spoke immediately before is Zophar.
• No place names appear in this chapter.

Points for Reflection

• Differences in translating verse 15: The written consonantal text of the Hebrew (the ketiv) reads "not" (lo). By contrast, the reading noted in the margin of the Masoretic Text (the qere) reads the homophone "to him" (lo). The King James Version follows the qere, rendering the verse "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," and this sentence has been widely quoted in the English-speaking world as a confession of faith. The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render it "I have no hope," which is closer to the sense of the ketiv.
• Evaluating Job's attitude: Some interpreters read Job's words, in which he questions God head-on, as honest faith in the midst of suffering. Others see in verse 18, "I know that I shall be justified," an excessive self-righteousness. At the end of the book, God says that the friends have not spoken of Him what is right, as Job has (Job 42:7), and this verse serves as an important basis for both interpretations.
• "The iniquities of my youth" in verse 26: Job does not claim to be entirely without sin. He does, however, reject his friends' explanation that his present suffering is punishment for his sin.
• Connection with the New Testament: The phrase in Philippians 1:19, "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation," matches the wording of Job 13:16 in the Septuagint. For this reason, many commentators believe that Paul had this verse in mind.