Job 9:15

Verse

For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

American Standard Version (1901)

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge.

Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.

Free Bible Version

Even though I'm right, I can't answer him. I must plead for mercy from my judge.

King James (Authorized) Version

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

Translation for Translators

Even though I ◄would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong►, I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Even if I were righteous, I could not answer him; I could only plead for mercy with my judge.

Noah Webster Bible

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

World English Bible

Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.

Young's Literal Translation

Whom, though I were righteous, I answer not, For my judgment I make supplication.

Context

Job: How Can I Contend with God?

¹⁴How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? ¹⁵For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. ¹⁶If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

Summary

In this verse, Job expresses his sense of helplessness and inability to answer God if he were to call him to account. Job acknowledges God's sovereignty and power, recognizing that he would not be able to present his case before Him. This verse reflects Job's humility and awe in the presence of God's greatness, highlighting the vast difference between human limitations and divine wisdom. Job's words reveal a deep respect for God's authority and a realization of the futility of trying to contend with the Almighty.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Though I were righteous - Though clear of all the crimes, public and secret, of which you accuse me, yet I would not dare to stand before his immaculate holiness. Man's holiness may profit man, but in the sight of the infinite purity of God it is nothing. Thus sung an eminent poet: - "I loathe myself when God I see,And into nothing fall; Content that thou exalted be,And Christ be all in all." I would make supplication to my Judge - Though not conscious of any sin, I should not think myself thereby justified; but would, from a conviction of the exceeding breadth of the commandment, and the limited nature of my own perfection, cry out, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults!"

John Gill Bible Commentary

If I had called, and he had answered me,.... Mr. Broughton reads the words, "if I cry, will he answer me?" as if Job had some doubt upon his mind whether God would vouchsafe to answer him, though he should make his supplication to him, as he proposed; seeing he had so sorely afflicted him, and still continued his hand upon him; or the words may be rendered, "though I have called, and he has answered" (q), in times past. Job was a praying person, he had often prayed to God in his closet, and in his family, for himself, and for his children, and for his friends, and he had found God to be a God hearing and answering prayer, but seems to question whether he would answer him now, if he did pray to him: yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice, or "would hearken" (r), at this time, and under the present circumstances; or should he, the mercy would be so great, that he could hardly believe it; so sometimes through joy men cannot believe what they hear and see, as the apostles, when Christ appeared to them after his resurrection; or as it was with the Jews returned from Babylon, they were like them that dream, they could scarcely tell whether their deliverance was a real fact, or whether they only dreamed of it, see Luk 24:41; so Job intimates, that should he pray to God, and be heard and delivered, it would be so astonishing and transporting, that at first he should not be able to give credit to it; or, however, he should not believe that it was for his prayers and supplications, for any worth and value, virtue and efficacy, there was in them, that he was heard; but it must be purely for his mercy's sake, for the sake of the mediation of Christ, and because these prayers were the breathings of his own spirit: or else the sense is, that though he had heard and answered him formerly, when he prayed in a supplicating way, yet if he should contend with him in a judicial way, and insist upon his own righteousness, and present his supplication to God on that account, he could never expect to be heard; and, indeed, he could not believe he should be heard on any account, so long as his present sufferings lasted; which seems to be the sense of what follows, where he gives his reasons for such belief, or rather unbelief. (q) "etiamsi clamavi et respondit mihi", Schmidt. (r) "quod exauditurus esset", Schmidt.

Job 9:15

Job: How Can I Contend with God?

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

American Standard Version (1901)

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge.

Bible in Basic English

Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.

Free Bible Version

Even though I'm right, I can't answer him. I must plead for mercy from my judge.

King James (Authorized) Version

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

Translation for Translators

Even though I ◄would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong►, I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Even if I were righteous, I could not answer him; I could only plead for mercy with my judge.

Noah Webster Bible

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

World English Bible

Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.

Young's Literal Translation

Whom, though I were righteous, I answer not, For my judgment I make supplication.

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Job 9:15

Verse

Context

Job: How Can I Contend with God?

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Job 9:15

Job: How Can I Contend with God?

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary