Job 13:15

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,.... There is a double reading of these words; the "Keri", or marginal reading, is לו, "in him", which we follow; the "Cetib", or textual reading, is לא,

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. In him - so the margin, or Qeri', reads [ low (H3807a)].

Though God should yet more and more increase my torments, so that I could bear them no longer, but should perceive myself to be at the point of death, and without all hopes of recovery in this world. Yet will I trust in him; or, shall I not trust in him? Should I despair? No, I will not. I know he is a just, and a faithful, and merciful God, and he knows that my heart is upright before him, and that I am no hypocrite. But though I will trust in him, yet I will humbly expostulate the matter with him; I will argue, or prove, or demonstrate my ways, i.e. I will make a full free confession of the whole course of my life, and I will boldly, though submissively, assert mine own integrity, which he also will, I doubt not, acknowledge. And what I have done amiss I will as freely confess, and make supplication to my Judge for the pardon of it. Before him; before his tribunal; for I desire no other judge but him.

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.Ver. 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him] Though he should multiply my miseries, and lay stroke after stroke upon me, till he had dashed the very breath out of my body, yet he shall not be so rid of me, for I will hang on still; and if I must needs die, I will die at his feet, and in the midst of death expect a better life from him. Dam expiro spero, shall be my motto. "The righteous hath hope in his death," Proverbs 14:32; yea, his hope is most lively when himself lieth a dying, superest sperare salutem. "My flesh and my heart faileth," saith he; "but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever," Psalms 73:26. True faith in a danger (as the blood) gets to the heart, John 14:1, and if itself be in good heart it will believe in an angry God, as Isaiah 63:15-16 (the Church there thought she should know him amidst all his austerities); yea, in a killing God, as here; yea (as a man may say with reverence), whether God will or no, as that woman of Canaan, Matt. xv., who would not be damped or discouraged with Christ’ s either silence or sad answers; and therefore had what she came for, besides a high commendation of her heroic faith. But (or nevertheless) I will maintain mine own ways before him] We have had the triumph of Job’ s trust, here we have the grounds for it, viz. his uprightness, the testimony of his conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity he had his conversation in the world, 2 Corinthians 2:12. This was his cordial, without which grief would have broken his heart, Psalms 69:20; this was his confidence, even the clearness of his conscience, 1 John 3:21. Uprightness hath boldness; and that man who walks uprightly before God may trust perfectly in God. Job was either innocent or penitent; he would therefore either maintain his ways before God, and come to the light, that his deeds might be manifest, that they were wrought in God, John 3:21, Quem poenitet peccasse pene est innocens (Sen. Again.), or else he would reprove and correct his ways (so the Hebrew word signifieth also), that is, he would confess and forsake his sins, and so be sure to have mercy, according to that soul satisfying promise, Proverbs 28:13.

(15) Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.—This rendering is almost proverbial; but, to say the least, its accuracy is very doubtful, for the better reading does not warrant it, but runs thus: Behold He will slay me. I have no hope; yet will I maintain my ways before Him. It is true we thus lose a very beautiful and familiar resolve; but the expression of living trust is not less vivid. For though there is, as there can be, no gleam of hope for victory in this conflict, yet, notwithstanding, Job will not forego his conviction of integrity; for the voice of conscience is the voice of God, and if he knows himself to be innocent, he would belie and dishonour God as well as himself in renouncing his innocence.

Verse 15. Though he slay me] I have no dependence but God; I trust in him alone. Should he even destroy my life by this affliction, yet will I hope that when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. In the common printed Hebrew text we have לא איחל lo ayachel, I will NOT hope; but the Vulgate, Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee have read לו lo, HIM, instead of לא lo NOT; with twenty-nine of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and the Complutensian and Antwerp Polyglots. Our translators have followed the best reading. Coverdale renders the verse thus: Lo, there is nether comforte ner hope for me, yf he wil slaye me. But I will maintain mine own ways] I am so conscious of my innocence, that I fear not to defend myself from your aspersions, even in the presence of my Maker.

15. The general meaning of Job 13:14 must be the same however the verse is construed, though it may be expressed in two ways, viz. either, Why should I painfully strive to preserve my life? or, I am ready to risk my life (or in both ways). Job 13:15 reads most naturally, Behold he will slay me: I will not wait: Yet will I defend my ways to his face. The words “he will slay me” refer to what Job anticipates may be the result of his daring to maintain the rectitude of his life to God’s face, as the second clause intimates. These two clauses are in close connexion, and the words “I will not wait” are almost parenthetical—behold he will slay me (I will not wait for a more distant death), notwithstanding I will defend, &c. Others refer the words “behold he will slay me” to Job’s certainty of speedy death from his disease. And again, some render the words “I will not wait,” I have no hope; and thus a variety of meanings all more or less suitable arises. The word to wait hardly has the sense of to hope, at least in this Book, cf. ch. Job 6:11, Job 14:14, Job 29:21, Job 30:26, and in another form in the mouth of Elihu, ch. Job 32:11; Job 32:16. Instead of the word not before wait another reading gives for him, or for it. This is the reading of many ancient versions; and the rendering of the Vulgate, etiamsi occiderit me in ipso sperabo, has been followed by most modern translations, as by our own. Such a sense, however, does not suit the connexion. If this reading be adopted, some such sense must be given to the clause as that preferred by Delitzsch: Behold he will slay me—I wait for him: only I will defend, &c.; that is, I wait for His final stroke.

Though he slay me - “God may so multiply my sorrows and pains that I cannot survive them. I see that I may be exposed to increased calamities, yet I am willing to meet them.

15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him — “This is one of the highest among the notabilia of Scripture,” (Chalmers,) and yet its interpretation is disputed.