FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation Job 13:26
KJVFor thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
Read it in context
Job Prepares His Case
Start reading at Job 13:1 (Job 13:1 to Job 13:28).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
Job's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
- 13:1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.
- 13:2 What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.
- 13:3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
- 13:4 But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
- 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
- 13:6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
- 13:7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
- 13:8 Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
- 13:9 Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
- 13:10 He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.
- 13:11 Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?
- 13:12 Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
- 13:13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
- 13:14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
- 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
- 13:16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.
- 13:17 Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
- 13:18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
- 13:19 Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
- 13:20 Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
- 13:21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.
- 13:22 Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
- 13:23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
- 13:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
- 13:25 Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
- 13:26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
- 13:27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
- 13:28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 12:1–14:22): Job answers his friends and speaks to God about his condition. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Job Prepares His Case. Read Job 13:1 through Job 13:28 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? Job's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Job Prepares His Case (Job 13:1 to Job 13:28). Start reading at Job 13:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 13:1, Job 13:28, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
- writest Job 3:20 Ruth 1:20 Ps 88:3-18
- makest Job 20:11 Ps 25:7 Prov 5:11-13 Jer 31:19 John 5:5,14
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 13
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation The second exchange
Job 15:1–21:34FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.