BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Job 19 — Job's Confession of a Living Redeemer
Job rebukes his friends for relentless accusations, laments his total isolation, and then confesses faith in a living Redeemer who will stand upon the earth after Job's body is destroyed.
Scripture
1Then Job answered and said,
2How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
4And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.
5If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach;
6Know now that God hath subverted me in my cause, And hath compassed me with his net.
7Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice.
8He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
9He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.
11He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.
12His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent.
13He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
16I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, Though I entreat him with my mouth.
17My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.
18Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me.
19All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.
22Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever!
25But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:
26And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;
27Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.
28If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me;
29Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment.
What this passage means
The chapter opens with Job answering his friends. He accuses them of vexing his soul and breaking him in pieces with words ten times over, and he insists that even if he has erred, the error rests with himself. He frames the friends as prosecutors who magnify themselves against him (vv. 1–5). Job then turns from his accusers to God, asserting that God has subverted his cause, walled up his way, stripped him of glory, broken him down, and treated him as an adversary. He cries out against wrongdoing and finds no justice, no hearing, and no helper (vv. 6–12).
The middle section catalogues Job's social death. Brethren, acquaintances, kinsfolk, maids, servants, wife, and even young children recoil from him. Familiar friends abhor him and those he loved turn against him, until only the skin of his teeth remains (vv. 13–20). He pleads with his friends for pity because the hand of God has touched him, and asks why they persecute him as God and are not satisfied with his flesh (vv. 21–22). Job then wishes that his words be inscribed permanently, with an iron pen and lead, in the rock forever (vv. 23–24).
The chapter pivots at v. 25 with Job's confession: he knows that his Redeemer lives, and that at last this Redeemer will stand upon the earth. After his skin is destroyed, he will see God from outside his flesh, and his own eyes will behold Him. He warns the friends that if they devise persecuting words, they should fear the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword and there is a judgment (vv. 25–29).
Context
The page draws only on the chapter's own text and the cross-references supplied. Job 19 is presented as a single speech of Job within the larger dialogue of the book, and no surrounding chapters are quoted or described here. The curated note attached to the material indicates this is a backfilled chapter of Job outside previously prioritized sections.
The cross-references provided come from across the canon: redemption texts (Ephesians 1:7; Isaiah 54:5; Psalms 78:35; Psalms 19:14; Proverbs 23:11; Isaiah 59:20; Isaiah 59:21; Isaiah 43:14; Jeremiah 50:34), and judgment/seeing-God texts (Matthew 5:8; John 5:22; John 5:29). They are listed without claims about which chapters immediately precede or follow Job 19.
Key words in the original
- H6030 Hebrew root עָנָה (ʿānâ), glossed 'answered' at v. 1. The entry supplied notes that the verb is used for paying attention, responding, and beginning to speak.
- H7686 Hebrew שָׁגָה (šāgâ), glossed 'erred' at v. 4. The supplied entry defines it as straying, mistaking, transgressing, or being figuratively enraptured.
- H1431 Hebrew גָּדַל (gādal), glossed 'magnify' at v. 5. The supplied entry defines the root as making or being large in body, mind, estate, honor, or pride.
Related verses
- Isaiah 54:5 Isaiah 54:5 names the Holy One of Israel as the Redeemer. Job 19:25 likewise centers on a Redeemer figure, and the cross-reference joins the two passages by that shared title.
- Psalms 19:14 Psalms 19:14 calls the Lord 'my rock, and my redeemer.' Job 19:23–24 asks that his words be inscribed, and the cross-reference pairs the plea for written words with the Redeemer title.
- Matthew 5:8 Matthew 5:8 promises that the pure in heart shall see God. Job 19:26–27 confesses that Job's eyes shall behold God after his skin is destroyed, and the cross-reference sets the promise and the confession side by side.
Common questions
Who is the Redeemer that Job says lives in Job 19:25?
The chapter identifies this figure by three actions: He lives, He will at last stand upon the earth, and Job's eyes will behold Him after Job's skin is destroyed. The chapter does not name this Redeemer explicitly, and Job himself speaks of Him in the third person.
Why does Job want his words written and engraved in rock?
Job asks that his words be inscribed in a book and graven in the rock forever with an iron pen and lead so that the confession of his living Redeemer would outlast his present affliction and his accusers.
What warning does Job give his friends at the close of the chapter?
Job warns that if they devise words to persecute him, they should be afraid of the sword, because wrath brings the punishments of the sword and there is a judgment. He frames their speech as itself a matter of moral weight before that judgment.