Job 19:4

Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job addresses his three friends who have repeatedly reproached him and shamelessly mistreated him. He speaks this line during their ongoing cycle of accusation and defense.

The words — The text pairs שָגִיתִי (sha.Gi.ti), meaning "I have erred," with תָּלִ֥ין (ta.Lin), literally "it lodges." This constructs the claim that sin is a personal burden that settles only on the one who commits it.

The thread — This pattern of individual accountability appears in Proverbs 9:12, Ezekiel 18:4, and 2 Corinthians 5:10, where personal responsibility for error or judgment is explicitly stated.

Why it lands — The verse states that personal failure remains the sole responsibility of the one who commits it. It requires readers to stop deflecting blame onto others and to confront their own conduct directly.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאַף־ve./'af-and/ even אָמְנָ֥ם'a.me.Namtruly שָׁגִ֑יתִיsha.Gi.tiI have erred אִ֝תִּ֗י'i.T/iwith/ me תָּלִ֥יןta.Linit lodges מְשׁוּגָתִֽי׃me.shu.ga.T/ierror/ my

King James Version

And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

Cross-references

Proverbs 9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.
Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Samuel 24:17 When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”
Job 11:3 Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke?
Galatians 6:5 For each one should carry his own load.