Bible Strands
Job 9:28
I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks directly to God while maintaining his innocence amid relentless affliction. He articulates this after rejecting the idea of masking his distress with a false smile.
The words — The Hebrew יָגֹ֥רְתִּי (yaGo.re.ti) translates literally as "I dread" or "I tremble in fear," applied to עַצְּבֹתָ֑/י ('a.tze.vo.Ta/i), "my pains." Job couples this with יָ֝דַ֗עְתִּי (yaDa'.ti), "I know," to declare his certainty that God will not acquit him.
The thread — The same fear of impending suffering overtaking the speaker appears in Job 3:25, while the plea for pardon against inevitable death matches Job 7:21. The posture of trembling before divine judgment parallels Psalms 119:120.
Why it lands — The text states that dread persists regardless of outward composure and that divine acquittal remains absent despite human expectation. It requires the reader to confront the gap between moral striving and perceived divine verdict without offering comfort.
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
King James Version
I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
Cross-references
- Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- Job 3:25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.
- Job 7:21 Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
- Job 9:2 “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
- Job 9:20 Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
- Job 10:14 If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
- Job 14:16 For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.
- Job 21:6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
- Psalms 88:15 From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
- Psalms 130:3 If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?