Borrowed Breath

Yet Job is still able, even in the midst of these pressures and accusations, to maintain his faith in his God. He says, in what has become one of the most memorable quotes in the Old Testament, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (13.15). The tried-and-true King James Version translates it this way, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” We see here the underlying depth of the faith of Job. Even though the world as he knew it was crashing down around him, even though his wife had been pushed beyond her limits of endurance, even though his friends were no help at all, yet Job knew his God and was able to hope and trust in His heart of love.

So our narrative continues along this vein — Job’s friends bringing their own wisdom shaded by accusations, and Job defending himself and requesting an audience with the Almighty so that he could present his case to Him. In chapter 19, Job describes his suffering this way, “Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth” (19.18-20). 

And then he makes this memorable statement, “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (19.23-26).