Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Job 13:15 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 15. 15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The Hebrew is difficult enough to support both trust and defiant persistence; the line must remain inside Job's legal appeal. In Job 13:15, “Though he slay me” belongs to Job's complete movement in Job 13:13–13:22.
Read It With
- Job 13:13–13:22
Read Job 13:15 with 13:13–13:22. Read alone, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before…” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job asks for silence, takes his life in his hand, voices disputed hope or defiance, and requests removal of terror so direct litigation can begin.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Job continues from Job 13:1–13:12: Job claims firsthand understanding, wants to reason with God, accuses the friends of falsehood, and warns that partial advocacy for God will not survive divine examination. Job 13:13–13:22 now develops the next distinct movement: Job asks for silence, takes his life in his hand, voices disputed hope or defiance, and requests removal of terror so direct litigation can begin. Within that relationship, Job 13:15 advances the thought unit through “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before….”
Read Job 13:13–22 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 13:13–13:22 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Risks His Life to Present His Case.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 13. 13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
Verse 14. 14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
Verse 15. 15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
Verse 16. 16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.
Verse 17. 17 Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
Verse 18. 18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
Verse 19. 19 Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
Verse 20. 20 Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
Verse 21. 21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.
Verse 22. 22 Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
Follow the Context
- Identify Job's stated claim in Job 13:13–13:22.
- Job asks for silence, takes his life in his hand, voices disputed hope or defiance, and requests removal of terror so direct litigation can begin.
- Keep this interpretive control visible: Job 13:15 has major translation and punctuation alternatives; it must not be isolated as a slogan requiring passive trust or reckless danger.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Though he slay me”
In plain language: The Hebrew is difficult enough to support both trust and defiant persistence; the line must remain inside Job's legal appeal.
In Job 13:15, “Though he slay me” belongs to Job's complete movement in Job 13:13–13:22.
Why it matters: This wording materially changes how the verse should be understood or bounded.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Job 13:15 does not permit “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before…” to be detached from its named speaker and complete thought unit. Job 13:15 does not command passive acceptance of abuse, reckless danger, or silence about injustice.
What Remains True
The difficult Hebrew supports both trust and defiant legal persistence, so confidence must remain bounded. Job 13:15 keeps that conclusion accountable to the line “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before….”
How It Can Shape Life
- Read the whole legal appeal and state the translation alternative before using the line devotionally. Keep the selected wording “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before…” and Job 13:13–13:22's complete movement visible while acting.
Teach It Back
Explain why Job 13:15 advances the thought unit. Paraphrase “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before…,” identify Job, use 13:13–13:22, state one material uncertainty when present, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 13:13–13:22 — Job Risks His Life to Present His CaseSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Job 13:15 has major translation and punctuation alternatives; it must not be isolated as a slogan requiring passive trust or reckless danger.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 13:13–13:22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 13:13–13:22
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 13:13–13:22.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 13:13–13:22
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Outline and passage studies: lament and first dialogue cycle; applied to Job 13:13–13:22
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗open access philosophical and literary article
Questions on the Book of Job
Warren Zev Harvey
Religious Studies 59, Special Issue S1, 2023
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Exact location: Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, God vs Job (Job 13:15-24) and its lead-up; applied to Job 13:13–13:22
Open the Cambridge Job article ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Iob
Claude E. Cox
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek textual and translation evidence where the Masoretic and Greek forms, wording, length, or attribution materially differ.
Exact location: NETS Iob, introduction on the shorter Old Greek and exact Greek translation and notes for Iob 13:13–13:22
Open NETS Iob ↗public health communication guidance
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023
World Health Organization
World Health Organization, 2023
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying death wishes, despair, severe loss, and suicide-related material; not exegesis.
Exact location: WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii, evidence pp. 7-10, dos and don'ts pp. 11-16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Job 13:13–13:22
Open the WHO communication guide ↗