Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 13:22 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 22. 22Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 13:22 closes the thought unit with the words “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.” Job develops the next stated step through “Then call thou, and I will answer” as part of Job Risks His Life to Present His Case.
Read It With
- Job 13:13–13:22
Read Job 13:22 with 13:13–13:22. Read alone, “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me” 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 13:22 closes the thought unit through “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.”
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.
What Remains True
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. Responsible wisdom states material textual, translation, structural, or attribution alternatives openly before building doctrine or practice. Job 13:22 carries that bounded truth through “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Before teaching Job 13:13–13:22, show the exact KJV wording, identify the material Hebrew, Greek, translation, structure, or attribution question, and label the preferred reading as a judgment rather than certainty. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: Job 13:15 has major translation and punctuation alternatives; it must not be isolated as a slogan requiring passive trust or reckless danger. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.”
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
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 ↗