Job 19:23–19:29, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Job 19:23–19:29
Job Longs for a Living Vindicator
Job wants the words cut into rock because living listeners have failed
Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
He then names a living goel, and the Hebrew of the sight that follows will not sit still
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me? Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
Goel is a vindicator or kinsman-redeemer. Verses 25-27 are exceptionally difficult. Earthly, heavenly, pre-death, postmortem, bodily, and later resurrection readings must be distinguished rather than claimed as certain. Christian hope may receive the living vindicator without pretending the Hebrew has only one horizon. The friends are still warned that persecution has a judgment.
How this should shape us
Do not flatten my redeemer liveth into a slogan that skips the disputed wording. Hold a durable hope for vindication, keep the uncertainty honest, and stop persecuting the person whose words you would rather not see cut in rock.
Teach it back
Explain Job 19:23–19:29 in your own words. Name the speaker, the unit's place in Job, one source-controlled textual or literary observation, one uncertainty, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The Hebrew of verses 25-27 is exceptionally difficult; earthly, heavenly, pre-death, postmortem, bodily, and later resurrection readings must be distinguished rather than claimed as certain.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Job 19:23–19:29, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 19:23–19:29
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 19:23–19:29.
Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 19:23–19:29
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Enter the Bible Job course, Outline and passage studies: second dialogue cycle; applied to Job 19:23–19:29
Supports: Material alternatives for Job 19:25-27, especially vindication, bodily healing, postmortem sight, and later resurrection reception.
Pinker, 'A New Interpretation of Job 19:26,' JHS 15 (2015), complete article: ancient versions and interpretation survey, textual critique, proposed reconstruction, and conclusion; applied to Job 19:23–19:29
Supports: Ancient Greek textual and translation evidence where the Masoretic and Greek forms, wording, length, or attribution materially differ.
NETS Iob, introduction on the shorter Old Greek and exact Greek translation and notes for Iob 19:23–19:29
Supports: Lament, undeserved suffering, creation's wild freedom, nonhuman value, chaos imagery, encounter, and ending, used as one responsible pastoral-scholarly reading.
Schifferdecker, Working Preacher Job series, commentary headed for Job 19:23-27; applied to Job 19:23–19:29
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
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 19:23–19:29, 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 19:23–19:29
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 19:23–19:29.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 19:23–19:29
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: second dialogue cycle; applied to Job 19:23–19:29
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗peer reviewed open access textual and translation study
A New Interpretation of Job 19:26
Aron Pinker
The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 15, 2015
Supports: Material alternatives for Job 19:25-27, especially vindication, bodily healing, postmortem sight, and later resurrection reception.
Exact location: Pinker, 'A New Interpretation of Job 19:26,' JHS 15 (2015), complete article: ancient versions and interpretation survey, textual critique, proposed reconstruction, and conclusion; applied to Job 19:23–19:29
Open Pinker on Job 19:26 ↗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 19:23–19:29
Open NETS Iob ↗modern scholarly pastoral commentary collection
Job preaching series and creation commentaries
Kathryn M. Schifferdecker
Working Preacher, Luther Seminary, 2012-2016
Supports: Lament, undeserved suffering, creation's wild freedom, nonhuman value, chaos imagery, encounter, and ending, used as one responsible pastoral-scholarly reading.
Exact location: Schifferdecker, Working Preacher Job series, commentary headed for Job 19:23-27; applied to Job 19:23–19:29
Open Schifferdecker on Job 38-42 ↗