The big picture
Job 13 opens in verse 1 with “Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.”, reaches its middle movement near verse 14 with “Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?”, and closes in verse 28 with “And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.” Repeated or prominent terms include know, hold, accept, afraid, answer. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
Job · King James Version · 28Job 13:1-7
1–7: Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.
Job 13:1–7 opens with “Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.” and reaches “Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Job 13 develops its own movement around know, hold, accept, afraid, answer, with particular weight carried by know, Almighty, altogether.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
Job 13:1-7
King James Version1Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.
2What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.
3Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
4But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
5O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
6Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
7Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
Job 13:8-14
8–14: Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
Job 13:8–14 opens with “Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?” and reaches “Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Job 13 develops its own movement around know, hold, accept, afraid, answer, with particular weight carried by accept, bodies, afraid.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 4 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
Job 13:8-14
King James Version8Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
9Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
10He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.
11Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?
12Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
13Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
14Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
Job 13:15-21
15–21: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own…
Job 13:15–21 opens with “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” and reaches “Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Job 13 develops its own movement around know, hold, accept, afraid, answer, with particular weight carried by afraid, cause, declaration.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
Job 13:15-21
King James Version15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
16He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.
17Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
18Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
19Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
20Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
21Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.
Job 13:22-28
22–28: Call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
Job 13:22–28 opens with “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.” and reaches “And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Job 13 develops its own movement around know, hold, accept, afraid, answer, with particular weight carried by answer, feet, iniquities.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 3 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.” The line’s distinctive content terms include answer, call. Its relationship to verses 23 shows what work it does in this passage.
Job 13:22-28
King James Version22Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
23How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
24Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
25Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
26For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
27Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
28And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Job 13:1 begins with “Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.”
Where the chapter turns
Job 13:14 forms a natural hinge: “Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?”
The final note
Job 13:28 leaves the reader with “And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words know, hold, accept, afraid, answer, bodies help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
How does Abram pursue peace?
He names their kinship and offers a practical separation without insisting on first choice.
What can Lot see that Abram cannot yet possess?
Lot sees fertile land; Abram receives a promise of land and descendants still to come.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.