Though He Slay Me

"Ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom… Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him? Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?"

"Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will. Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him."

"Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified… Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me. How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin."

Physicians of no value

Ancient healers combined medicine and ritual; a "physician of no value" is literally a "healer of worthlessness," or someone who patches with lies. Job says their theology is a bad bandage.

Taking a risk in court

"Put my life in my hand" means to risk everything (Judges 12:3; 1 Samuel 19:5). To summon God to court is, Job knows, dangerous.

Speaking falsely for God

Job's warning (13:7–11) is that God will judge the friends for their dishonest defence: "Will ye speak wickedly for God?… He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons." This is exactly what happens in 42:7–8. Their "remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay" (13:12): their sayings are dust.

A leaf and dry stubble

Job closes (13:25–28) asking why God would pursue "a leaf driven to and fro" and "the dry stubble," putting his feet in stocks and marking his steps. The chapter moves from defiant courtroom speech to fragile humanity in a few verses.

Ketiv and qere: "not" or "him"

In 13:15 the consonants written in the Hebrew text are l'' (lo', "not"); the Masoretes' marginal reading (qere) is lw (lo, "to him"). Written: "Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope (lo' ayahel)," or "I will not wait." Read: "Behold, he will slay me; I will hope in him (lo ayahel)." The library's Hebrew (WLC) prints both forms side by side. The KJV, following the qere and the Vulgate ("etiam si occiderit me, in ipso sperabo"), gives the famous "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." The library's Greek reads neither: "Even if the Almighty should crush me, since he has begun, I would not stop speaking and arguing with him." Many modern versions follow the written text (NRSV: "See, he will kill me; I have no hope; but I will defend my ways to his face").

Which is right?

Both readings are ancient. The Masoretes preserved the consonants and also the reading tradition; qere readings often reflect a long oral tradition, and sometimes a theological preference. The context (Job will argue his case even if it kills him) fits both. The site shows both and does not choose a single "original"; see the passage page.

Qumran

The paleo-Hebrew scroll 4QpaleoJob-c (4Q101) is reported to preserve parts of Job 13:18–27 and 14:13–18, just after this verse. The site has not checked whether any Qumran fragment covers 13:15 (it is reported not to).

The versions

Apart from 13:15, the library's Greek follows the Hebrew closely here. Our Coptic copy has no gaps in chapter 13.