Albert Barnes Commentary Job 19:26

"And after my skin, [even] this [body], is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;" — Job 19:26 (ASV)

And though—Margin: Or, after I will awake, though this body is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God. This verse has caused no less perplexity than the preceding. Noyes renders it:

And though with this skin this body is wasted away,
Yet in my flesh I will see God.

Dr. Good renders it:

And, after the disease has destroyed my skin,
That in my flesh I will see God.

Rosenmuller explains it: “And when, after my skin (that is, after it is consumed and destroyed), they consume (that is, those corroding agents, or, as an impersonal verb, it is corroded or broken into fragments) this—namely, this structure of my bones, my body (which he does not mention because it was so wasted away that it did not deserve to be called a body)—yet without my flesh—with my whole body consumed—I will see God.” He translates it:

Et quum post cutem meam hoc fuerit consumptum,
Tamen absque carne mea videbo Deum.

The Hebrew is literally, “and after my skin.” Gesenius translates it: “After they will have destroyed my skin, this will happen—that I will see God.” Herder renders it:

Though they tear and devour this my skin,
Yet in my living body I will see God.

The fair and obvious meaning, I think, is that which is conveyed by our translation. Disease had attacked his skin. It was covered with ulcers and was fast consuming (Job 7:5). This process of corruption and decay he had reason to expect would go on until all would be consumed. But if it did, he would hold fast his confidence in God. He would believe that He would come forward as his vindicator, and he would still put his trust in Him.

Worms—This word is supplied by our translators. There is no trace of it in the original. That is, simply, “they destroy,” where the verb is used impersonally, meaning that it would be destroyed. The agent by which this would be done is not specified.

The word rendered “destroy,” נקפו nâqaphû from נקף nâqaph—means “to cut, to strike, to cut down” (compare the notes at Job 1:5 for the general meaning of the word), and here means to destroy; that is, the work of destruction might go on until the frame was wholly wasted away.

It is not entirely certain that the word here would convey the idea that he expected to die; it may mean that he would become entirely emaciated, and all his flesh was gone. There is nothing, however, in the word to show that he did not expect to die—and perhaps that would be the most obvious and proper interpretation.

This body—The word body is also supplied by the translators. The Hebrew is simply זאת zô'th—this. Perhaps he pointed to his body, for there can be no doubt that his body or flesh is intended. Rosenmuller supposes that he did not mention it because it was so emaciated that it did not deserve to be called a body.

Yet in my flesh—Hebrew “From my flesh”—מבשׂרי mı̂bâśârı̂y. Herder renders this, “In my living body.” Rosenmuller, “without my flesh” (Latin: absque carne mea), explains it as meaning, “my whole body being consumed, I will see God.”

The literal meaning is, “from, or out of, my flesh I will see God.” It does not mean “in his flesh,” which would have been expressed by the preposition ב (b), but there is the notion that from or out of his flesh he would see God. That is, clearly, as Rosenmuller has expressed it, though my body is consumed, and I have no flesh, I will see God.

Disease might carry its fearful ravages through all his frame until it utterly wasted away; yet he had confidence that he would see his Vindicator and Redeemer on the earth.

It cannot be proved that this refers to the resurrection of that body, and indeed the natural interpretation is against it. It is, rather, that though without a body, or even if his body completely wasted away, he would see God as his vindicator.

He would not always be left overwhelmed in this manner with calamities and reproaches. He would be permitted to see God coming forward as his Goel or Avenger, and manifesting himself as his friend. Calmly, therefore, he would bear these reproaches and trials, and see his frame waste away, for it would not always be so; God would still undertake and vindicate his cause.

Shall I see God—He would be permitted to behold Him as his friend and avenger. What was the nature of the vision which he anticipated, it is not possible to determine with certainty. If he expected that God would appear in some remarkable manner to judge the world and to vindicate the cause of the oppressed; or that He would appear in a special manner to vindicate his cause; or if he looked to a general resurrection, and to the trial on that day, the language would apply to either of these events.