Albert Barnes Commentary Job 27

Job continued - The marginal note, as in the Hebrew, is “added to take up.” Probably he had paused for Zophar to reply, but since he said nothing, he now resumed his argument.

His parable - A parable properly denotes a comparison of one thing with another, or a fable or allegorical representation from which moral instruction is derived. It was a favorite mode of conveying truth in the East and, indeed, is found in all countries (see the notes at Matthew 13:3). It is evident, however, that Job did not deliver his sentiments in this manner; and the word rendered “parable” here (משׁל mâshâl) means, as it often does, a pithy discourse or argument.

The word is used in the Scriptures to denote a parable, properly so called; then a pithy saying, a maxim, a proverb, or a poem or song (see the notes at Isaiah 14:4). It is rendered here by the Vulgate as parabolam; by the Septuagint as προοιμίῳ prooimiō — “Job spoke by preface”; by Luther as fuhr fort — Job continued; by Noyes as “discourse”; and by Good as “high argument.” The meaning is that Job continued his discourse, but there is in the word a reference to the kind of discourse he employed, as being pithy and aphoristic.

As God lives - This is a form of solemn adjuration, or an oath by the living God: “As certainly as God lives.” It is the form by which God Himself often swears (Ezekiel 33:11), and is often employed by others (for example, 1 Samuel 20:3; 1 Samuel 25:26).

Who has taken away my judgment - This refers to one who has rejected my cause, or who has refused me justice; that is, one who has treated me as though I were guilty and withholds relief from me.

The language is forensic. The idea is that Job would make his solemn appeal to God, even though God had rejected his cause.

Perhaps more is implied here than the solemnity of an ordinary oath. A man might be supposed to be willing to make his appeal to one who had shown himself friendly or favorable to him. However, he would be more reluctant to make his appeal in an important case to a judge who had decided against him, especially if that decision was regarded as severe and if that judge had refused to hear what he had to say in self-defense.

But Job here says that such was his confidence in his own sincerity and truth that he could make his appeal to God, even though he knew that God had until now gone against him and treated him as if he were guilty.

Who has vexed my soul - Margin, as in Hebrew “made my soul bitter.” This means one who has greatly afflicted me; compare 2 Kings 4:27 (margin) and Ruth 1:20.

And the spirit of God is in my nostrils - As long as I live. The “spirit of God” here means the breath that God breathed into man when he created him (Genesis 2:7). It would seem probable that there was an allusion to that fact by the language here, and that the knowledge of the way in which man was created was thus handed down by tradition.

My lips shall not speak wickedness - This solemn profession, made on oath, might have done something to lessen the suspicions of his friends regarding him and to show that they had been mistaken in his character. It is a solemn assurance that he did not mean to vindicate the cause of wickedness or to say one word in its favor; and that as long as he lived, he would never be found advocating it.

Nor my tongue utter deceit - I will never make any use of sophistry; I will not attempt to make “the worse appear the better reason;” I will not be the advocate of error. This had always been the aim of Job, and he now says that no circumstance should ever induce him to pursue a different course as long as he lived. Probably he means, also, as the following verse seems to imply, that no consideration should ever induce him to condone error or to excuse wrong. He would not be deterred from expressing his sentiments by any dread of opposition, or even by any respect for his friends. No friendship which he might have for them would induce him to justify what he honestly regarded as error.

God forbid - לי חלילה châlı̂ylâh lı̂y. “Far be it from me.” Literally, “It would be profane to me;” that is, I would regard it as unholy and profane; I cannot do it.

That I should justify you - That I should admit the correctness of your positions, and should concede that I am a hypocrite. He was conscious of integrity and sincerity, and nothing could induce him to abandon that conviction, or to admit the correctness of the reasoning which they had pursued in regard to him. Coverdale (1535 AD) has given this a correct translation, “God forbid that I should grant your cause to be right.”

Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me - I will not admit that I am insincere and hypocritical. This is the language of a man who was conscious of integrity, and who would not be deprived of that consciousness by any plausible representations of his professed friends.