Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 19:25

"But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:" — Job 19:25 (ASV)

For I know that my redeemer liveth. — We must carefully note all the passages that lead up to this one. First, we must bear in mind that Bildad (Job 18:17–20) had threatened Job with the extinction of his name and memory, so Job now appeals to the verdict of the future; and we ourselves, who read, repeat, and discuss his words, are witnesses to his success.

Then, in Job’s own speeches, we find, as early as Job 9:32-35, his longing for a daysman to come between himself and God. In Job 10:7 and Job 13:15-19, he emphatically declares his innocence and appeals to God as conscious of it. In Job 16:19, he affirms that his witness is in the high heavens; and in Job 19:21 of the same chapter, he longs for an advocate to plead his cause.

In Job 17:3, he calls upon God to be surety for him. Therefore, he has already recognized God as his judge, his umpire, his advocate, his witness, and surety—in some cases by formal confession of the fact, and in others by earnest longing and aspirations for someone to act in that capacity. Here, then, he goes a step further in expression, if not by implication, and declares his knowledge that he has a Goel or Redeemer.

This goel was the name given to the next of kin whose duty it was to redeem, ransom, or avenge one who had fallen into debt or bondage, or had been slain in a family feud. In Ruth, for instance, the goel is the one who has to marry the widow of his relative and to continue his name. The various and conditional functions of this Goel, Job is assured, God will take upon Himself for him: He will avenge his quarrel (Compare to Psalms 35:1 and 23), and He will be surety for him.

He will vindicate him before men and before God Himself; He will do for him what none of his professed friends would undertake to do.

Regarding this matter, he has not the slightest doubt: he states most emphatically that he himself knows that this Goel liveth. He declares, “And I, even I know; as for me, I know that my Vindicator is living, that He liveth, is a reality existing now, and not one to come into existence in the future, though His manifestation may be a thing of the future; for He shall stand at the last upon the earth,” or, “He shall stand last upon earth” . This means He will remain after all others have passed away and gone down to the bars of the tomb.

Now, this alone is certainly a marvelous confession. It states the reality and eternity of God. It is faith in the I am. This same epithet of "Redeemer" is applied to God in Psalms 19:15 and Isaiah 59:20. In the former passage, it is coupled with "rock," which was the term Bildad had applied to God (Job 18:4).

Upon the earth is literally, upon dust; the word is used this way in Job 41:33. This usage of the same words in the same book, where the meaning is not ambiguous, is strongly against the rendering some have preferred: over the dust, or over my dust.