Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 19:27

"Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me." — Job 19:27 (ASV)

Whom I shall see for myself. —The words see for myself may mean see on my side (that is, as my Judge and Avenger), or they may be the personal intensifying of the conviction which seems confirmed by the words and not a stranger. Do Job’s words then teach the doctrine of the resurrection?

Possibly not directly, but they express the firm conviction of that faith for which the resurrection is the only natural justification. They express a living trust in a living personal God, who, if He is to come into contact with humanity, cannot suffer His Holy One to see corruption nor leave His soul in hell. However far Job believed in the resurrection of the flesh hereafter, he certainly believed there was life out of death and through death here; and no one can believe in a living God and not believe that He must and will triumph over death.

It is possible for us to believe in some dogma about the resurrection and yet not believe in God. In this respect, we will be unlike Job. It is impossible for us to believe as he did and not be ready and thankful to believe in the resurrection of Christ, and of those who belong to Christ, as soon as the fact is proclaimed to us on sufficient authority.

In this way, and for this reason, Job’s confession rightly stands at the head of the Christian Office for the Burial of the Dead, which looks forward to the resurrection and holds firmly to it. Those who decline to see in Job’s confession any knowledge or hope of a resurrection must not forget that they also have to explain and account for Isaiah 26:19.