Job 19 · Verse 28

Job 19:28

But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
Job 19:28, King James Version

Job 19:28 in other translations

BSBIf you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’
WEBIf you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ because the root of the matter is found in me,
ASVIf ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me;
YLTBut ye say, ‘Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.
DARBYIf ye say, How shall we persecute him? when the root of the matter is found in me,
BBEIf you say, How cruel we will be to him! because the root of sin is clearly in him:
WebsterBut ye would say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

What does Job 19:28 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
28. Rather, "ye will then (when the Vindicator cometh) say, Why," &c. root ... in me--The root of pious integrity, which was the matter at issue, whether it could be in one so afflicted, is found in me. Umbreit, with many manuscripts and versions, reads "in him." "Or how found we in him ground of contention."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 28 But ye should say - Or, Then ye shall say. Why persecute we him - Or, as Mr. Good, How did we persecute him! Alas! we are now convinced that we did wrong. Seeing the root of the matter - A pure practice, and a sound hope, resting on the solid ground of sound faith, received from God himself. Instead of בי bi, in Me, בי bo, in Him, is the reading of more than one hundred of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and in several of the versions. Seeing the root of the matter is found in Him.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 19:23-29

The Spirit of God, at this time, seems to have powerfully wrought on the mind of Job. Here he witnessed a good confession; declared the soundness of his faith, and the assurance of his hope. Here is much of Christ and heaven; and he that said such things are these, declared plainly that he sought the better country, that is, the heavenly. Job was taught of God to believe in a living Redeemer; to look for the…

Read the full comment on Job 19:23-29 →

Job 19:28 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּ֣יkiifH3588
תֹ֭אמְרוּTo.me.ruyou will sayH559
מַה\־mah-what?H4100
נִּרְדָּף\־nir.dof-will we persecuteH7291
ל֑וֹlo<to> him
וְשֹׁ֥רֶשׁve.Sho.reshand [the] root ofH8328
דָּ֝בָ֗רda.Var[the] matterH1697
נִמְצָא\־nim.tza'-it has been foundH4672
בִֽי\׃Viin me

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 19:28

  • Job 19:22

    Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

  • Psalms 69:26

    For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

  • 1 Kings 14:13

    And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Why.
22; Ps 69:26
seeing, etc. or, and what root of matter is found in me?the root.
1Ki 14:13
in me.Instead of {bee,} "in me," {bo,} "in him," is the reading of more than 100 MSS.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 19:27

    Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

  • Job 19:28

    But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

  • Job 19:29

    Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Read all of Job 19

Job 19:28 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mas debierais decir: ¿Por qué lo perseguimos? ya que la raíz del negocio en mí se halla.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si vous dites: Comment le poursuivrons-nous? et que la racine de la chose se trouve en moi,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn ihr saget: Wie wollen wir ihn verfolgen? und daß die Wurzel der Sache in mir sich befinde,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quare ergo nunc dicitis: Persequamur eum, et radicem verbi inveniamus contra eum?