Journal: Masters Seminary Journal
Volume: TMSJ 05:1 (Spring 1994)
Article: Job 19:25 and Job 23:10 Revisited An Exegetical Note
Author: David C. Deuel

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MSJ 5:1 (Spr 94) p. 97

Job 19:25 and Job 23:10 Revisited
An Exegetical Note

David C. Deuel

Associate Professor of Old Testament

Job 19:25 and 23:10 are subjects of these notes because a misunderstanding of the court theme in Job has been the source of confusion for both of them. In the context of both passages Job confidently maintains his forensic innocence, innocence confirmed by God. The LORD inquires of the adversary, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8b).

In fact, it is precisely the juridical nature of the passages that gives rise to the confusion. In part three, the first number of Handel’s Messiah, the air (soprano) sings several lines which link Job 19:26 with 1 Cor 15:20, a connection based on a misconception of the court metaphor:

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first-fruits of them that sleep.

The NASB differs only slightly in its rendering of Job 19:25: “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.”

Both translations focus on the identity of Job’s “redeemer” in that verse. Many take the redeemer to be Job’s salvific deliverer, Jesus Christ. In juxtaposing the Job and Corinthian passages, Handel clearly made this connection in his majestic masterpiece. But in the context of the whole book, Job is looking for the one who will declare his innocence (as in court) before his accusers. The Hebrew word for redeemer is the same as that used in a similar context that has a forensic setting:

MSJ 5:1 (Spr 94) p. 98

Do not move the ancient boundary,
Or go into the fields of the fatherless;

For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their case against you”
(Prov 23:10–11, emphasis added).

The emphasized words in the Proverbs passage, occurring in a parallel structure, bring clarity to the redeemer’s role in the Job passage. A redeemer/court defender would dispute accusations against Job’s integrity. Job’s accusers, based on their rigid perception of the retribution principle, extr...

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