Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Acts 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 27:1-6
Job's discourse here is called a parable (mashal), the title of Solomon's proverbs, because it was grave and weighty, and very instructive, and he spoke as one having authority. It comes from a word that signifies to rule, or have dominion; and some think it intimates that Job now triumphed over his opponents, and spoke as one that had baffled them. We say of an excellent preacher that he knows how dominari in concionibus - to command his hearers. Job did so here. A long strife there had been between Job and his friends; they seemed disposed to have the matter compromised; and therefore, since an oath for confirmation is an end of strife (Heb 6:16), Job here backs all he had said in maintena…
Implying Job's knowledge of the fact that the living soul was breathed into man by God (Gen 2:7). "All the while." But MAURER, "As yet all my breath is in me" (notwithstanding my trials): the reason why I can speak so boldly.
John Gill on Job 27:3
All the while my breath is in me,.... So long the oath of God would be upon him, or he bound himself under it:
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; which signifies the same thing. The breath of a man is his spirit, and this is of God, the Father of spirits; he first breathed into man the breath of life, and he became a living soul or spirit, Genesis 2:7; it is he that gives life and breath to every man, Acts 17:25, and continues it as long as he pleases, which is a very precarious thing; for it is in his nostrils, where it is drawn to and fro and soon and easily stopped; nor will it always continue, it will some time not be, it will go forth, and then man dies, and returns to the earth,…
1 Then Job continued to take up his proverb, and said:
2 As God liveth, who hath deprived me of my right,
And the Almighty, who hath sorely saddened my soul -
3 For still all my breath is in me,
And the breath of Eloah in my nostrils -
4 My lips do not speak what is false,
And my tongue uttereth not deceit!
5 Far be it from me, to grant that you are in the right:
Till I die I will not remove my innocence from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast, and let it not go:
My heart reproacheth not any of my days.
7 Mine enemy must appear as an evil-doer,
And he who riseth up against me as unrighteous.
The friends are silent, Job remains master of the discourse, and his continued speech is introduced…
The Church Fathers
"And in my nostrils the breath of God. He shows here that all his words are inspired from above, and that this divine light reveals to him the bad faith of his comforters.
All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips shall not speak iniquity, nor my tongue meditate falsehood. What he first calls 'iniquity,' this repeating afterwards he calls 'falsehood.' For both all 'falsehood' is 'iniquity,' and all 'iniquity' 'falsehood,' because, whatever thing is at variance with truth is surely at odds with equity. But between this which he expresses, 'to speak' and that which he adds afterwards, to 'meditate,' there is a wide difference. For sometimes it is a worse thing to 'meditate' falsehood than to speak it. For to speak is very frequently a matter of precipitation, but to 'meditate' of purposed wickedness. And who could be ignorant by what great difference the sin is distinguished, whether a man tell a lie by precipitation or of set purpose? But the holy man, to be entirely attached to the truth, tells that he would neither lie of set purpose, nor by precipitation. For all lying is very seriously to be guarded against, though sometimes there is a certain sort of lying which is of lighter complexion, if a man lie in rendering good. But seeing that it is written, The mouth that belieth slayeth the soul. And, Thou shalt destroy all them that speak leasing. This kind of lying also those that are perfect eschew with the greatest care, so that not even the life of any man should by deceit of theirs be defended, lest they hurt their own souls, whilst they busy themselves to give life to another's flesh; though the same particular kind of sin we believe to be very easily remitted. For if any sin is by godly practice ensuing after to be done away, how much more is this easily wiped off, which pitifulness, the mother of good works, herself accompanies? But there are some that from the deceit of the midwives endeavour to establish that this species of lying is not sin, chiefly because, upon those midwives lying, it is written, That the Lord made them houses. By which mode of recompensing it is rather learnt what the offence of lying earns; for the profits of their kindness which might have been repaid them in everlasting life, on account of the sin of lying mixing in are diverted into an earthly recompense, that in their own life, which they were ready to defend by lying, they should receive back the good which they did, and not have any reward of their recompensing, that they might look forward to…
Dictionary and topics
Life · . — .
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The Bible permits a vow by the living God (Ruth 3:13; 1 Sam 20:21; 25:26; 1 Kgs 17:1; 18:15; Jer 4:2), although sometimes it is done foolishly or falsely (1 Sam 14:39, 45; Jer 5:2). • Elihu later criticized Job for saying that God had taken away his rights (Job 34:5). • embittered . . . soul (7:11; 10:1; 21:25): Cp. Naomi (Ruth 1:20-21) and the widow from Shunem after the loss of her son (2 Kgs 4:27).
Rashi on Job 27:2
As God lives I swear that indeed He took away my right. From here Rabbi Joshua derived that Job served the Omnipresent out of love. No one swears by the king’s life unless he loves the king.
