Job 9:21

I am blameless. ¹  I do not know myself. ²  I despise my life.

"Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

"I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life.

"I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me––I despise my life.

"Believe me, I'm blameless. I don't understand what's going on. I hate my life!

I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.

I am blameless; I do not know myself; I loathe my life.

"I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.

I am blameless. ¹  I do not know myself. ²  I despise my life.

¹ tn Dhorme, in an effort to avoid tautology, makes this a question: “Am I blameless?” The next clause then has Job answering that he does not know. But through the last section Job has been proclaiming his innocence. The other way of interpreting these verses is to follow NIV and make all of them hypothetical (“If I were blameless, he would pronounce me guilty”) and then come to this verse with Job saying, “I am blameless.” The second clause of this verse does not fit either view very well. In vv. 20, 21, and 22 Job employs the same term for “blameless” (תָּם, tam) as in the prologue (1:1). God used it to describe Job in 1:8 and 2:3. Bildad used it in 8:20. These are the final occurrences in the book.

² tn The meaning of the expression “I do not know myself” seems to be, “I do not care.” NIV translates it, “I have no concern for my life.”

sn Job believes he is blameless and not deserving of all this suffering; he will hold fast to that claim, even if the future is uncertain, especially if that future involved a confrontation with God.