Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
The verse stands in Job's answer in that portion of the book that sets out the great problems that have perplexed humanity during all the ages, of an overruling providence, and of sin and suffering. Its setting is God disciplining Job by bringing him through the fire of affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and insist his sufferings are because of sin. In that answer his afflictions are presented as no proof that he has sinned.
It expresses Job's wish to speak without fear of God together with his acknowledgment that it is not so with him. Though sure of his own integrity he cannot understand God's dealings with him. Affliction and suffering are thus no proof that the sufferer has sinned or that God is displeased with him. It therefore warns against misjudging fellow sufferers in the same way as Job's friends did.
The verse stands in Job's answer in that portion of the book that sets out the great problems that have perplexed humanity during all the ages, of an overruling providence, and of sin and suffering. Its setting is God disciplining Job by bringing him through the fire of affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and insist his sufferings are because of sin. In that answer his afflictions are presented as no proof that he has sinned.
It expresses Job's wish to speak without fear of God together with his acknowledgment that it is not so with him. Though sure of his own integrity he cannot understand God's dealings with him. Affliction and suffering are thus no proof that the sufferer has sinned or that God is displeased with him. It therefore warns against misjudging fellow sufferers in the same way as Job's friends did.