What Does Job 15:6 Mean in the King James?
Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Job’s lips are cast as both defendant and witness: they “answer” the charge against him.
THE MEANING
Your words can answer back as evidence, carrying a charge even when no one else speaks it. But saying that someone’s words condemn them is still an accuser’s interpretation, not proof that the verdict is true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A confident accusation does not become true merely because it is presented as your own words speaking against you.
THE ROOT
יַרְשִׁיעֲךָ
yarshiʿakha
GROWS FROM
רשע
r-sh-ʿ
To be wicked or guilty; in this verb form, to declare someone guilty.
“condemneth” in this verse is yarshiʿakha. The verb comes from the root רשע, which also names wickedness and the person judged wicked. Job’s mouth is cast as a prosecutor, making the charge sound as if it rises from within him.
ALSO GROWS
rāšāʿ: A wicked or guilty person.
רָשָׁע
This branch names the person under the root’s charge, showing that “condemn” carries the weight of a guilt verdict.
rišʿāh: Wickedness.
רִשְׁעָה
The same root names the condition the verdict assigns, giving “condemneth” a sharper edge than general disapproval.
יַעֲנוּ־בָךְ
yaʿănû-ḇāḵ
GROWS FROM
ענה
ʿ-n-h
To answer or respond; here, the lips answer against Job.
“testify against” in this verse is yaʿănû-ḇāḵ. The verb translated “testify” literally means “answer,” followed by “against you.” The wording turns the lips into responders in a case: their speech is framed as an answer that bears witness.
ALSO GROWS
ʿānāh: To answer or respond.
עָנָה
This is the answer-and-response root used for Job’s lips, making testimony sound like speech answering a charge.
maʿăneh: An answer or response.
מַעֲנֶה
This noun from the same root shows how an act of answering can become a spoken response, like the testimony assigned to the lips here.
THE PATTERN
Words become evidence that can carry consequences and reveal what is within the speaker.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.THE THREAD
If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.Job 9:20 uses the same Hebrew root, רשע, for “condemn,” with the same image of Job’s own mouth. The echo places this charge within Job’s contested struggle to speak honestly under judgment; the accusation is not a neutral fact about his words.
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