Job 27:3

All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27:1-6 Job's friends now suffered him to speak, and he proceeded in a grave and useful manner. Job had confidence in the goodness both of his cause and of his God; and cheerfully committed his cause to him. But Job had not due reverence when he spake of God as taking away his judgment, and vexing his soul. To resolve that our hearts shall not reproach us, while we hold fast our integrity, baffles the designs of the evil spirit.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the spirit of God is in my nostrils - As long as I live. The "spirit of God" here means the breath that God breathed into man when he created him, Genesis 2:7. It would seem probable that there was an allusion to that fact by the language here, and that the knowledge of the way in which man was created was thus handed down by tradition.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. Implying Job's knowledge of the fact that the living soul was breathed into man by God (Ge 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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

My breath; which is the constant companion and certain sign of life, both coming in with it, Genesis 2:7, and going out with it, 1 Kings 17:17 Psalm 144:4. Or, my soul, or life. The spirit of God; that spirit or soul which God breathed into me, Genesis 2:7, and preserveth in me. Or rather, the breath of God, i.e. which God breathed into me, which eminently appears in a man’s nostrils.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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, Ecclesiastes 12:7; but as long as there is breath there is life; so that to say this is the same as to say, as long as I live, or have a being, Psalm 104:33; and while that continued, Job looked upon himself under the oath he had taken by the living God.

Geneva Study Bible

All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. all the while] The sense is rather as given above, according to the parallel passage, 2 Samuel 1:9. The phrase “my life” in the first clause is lit. my breath. The words are parenthetical, and are thrown in to add weight to the affirmation of his rectitude which Job is about to make (Job 27:4); they imply that, though reduced by disease, he is in possession of all his powers, and flings the whole force of his being into his affirmation.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - All the while my breath is in me. This verse is parenthetic. Job claims in it to be in possession of all his faculties, notwithstanding his sufferings. The right translation would seem to be, "For my life is yet whole within me" (see the Revised Version). And the spirit of God is in my nostrils. The spirit of God, originally breathed into man's nostrils, whereby he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7), is still, Job says, within him, and makes him capable of judging and declaring what is right. Job 27:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

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 as a continued שׂאת משׁלו (after the analogy of the phrase נשׂא קול), as in Numbers 23:7 and further on, the oracles of Balaam. משׁל is speech of a more elevated tone and more figurative character; here, as frequently, the unaffected outgrowth of an elevated solemn mood. The introduction of the ultimatum, as משׁל, reminds one of "the proverb (el-methel) seals it" in the mouth of the Arab, since in common life it is customary to use a pithy saying as the final proof at the conclusion of a speech.

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