Job 19:17
New International Version
My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.

New Living Translation
My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.

English Standard Version
My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.

Berean Standard Bible
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.

King James Bible
My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.

New King James Version
My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the children of my own body.

New American Standard Bible
“My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

NASB 1995
“My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

NASB 1977
“My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

Legacy Standard Bible
My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

Amplified Bible
“My breath is repulsive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

Christian Standard Bible
My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own family finds me repulsive.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own family finds me repulsive.

American Standard Version
My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.

Contemporary English Version
My breath disgusts my wife; everyone in my family turns away.

English Revised Version
My breath is strange to my wife, and my supplication to the children of my mother's womb.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
My breath offends my wife. I stink to my own children.

Good News Translation
My wife can't stand the smell of my breath, and my own brothers won't come near me.

International Standard Version
My wife says my breath stinks; even my children say I smell bad!

Majority Standard Bible
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.

NET Bible
My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my brothers.

New Heart English Bible
My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.

Webster's Bible Translation
My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of my own body.

World English Bible
My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
My spirit is strange to my wife, "" And my favors to the sons of my [mother’s] womb.

Young's Literal Translation
My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favours to the sons of my mother's womb.

Smith's Literal Translation
My spirit was loathsome to my wife, and I entreated to the sons of my belly.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb.

Catholic Public Domain Version
My wife has shuddered at my breath, and I have begged the sons of my loins.

New American Bible
My breath is abhorrent to my wife; I am loathsome to my very children.

New Revised Standard Version
My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
I have become a stranger to my wife, and have implored the children of my own body.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
I have been a stranger to my wife and I have begged the son of my bowels
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
My breath is abhorred of my wife, And I am loathsome to the children of my tribe.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the sons of my concubines.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job: My Redeemer Lives
16I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth. 17My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family. 18Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.…

Cross References
Psalm 38:11
My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.

Psalm 88:8
You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.

Psalm 31:11
Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends—they flee when they see me on the street.

Lamentations 1:2
She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

Lamentations 1:19
I called out to my lovers, but they have betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.

Proverbs 19:7
All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.

Isaiah 49:15
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!

Micah 7:5-6
Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms. / For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

Genesis 19:14
So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

Genesis 42:7
And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

Matthew 10:36
A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

John 7:5
For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.

John 1:11
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

John 15:18-19
If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. / If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.


Treasury of Scripture

My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of my own body.

breath

Job 2:9,10
Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die…

Job 17:1
My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

body.

Jump to Previous
Abhorred Body Breath Children Children's Disgusting Entreated Entreaties Favours Intreated Loathsome Mother Mother's Offensive Offspring Repulsive Sake Spirit Strange Supplication Tribe Wife Womb
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Abhorred Body Breath Children Children's Disgusting Entreated Entreaties Favours Intreated Loathsome Mother Mother's Offensive Offspring Repulsive Sake Spirit Strange Supplication Tribe Wife Womb
Job 19
1. Job, complaining of his friends' cruelty,
6. shows there is misery enough in him to feed their cruelty
21. He craves pity
23. He believes the resurrection














My breath
The Hebrew word for "breath" here is "רוּחִי" (ruach), which can also mean spirit or wind. In this context, it refers to Job's physical breath, which he describes as offensive. This imagery highlights the depth of Job's physical affliction and suffering. In ancient times, breath was often associated with life and vitality, and here, Job's breath being repulsive signifies a profound sense of decay and rejection, not just physically but also relationally and spiritually.

is repulsive
The Hebrew word "זָרָה" (zarah) means to be strange or alien. Job feels alienated and estranged from those closest to him. This word choice emphasizes the deep sense of isolation and rejection he experiences. In the cultural context of the Ancient Near East, where family and community were central to one's identity and support, this estrangement would have been particularly devastating.

to my wife
The mention of Job's wife is significant. In the narrative of Job, his wife is one of the few family members mentioned, and her earlier advice to "curse God and die" (Job 2:9) reflects her own despair. Here, Job's acknowledgment of her repulsion underscores the breakdown of their relationship due to his suffering. In a patriarchal society, the support of one's spouse was crucial, and her repulsion adds to Job's sense of abandonment.

and I am loathsome
The Hebrew word "חָנַן" (chanan) is used here, which can mean to be gracious or to show favor, but in this context, it is used ironically to mean the opposite—being loathsome or detestable. Job's self-description as loathsome reflects his internalization of the rejection he feels from others. It highlights the psychological and emotional toll of his suffering, as he perceives himself as unworthy of love or compassion.

to my own family
The phrase "לִבְנֵי בִטְנִי" (livnei vitni) literally means "to the sons of my womb," which is a poetic way of referring to one's own children or close kin. This phrase emphasizes the depth of Job's alienation, as even those who are his flesh and blood find him repulsive. In the cultural and historical context, family was the primary source of social and economic support, and being loathsome to one's family would mean a complete loss of social standing and support.

(17) Though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.--Rather, and so is my affection or kindness (see Psalm 77:10, where the same word occurs) to the children of my mother's womb, i.e., my brethren. Others render, I am become offensive to, &c.

Verse 17. - My breath is strange to my wife. The breath of a sufferer from elephantiasis has often a fetid odour which is extremely disagreeable. Job's wife, it would seem, held aloof from him on this account, so that he lost the tender offices which a wife is the fittest person to render. Though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body. This translation is scarcely tenable, though no doubt it gives to the words used a most touching and pathetic sense. Translate, and I am loathsome to the children of my mother's wench; i.e. to my brothers and sisters (comp. Job 42:11). It would seem that they also avoided Job's presence, or at any rate any near approach to him. Under the circumstances, this is perhaps not surprising; but Job, in his extreme isolation, felt it keenly.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
My breath
ר֭וּחִֽי (rū·ḥî)
Noun - common singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

is repulsive
זָ֣רָה (zā·rāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 2114: To turn aside, to be a, foreigner, strange, profane, to commit adultery

to my wife,
לְאִשְׁתִּ֑י (lə·’iš·tî)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

and I am loathsome
וְ֝חַנֹּתִ֗י (wə·ḥan·nō·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 2603: To bend, stoop in kindness to an inferior, to favor, bestow, to implore

to my own family.
לִבְנֵ֥י (liḇ·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son


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OT Poetry: Job 19:17 My breath is offensive to my wife (Jb)
Job 19:16
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