Did Job Expect To Be Resurrected Physically?

“For I know that my Redeemer lives. And He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26, NKJV).

Many Bible commentators say this passage proves that Job expected to be resurrected physically someday. But does it really prove that? (Note: The following points were made by theologian Don Preston in his YouTube video entitled, “Responding to Steve Gregg–Resurrection-What About Isaiah 25 & Job 19?” May 19, 2023.)

First, scholars readily acknowledge that Job 19:26 is a notoriously difficult text to translate, and there is much disagreement over what it actually says. For example, the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia–which is a conservative Bible research encyclopedia–says Job 19:26 should be translated “out of my flesh” (instead of “in my flesh”), which gives the text the exact opposite meaning of the New King James Version cited above! In fact, the American Standard Version translates Job 19:26 as, “Then without my flesh shall I see God,” which, again, is the exact opposite of “in my flesh.” Other Bible versions that translate the passage in a similar way include the Complete Jewish Bible, the Darby Translation, The Message, and the Amplified Bible (Classic Editions).

Second, Job says elsewhere in the book that there is no physical resurrection: “He who goes down to the grave does not come up” (Job 7:10; see also 10:20–21, 14:1–22, 17:13–16).

What’s interesting, though, that even after saying this, Job asks: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). Preston notes, “He didn’t ask whether a man will come out of the grave. He asks, Will a man live again?” And isn’t this the exact question Jesus answers in John 11:26: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Jesus was obviously not referring physical resurrection, since Christians still die physically.

Third, Jesus and the apostles never cited Job 19:25–26 to prove physical resurrection.

Fourth, many theologians and commentators say Job 19:26 is not even talking about resurrection. Rather, he is talking about God healing and restoring him in this life (during his lifetime), which is exactly what happens at the end of the story. God restores everything Job lost. “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12).

Fifth, acclaimed Bible scholar and historian N. T. Wright points out in his eight-hundred-page tome Resurrection of the Son of God that very few biblical scholars appeal to Job 19 to prove the resurrection because of all the problems associated with it (see list above).

For these reasons, I don’t think Job 19:25–26 proves a physical resurrection.

For a detailed look at resurrection, get my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled…which should be out Summer 2024!

By: Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled (TheBibleFulfilled.com) May 25, 2024

For more about the resurrection, see The Bible Fulfilled’s many articles about the resurrection.