Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.

JOB 6:29KJV
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Job 6:29 (KJV)

What does Job 6:29 mean?

In Job 6:29, Job asks his friends to reconsider their judgment of him rather than treat him unfairly. He insists that his cause is just: he believes their accusations have not shown him to be guilty.

“Return” pictures a change of direction in their thinking. Job repeats the request, pressing his friends to look again at the case he has put before them.

The Hebrew behind Job 6:29

  • “Return” — שׁוּב (shuv): This word means to turn back or return. Here it is often understood as a call to revisit a judgment, rather than a request to return to a place.
  • “iniquity” — עַוְלָה (ʿavlah): This word can mean wrongdoing or injustice. In Job’s appeal, it points to the unfairness he wants his friends to avoid.
  • “righteousness” — צֶדֶק (tsedeq): This word can mean what is right or just. Job is claiming that right is on his side in the matter under discussion.

Why Job 6:29 matters

  • Job asks for a fair hearing, not just silence from his friends. His repeated “return” follows his challenge in verse 28 for them to look at him.
  • Job’s claim concerns his present case. “My righteousness is in it” gives the reason he wants his friends to reconsider their judgment.
  • Job invites his friends to examine his words. In verse 30, he asks whether his tongue is speaking wrongdoing, continuing the appeal he makes in verse 29.

Where else these words appear

“iniquity” Hebrew H5766 · used in 51 verses

  • Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
  • Job 34:10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
  • Isaiah 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

“righteousness” Hebrew H6664 · used in 109 verses

  • Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
  • Psalms 58:1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
  • Ecclesiastes 7:15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.