The Meaning of Job 13:27 Explained

Job 13:27

KJV: Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

YLT: And puttest in the stocks my feet, And observest all my paths, On the roots of my feet Thou settest a print,

Darby: And thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and markest all my paths; thou settest a bound about the soles of my feet; --

ASV: Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, And markest all my paths; Thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thou puttest  my feet  also in the stocks,  and lookest narrowly  unto all my paths;  thou settest a print  upon the heels  of my feet. 

What does Job 13:27 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 13:1-28 - "though He Slay Me"
The sufferer first rebukes his friends, Job 13:4-12. Then he makes an appeal to God, affirming that he was no hypocrite, and asking that his sins, for which he was suffering, might be set down, Job 13:23.
When Job said that he knew himself to be righteous, he was clearly speaking of known sin; he knew, so far as a man may know himself, that he had not committed the sins of which his friends charged him. He could bare his life to the inspection of men and angels, being sure that no accusation of which human law-courts would take cognizance could be established against him. But this is a very different matter with the divine tribunal. When a fuller light had shone upon him from the face of God, when the patriarch had seen Him instead of merely hearing of Him by the ear, then he would "abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes," Job 42:5-6.
Job 13:15 is almost the greatest sentence ever uttered by mortal lips! Let us ask for grace to affirm it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 13

1  Job reproves his friends for partiality
14  He professes his confidence in God;
19  and entreats to know his own sins, and God's purpose in afflicting him

What do the individual words in Job 13:27 mean?

And You put in the stocks my feet and watch closely all my paths for the soles of my feet You set a limit
וְתָ֘שֵׂ֤ם בַּסַּ֨ד ׀ רַגְלַ֗י וְתִשְׁמ֥וֹר כָּל־ אָרְחוֹתָ֑י עַל־ שָׁרְשֵׁ֥י רַ֝גְלַ֗י תִּתְחַקֶּֽה

וְתָ֘שֵׂ֤ם  And  You  put 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Jussive, second person masculine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
בַּסַּ֨ד ׀  in  the  stocks 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: סַד  
Sense: stocks (for feet).
רַגְלַ֗י  my  feet 
Parse: Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: רֶגֶל  
Sense: foot.
וְתִשְׁמ֥וֹר  and  watch  closely 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: שָׁמַר  
Sense: to keep, guard, observe, give heed.
אָרְחוֹתָ֑י  my  paths 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אֹרַח  
Sense: way, path.
שָׁרְשֵׁ֥י  the  soles 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: שֹׁרֶשׁ  
Sense: root.
רַ֝גְלַ֗י  of  my  feet 
Parse: Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: רֶגֶל  
Sense: foot.
תִּתְחַקֶּֽה  You  set  a  limit 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: חָקָה  
Sense: to cut, carve, cut in.