Skin of my teeth

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Skin of my teeth (Hebrew: עוֹר שִׁנָּי ‘ōr šinnāy) is a phrase from the Bible. In Job 19:20, the King James Version of the Bible says, "My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth." In the Geneva Bible, the phrase is rendered as "I have escaped with the skinne of my tethe." The verse can be resolved as follows: In the first clause, the author uses the Hebrew `or in its usual sense of "skin", associating it with "flesh" and "bones". In the second clause, he uses the Hebrew or as derived from the Arabic ghar, "the bones in which the teeth are set (Latin: os maxilla and os mandibula)". Therefore, Blumenthal argues, the correct reading is: "My skin and flesh cling to my bones, and I am left with (only) my skull", giving a stark description of the advanced stage of Job's disease. In modern times, "by the skin of my teeth" is used to describe a situation from which one has barely managed to escape or achieve something; a close call.

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