Job 16 Study Notes: Job Appeals to a Witness on High
Job answers Eliphaz by calling his friends poor comforters who only add to his pain. He describes God as an enemy who has worn him down and made him a target, yet insists he is innocent and looks to a heavenly witness to speak for him before he dies.
General
In 16:18, what does Job ask of the earth?
Answer: Not to hide his blood, so his cry for justice stays heard
Job pleads with the earth not to cover his blood and asks that his plea for rescue keep sounding (16:18). Uncovered blood was a picture of a wrong that still calls out for justice. When Cain killed Abel, the LORD told him that his brother's blood was crying out to Him from the ground (Genesis 4:10), and Isaiah pictures the earth exposing its bloodshed when the LORD comes to punish wrongdoing (Isaiah 26:21). Job expects to die an innocent man, and he wants his case to stay open even after his death.
- Job 16:18 (BSB)“O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.”Job asks the earth not to cover his blood and his cry never to be silenced.
- Genesis 4:10 (BSB)““What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”Abel's blood cries out to the LORD from the ground, still calling for justice.
- Isaiah 26:21 (BSB)“For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.”When the LORD comes to judge, the earth will no longer hide its bloodshed.
Theological
What is the force of Job's appeal to the earth in 16:18?
Answer: Not to hide his blood, so his cry for justice stays heard
Job adjures the earth not to conceal his blood and asks that his outcry find no resting place (16:18). Exposed blood signals unavenged wrong still appealing to God: Abel's blood cries to the LORD from the ground (Genesis 4:10), and in Isaiah the earth discloses its bloodshed when the LORD comes in judgment (Isaiah 26:21). Anticipating death as an innocent man, Job wants his claim to remain before God rather than be buried with him.
- Job 16:18 (BSB)“O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.”Job asks the earth not to cover his blood and his cry never to be silenced.
- Genesis 4:10 (BSB)““What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”Abel's blood cries out to the LORD from the ground, still calling for justice.
- Isaiah 26:21 (BSB)“For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.”When the LORD comes to judge, the earth will no longer hide its bloodshed.
General
In 16:7-14, whom does Job hold responsible for wearing him out and setting him up as a target?
Answer: God, whom he pictures as a warrior attacking him
Job speaks directly about God as the one behind his suffering. God has worn him out and ruined his whole household (16:7), torn at him in anger (16:9), handed him over to the wicked (16:11), shattered him and seized him by the neck, made him His target with archers all around (16:12-13), and charged at him like a warrior (16:14). Job knows nothing of the heavenly scene in chapters 1-2, where the LORD allowed Satan to strike everything Job had but set a limit on him (1:12), and where the LORD Himself said that Satan had stirred Him up against Job to destroy him for no reason (2:3). So Job is right that nothing touches him apart from God, but he cannot see God's purpose. Job had already described the Almighty's arrows piercing him (6:4), and Lamentations uses the same picture of God bending His bow and aiming His arrows at a sufferer (Lamentations 3:12).
- Job 16:12-14 (BSB)“I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target; His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground. He breaks me with wound upon wound; He rushes me like a mighty warrior.”Job pictures God shattering him, making him a target, and rushing at him like a warrior.
- Job 1:12 (BSB)““Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”Satan could act against Job only within the limit the LORD set.
- Job 2:3 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.””The LORD says Satan incited Him against Job to ruin him without cause.
- Job 6:4 (BSB)“For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.”Job had earlier described the arrows of the Almighty piercing him.
- Lamentations 3:12 (BSB)“He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.”Lamentations uses the same picture of God setting a sufferer up as His target.
Theological
In 16:7-14, to whom does Job ascribe the assault he describes, including being made a target for archers?
Answer: God, whom he pictures as a warrior attacking him
Job attributes every blow directly to God: exhaustion and the devastation of his household (16:7), being torn in wrath (16:9), handed over to the wicked (16:11), shattered, made a target ringed by archers (16:12-13), and overrun as by a warrior (16:14). Job is unaware of the prologue, in which Satan acts only within the limit the LORD set (1:12) and the LORD owns that Satan incited Him against Job without cause (2:3). Job is therefore correct that his suffering lies within God's sovereign rule, though he cannot see its purpose, and God is never the author of the evil done. The same imagery appears in Job's earlier lament over the Almighty's arrows (6:4) and in Lamentations 3:12.
- Job 16:12-14 (BSB)“I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target; His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground. He breaks me with wound upon wound; He rushes me like a mighty warrior.”Job pictures God shattering him, making him a target, and rushing at him like a warrior.
- Job 1:12 (BSB)““Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”Satan could act against Job only within the limit the LORD set.
- Job 2:3 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.””The LORD says Satan incited Him against Job to ruin him without cause.
- Job 6:4 (BSB)“For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.”Job had earlier described the arrows of the Almighty piercing him.
- Lamentations 3:12 (BSB)“He bent His bow and set me as the target for His arrow.”Lamentations uses the same picture of God setting a sufferer up as His target.
General
True or False: In 16:15-17, while describing his mourning in sackcloth, Job admits that violence on his part brought on his suffering.
Answer: False
This is false. Job describes sewing sackcloth onto his skin and lowering his horn to the ground in grief, his face red and his eyes shadowed from weeping (16:15-16). Yet he insists in the same breath that his hands have done no violence and that his prayer is pure (16:17). This matches the opening description of Job as blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned from evil (1:1), and he will keep clinging to his integrity in later speeches (27:5-6). His friends assume that great suffering must mean great sin, but Job will not confess wrongs he has not done.
- Job 16:15-17 (BSB)“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and deep shadows ring my eyes; yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure.”Job mourns in sackcloth and weeping yet says his hands are free of violence and his prayer pure.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”The book opens by calling Job blameless and upright.
- Job 27:5-6 (BSB)“I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.”Job later vows to hold on to his integrity as long as he lives.
Theological
True or False: In 16:15-17, Job's description of his mourning includes an admission that his own violence caused his affliction.
Answer: False
This is false. Job's mourning is extreme, with sackcloth sewn to his skin, his horn lowered to the ground, a tear-reddened face and darkened eyes (16:15-16), yet he pairs it with a protest of innocence: no violence on his hands and a pure prayer (16:17). This accords with the opening verdict on Job as blameless and upright (1:1) and with his later refusal to surrender his integrity (27:5-6). The friends' retribution theology demands that suffering be traced to some sin, but Job refuses to confess guilt he does not have.
- Job 16:15-17 (BSB)“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and deep shadows ring my eyes; yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure.”Job mourns in sackcloth and weeping yet says his hands are free of violence and his prayer pure.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”The book opens by calling Job blameless and upright.
- Job 27:5-6 (BSB)“I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.”Job later vows to hold on to his integrity as long as he lives.
General
True or False: Job closes his words in 16:22 expecting that within a short span of years he will die and not come back.
Answer: True
This is true. Job ends this part of his speech by saying that after a few short years he will take the road from which no one comes back (16:22). He has said this kind of thing before: whoever descends to Sheol (the realm of the dead) never comes home again (7:9-10), and he spoke of departing for a dark and gloomy land with no way back (10:21). The next chapter opens in the same mood, with Job saying the grave is waiting for him (17:1). A psalmist likewise asks for relief before he departs and is no more (Psalm 39:13).
- Job 16:22 (BSB)“For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.”Job expects that after a few years he will die and not return.
- Job 7:9-10 (BSB)“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.”Job had said that one who goes down to Sheol never returns to his house.
- Job 10:21 (BSB)“before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,”Job spoke of going, never to return, to a land of darkness.
- Psalm 39:13 (BSB)“Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.””A psalmist also asks for relief before he departs and is no more.
Theological
True or False: In 16:22 Job anticipates that within a short span of years he will die and not come back.
Answer: True
This is true. Job closes the chapter expecting that after a brief span he will travel the road without return (16:22). The thought echoes his earlier laments that whoever descends to Sheol never returns home (7:9-10) and that he will depart without return for a realm of gloom (10:21), and it carries into 17:1. A psalmist voices the same plea for relief before he departs and is no more (Psalm 39:13).
- Job 16:22 (BSB)“For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.”Job expects that after a few years he will die and not return.
- Job 7:9-10 (BSB)“As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.”Job had said that one who goes down to Sheol never returns to his house.
- Job 10:21 (BSB)“before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,”Job spoke of going, never to return, to a land of darkness.
- Psalm 39:13 (BSB)“Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.””A psalmist also asks for relief before he departs and is no more.
General
In 16:2-5, after calling his friends miserable comforters, what does Job say he would do if their places were reversed?
Answer: Use his words to strengthen them and ease their pain
Job opens his reply to Eliphaz by calling all three friends sorry comforters and asking what drives their endless speeches (16:2-3). He admits he could talk the way they do if their situations were swapped, piling up words against them and wagging his head at them (16:4). Instead, he says, he would strengthen them with what he said and bring them relief (16:5). The friends had come to show Job sympathy and to console him (2:11), yet their words only added to his pain. Job had already said that someone in despair deserves kindness from a friend (6:14), and the apostle Paul tells believers to share the tears of those who are grieving (Romans 12:15).
- Job 16:2-5 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all. Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying? I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you. But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief.”Job calls the friends miserable comforters and says he would encourage them if their places were reversed.
- Job 2:11 (BSB)“Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.”The friends first came to sympathize with Job and comfort him.
- Job 6:14 (BSB)“A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”Job had already said that a man in despair should receive kindness from his friend.
- Romans 12:15 (BSB)“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”Paul calls believers to share in the grief of those who grieve, the comfort Job lacked.
Theological
Having labeled his friends miserable comforters (16:2), what does Job say in 16:4-5 he would do were their positions exchanged?
Answer: Use his words to strengthen them and ease their pain
Job's reply to Eliphaz begins by branding the three as sorry comforters whose long speeches never end (16:2-3). He grants that he could match their rhetoric, heaping words on them and wagging his head, were their circumstances reversed (16:4), but insists he would use his speech to strengthen and relieve them instead (16:5). The friends had arrived with the stated purpose of sympathy and comfort (2:11), and Job has already claimed the kindness a despairing man is owed by his friend (6:14). Paul's command to share the grief of the grieving (Romans 12:15) describes the very comfort Job found lacking.
- Job 16:2-5 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all. Is there no end to your long-winded speeches? What provokes you to continue testifying? I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you. But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief.”Job calls the friends miserable comforters and says he would encourage them if their places were reversed.
- Job 2:11 (BSB)“Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.”The friends first came to sympathize with Job and comfort him.
- Job 6:14 (BSB)“A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”Job had already said that a man in despair should receive kindness from his friend.
- Romans 12:15 (BSB)“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”Paul calls believers to share in the grief of those who grieve, the comfort Job lacked.
General
Right after asking the earth not to hide his blood, what does Job declare in 16:19?
Answer: He has a witness above who will speak up for him
Even now, Job says, he has a witness in the heavens and an advocate (someone who speaks up for another) on high (16:19). His friends only scoff at him while he weeps before God, and he wishes a man could argue with God as freely as one argues with a neighbor (16:20-21). Earlier Job had lamented that there was no mediator who could place a hand on both him and God (9:33); here he voices hope that such a one stands above. Job does not identify this witness further. Many Christians have seen this longing answered in Jesus Christ, the one go-between for God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5).
- Job 16:19-21 (BSB)“Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God. Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!”Job says his witness and advocate are on high and wishes that a man could plead with God as with a neighbor.
- Job 9:33 (BSB)“Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.”Earlier Job had lamented that there was no mediator between him and God.
- 1 Timothy 2:5 (BSB)“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”Paul names Christ Jesus as the one mediator between God and men.
Theological
What confidence does Job express in 16:19, immediately after his appeal to the earth?
Answer: He has a witness above who will speak up for him
Job affirms that his witness and advocate are already on high (16:19), even as his friends mock and he weeps toward God, wishing a man could argue his case before God as one argues with a neighbor (16:20-21). The verse moves beyond his earlier complaint that no mediator existed to place a hand on both parties (9:33). Job does not name the witness. Many Christians have seen this longing answered in Christ, the sole go-between for God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5).
- Job 16:19-21 (BSB)“Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God. Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!”Job says his witness and advocate are on high and wishes that a man could plead with God as with a neighbor.
- Job 9:33 (BSB)“Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.”Earlier Job had lamented that there was no mediator between him and God.
- 1 Timothy 2:5 (BSB)“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”Paul names Christ Jesus as the one mediator between God and men.