Job 16:18

Job 16:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
• New International Version (NIV)“Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!
• English Standard Version (ESV)"O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place!

Context of Job 16:18

16My face is red and swollen with weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death [my eyes are dimmed], 17Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands, And my prayer is pure. “O earth, do not cover my blood, And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard]. 19Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven, And my Advocate [who vouches and testifies for me] is on high. 20My friends are scoffers [who ridicule]; My eye pours out tears to God.

Job 16:18 word by word

אֶ֭רֶץ אַל־תְּכַסִּ֣י דָמִ֑י וְֽאַל־יְהִ֥י מָ֝ק֗וֹם לְזַעֲקָתִֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• O earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
• coverכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
• not thou my bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• and let my cryזְעָקָהza‛aq ze‛âqâh · outcryH2201
• have no placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725

Cross-references for Job 16:18

• Jeremiah 22:29O land, land, land, Hear the word of the Lord!
• Genesis 4:11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.
• Nehemiah 4:5Do not forgive their wrongdoing and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have offended the builders [and provoked You].
• Isaiah 26:21Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing]; The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her And will no longer cover her slain.
• Ezekiel 24:7For her blood [that she has shed] remains in her midst; She put it on the bare rock; She did not pour it on the ground To cover it with dust.
• Job 27:9Will God hear his cry When trouble and distress come upon him?
• Psalms 66:18If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it], The Lord will not hear [me];
• Isaiah 1:15So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help], I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you offer many prayers, I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood!
• Isaiah 58:9Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away from your midst the yoke [of oppression], The finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and [every form of] wicked (sinful, unjust) speech,
• James 4:3You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires.

Commentaries on Job 16:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18O earth, cover not thou my blood - This is evidently an allusion to the murder of Abel, and the verse has been understood in two different ways: Job here calls for justice against his destroyers. His blood is his life, which he considers as taken away by violence, and therefore calls for vengeance. Let my blood cry against my murderers, as the blood of Abel cried against Cain. My innocent life is taken away by violence, as his innocent life was; as…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18O earth - Passionate appeals to the earth are not uncommon in the Scriptures; see the notes at Isaiah 1:2. Such appeals indicate deep emotion, and are among the most animated forms of personification. Cover not thou my blood - Blood here seems to denote the wrong done to him. He compares his situation with that of one who had been murdered, and calls on the earth not to conceal the crime, and prays that his injuries may not be hidden, or pass unavenged…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-22Verses 17-22 Job's condition was very deplorable; but he had the testimony of his conscience for him, that he never allowed himself in any gross sin. No one was ever more ready to acknowledge sins of infirmity. Eliphaz had charged him with hypocrisy in religion, but he specifies prayer, the great act of religion, and professes that in this he was pure, though not from all infirmity. He had a God to go to, who he doubted not took full notice of all his…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Job's blood would testify that he was innocent and suffered without cause (compare Genesis 4:10–11; Isaiah 26:21; Ezekiel 24:7–8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. my blood--that is, my undeserved suffering. He compares himself to one murdered, whose blood the earth refuses to drink up until he is avenged (Ge 4:10, 11; Eze 24:1, 8; Is 26:21). The Arabs say that the dew of heaven will not descend on a spot watered with innocent blood (compare 2Sa 1:21). no place--no resting-place. "May my cry never stop!" May it go abroad! "Earth" in this verse in antithesis to "heaven" (Job 16:19). May my innocence be as…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 16:18

• Self-Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• Comforter
• Foul
• Plead
• Scorn
• Bildad
• Death
• God

Commentaries on Job 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary