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

16I have cried so much that my face is red. There are dark circles around my eyes. 17But I have not been cruel. And when I pray, I speak honestly to God. The earth should not hide my blood! People should remember how I have suffered. They should not forget that I asked for justice. 19But even now, I know that I have a friend in heaven. He knows that I am not guilty. He speaks on my behalf. 20My friends have turned against me. I cry with many tears as I pray 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 22:29Listen, people of this land! Listen, people of Judah! Listen to the Lord's message!
• Genesis 4:11The ground received your brother's blood when you killed him. As a result, the ground no longer accepts you. It has brought a curse on you.
• Nehemiah 4:5Do not forgive their sins. Do not say that they are not guilty. They have insulted us when we are trying to build.’
• Isaiah 26:21Look! Now the Lord is coming from the place where he lives. He is coming to punish the people who live on the earth for their sins. The earth will clearly show the blood that murderers poured out on it. Murderers will no longer be able to hide the people that they have killed.
• Ezekiel 24:7You can see the blood of people that men killed in the city. It lies on the rocks where everyone can see it. Those murderers did not leave the blood on the ground, where dirt would hide it.
• Job 27:9When they are in trouble and they pray for help, God will not listen to them.
• Psalms 66:18If I had kept wicked things in my mind, the Lord would not have listened to me.
• Isaiah 1:15When you lift up your hands to pray to me, I have to look away. Even if you pray very many times to me, I do not listen to you, because your hands are full of blood.
• Isaiah 58:9Then you will ask the Lord for help and he will answer you. When you call out to him, he will say, “Here I am.” But you must stop being cruel to other people. Do not accuse people, and do not say bad things about them.
• James 4:3Even when you do ask God, you do not receive anything. That is because you ask for the wrong reason. You just want to use these things to make yourselves happy.

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