English Standard Version
Job 16:21
21that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor.
Job 16:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
- New International Version (NIV)on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!
- New Living Translation (NLT)I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.
Context of Job 16:21
19Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. 20My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor. 22For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.
Read all of Job 16Job 16:21 word by word
וְיוֹכַ֣ח לְגֶ֣בֶר עִם־אֱל֑וֹהַּ וּֽבֶן־אָדָ֥ם לְרֵעֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 16:21
- Job 9:34Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.
- Job 13:3But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
- Job 23:3Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!
- Job 31:35Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
- Job 40:1And the Lord said to Job:
- Ecclesiastes 6:10Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.
- Isaiah 45:9"Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'?
- Romans 9:20But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"
Commentaries on Job 16:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21O that one might plead - Let me only have liberty to plead with God, as a man hath with his fellow.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Oh that one might plead for a man - A more correct rendering of this would be, “Oh that it might be for a man to contend with God;” that is, in a judicial controversy. It is the expression of an earnest desire to carry his cause at once before God, and to be permitted to argue it there. This desire Job had often expressed; see Job 13:3, note; Job 13:18-22, notes. On the grammatical construction of the passage, see Rosenmuller. As a man pleadeth for his…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. 19-21my witness is in heaven: Job wished for a kind third party to be "a mediator" between him and God (see 9:32–35). Job wanted a heavenly advocate who would eventually stand on the earth (16:19; compare Zechariah 3:1; Job 19:25; compare 1 Samuel 24:15; John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. one--rather, "He" (God). "Oh, that He would plead for a man (namely, me) against God." Job quaintly says, "God must support me against God; for He makes me to suffer, and He alone knows me to be innocent" [Umbreit]. So God helped Jacob in wrestling against Himself (compare Job 23:6; Ge 32:25). God in Jesus Christ does plead with God for man (Ro 8:26, 27). as a man--literally, "the Son of man." A prefiguring of the advocacy of Jesus Christ--a boon…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 16:21
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
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