English Standard Version
Job 16:5
5I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
Job 16:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
- New International Version (NIV)But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.
- New Living Translation (NLT)But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.
Context of Job 16:5
3Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? 4I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain. 6"If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me? 7Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company.
Read all of Job 16Job 16:5 word by word
אֲאַמִּצְכֶ֥ם בְּמוֹ־פִ֑י וְנִ֖יד שְׂפָתַ֣י יַחְשֹֽׂךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 16:5
- Job 4:3Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.
- Job 6:14"He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- Job 29:25I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.
- Psalms 27:14Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
- Proverbs 27:9Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
- Isaiah 35:3Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
- Galatians 6:1Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Commentaries on Job 16:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5I would strengthen you with my mouth - Mr. Good translates thus: - "With my own mouth will I overpower you, Till the quivering of my lips shall fail;" for which rendering he contends in his learned notes. This translation is countenanced by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5(But I would strengthen you with my mouth With that which proceeds from the mouth - words. And the moving of my lips - My speaking - implying that it would have been done in a mild, gentle, kind manner - so that the lips would appear just to move. Others, however, have given a different interpretation. Thus, Dr. Good renders it: “With my own mouth will I overpower you, Till the quivering of my lips shall fall.” But the common interpretation is to be…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. strengthen ... with ... mouth--bitter irony. In allusion to Eliphaz' boasted "consolations" (Job 15:11). Opposed to strengthening with the heart, that is, with real consolation. Translate, "I also (like you) could strengthen with the mouth," that is, with heartless talk: "And the moving of my lips (mere lip comfort) could console (in the same fashion as you do)" [Umbreit]. "Hearty counsel" (Pr 27:9) is the opposite.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 16:5
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
Commentaries