English Standard Version
Job 9:16
16If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
Job 9:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
- New International Version (NIV)Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
- New King James Version (NKJV)If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
- New Living Translation (NLT)And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me.
Context of Job 9:16
14How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? 15Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. 17For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause; 18he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
Read all of Job 9Job 9:16 word by word
אִם־קָרָ֥אתִי וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑נִי לֹֽא־אַ֝אֲמִ֗ין כִּֽי־יַאֲזִ֥ין קוֹלִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 9:16
- Psalms 18:6In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
- Psalms 66:18If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Psalms 116:1I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
- Job 29:24I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and the light of my face they did not cast down.
- Exodus 6:9Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
- Judges 6:13And Gideon said to him, "Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."
- Psalms 126:1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
- Luke 24:41And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
- Acts 12:14Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
Commentaries on Job 9:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16If I had called, and he had answered - I could scarcely suppose, such is his majesty and such his holiness, that he could condescend to notice a being so mean, and in every respect so infinitely beneath his notice. These sentiments sufficiently confuted that slander of his friends, who said he was presumptuous, had not becoming notions of the majesty of God, and used blasphemous expressions against his sovereign authority.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16If I had called, and he had answered me - It is remarked by Schultens, that the expressions in these verses are all taken from courts of justice. If so, the meaning is, that even if Job should call the Almighty to a judicial action, and he should respond to him, and consent to submit the great question about his innocence, and about the justice of the divine dealings with him, to trial, yet that such was the distance between God and him, that he could not…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 Job is still righteous in his own eyes, ch. 32:1, and this answer, though it sets forth the power and majesty of God, implies that the question between the afflicted and the Lord of providence, is a question of might, and not of right; and we begin to discover the evil fruits of pride and of a self-righteous spirit. Job begins to manifest a disposition to condemn God, that he may justify himself, for which he is afterwards reproved. Still Job…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-35Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case. It includes: A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32). The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20). A "mediator" (9:33–34). A question of accusation (9:12). A legal sentence (9:22). A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-1716-17. would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice--who breaketh me (as a tree stripped of its leaves) with a tempest.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 9:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 9
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries