God’s Word Translation
Job 16:18
18“Earth, don’t cover my blood. Don’t ever let my cry ⌞for justice⌟ be stopped.
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 from crying, and dark shadows encircle my eyes, 17although my hands have done nothing violent, and my prayer is sincere. “Earth, don’t cover my blood. Don’t ever let my cry ⌞for justice⌟ be stopped. 19Even now, look! My witness is in heaven, and the one who testifies for me is above, 20the spokesman for my thoughts. My eyes drip ⌞with tears⌟ to God
Read all of Job 16Job 16:18 word by word
אֶ֭רֶץ אַל־תְּכַסִּ֣י דָמִ֑י וְֽאַל־יְהִ֥י מָ֝ק֗וֹם לְזַעֲקָתִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 16:18
- Jeremiah 22:29O land, land, land! Listen to the Lord’s word.
- Genesis 4:11So now you are cursed from the ground, which has received the blood of your brother whom you killed.
- Nehemiah 4:5Don’t ignore their guilt, and don’t let their sins disappear from your records. They have insulted you in front of these builders.”
- Isaiah 26:21The Lord is going to come out from his dwelling place to punish those who live on earth for their sins. The earth will uncover the blood shed on it and will no longer cover up its dead bodies.
- Ezekiel 24:7Blood is still in that city. The blood was poured on a bare rock. It wasn’t poured on the ground where dust would cover it.
- Job 27:9Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?
- Psalms 66:18If I had thought about doing anything sinful, the Lord would not have listened ⌞to me⌟.
- Isaiah 1:15So when you stretch out your hands ⌞in prayer⌟, I will turn my eyes away from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.
- Isaiah 58:9Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am!” Get rid of that yoke. Don’t point your finger and say wicked things.
- James 4:3When you pray for things, you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
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
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries