God’s Word Translation
Job 9:16
16If I cried out and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to me.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
- New King James Version (NKJV)If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
Context of Job 9:16
14“How can I possibly answer God? How can I find the right words ⌞to speak⌟ with him? 15Even if I were right, I could not answer ⌞him⌟. I would have to plead for mercy from my judge. If I cried out and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to me. 17He would knock me down with a storm and bruise me without a reason. 18He would not let me catch my breath. He 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 18:6I called on the Lord in my distress. I cried to my God for help. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help reached his ears.
- Psalms 66:18If I had thought about doing anything sinful, the Lord would not have listened ⌞to me⌟.
- Psalms 116:1I love the Lord because he hears my voice, my pleas for mercy.
- Job 29:24When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it, but the expression on my face did not change.
- Exodus 6:9Moses reported this to the Israelites. But they would not listen to him because they were so discouraged by their back-breaking work.
- Judges 6:13Gideon responded, “Excuse me, sir! But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors have told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and has handed us over to Midian.”
- Psalms 126:1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, it was as if we were dreaming.
- Luke 24:41The disciples were overcome with joy and amazement because this seemed too good to be true. Then Jesus asked them, “Do you have anything to eat?”
- Acts 12:14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy that instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and reported, “Peter is standing at the door!”
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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