New English Translation
Job 9:16
16If I summoned him, and he answered me, I would not believe that he would be 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.
- 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 much less, then, can I answer him and choose my words to argue with him! 15Although I am innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my judge for mercy. If I summoned him, and he answered me, I would not believe that he would be listening to my voice – 17he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason. 18He does not allow me to recover my breath, for 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 18:6In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. From his heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help.
- Psalms 66:18If I had harbored sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Psalms 116:1I love the Lord because he heard my plea for mercy,
- Job 29:24If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it; and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.
- Exodus 6:9Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and hard labor.
- Judges 6:13Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
- Psalms 126:1When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, we thought we were dreaming.
- Luke 24:41And while they still could not believe it (because of their joy) and were amazed, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
- Acts 12:14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them 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
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