Job 16:4

Job 16:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I 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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you;
• New Living Translation (NLT)I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.

Context of Job 16:4

2“I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you! 3Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. 5But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief. 6“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away.

Job 16:4 word by word

גַּ֤ם׀ אָנֹכִי֮ כָּכֶ֪ם אֲדַ֫בֵּ֥רָה ל֤וּ־יֵ֪שׁ נַפְשְׁכֶ֡ם תַּ֤חַת נַפְשִׁ֗י אַחְבִּ֣ירָה עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם בְּמִלִּ֑ים וְאָנִ֥יעָה עֲ֝לֵיכֶ֗ם בְּמ֣וֹ רֹאשִֽׁי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I also could speakדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• ifלוּlû' lû' lû · ifH3863
• your soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: myselfH5315
• wereיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• stead, I could heap upחָבַרchâbar · to uniteH2266
• wordsמִלָּהmillâh milleh · speechH4405
• against you, and shakeנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
• mine headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• atבְּמוֹbemô · in/at/byH1119

Cross-references for Job 16:4

• Job 6:2“If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!
• Matthew 7:12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
• Romans 12:15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
• 1 Corinthians 12:26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
• Job 11:2“Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated?
• Job 35:16So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words.”
• Proverbs 10:19Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.
• Ecclesiastes 10:14and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
• 2 Kings 19:21This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: “ ‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
• Psalms 22:7All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
• Psalms 44:14You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.
• Psalms 109:25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
• Jeremiah 18:16Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads.
• Lamentations 2:15All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?”
• Matthew 27:39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads

Commentaries on Job 16:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4I also could speak - It is probably better to render some of these permissives or potential verbs literally in the future tense, as in the Hebrew: I also Will speak. Mr. Good has adopted this mode. If your soul were in my soul's stead - If you were in my place, I also could quote many wise sayings that might tend to show that you were hypocrites and wicked men; but would this be fair? Even when I might not choose to go farther in assertion, I might shake…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4I also could speak as ye do - In the same reproachful manner, and stringing together old proverbs and maxims as you have. If your soul were in my soul‘s stead - If you were in my place. The idea is, that there is no difficulty in finding arguments to overwhelm the afflicted - a truth which most persons who have been unfortunate, have had opportunity to experience. I could heap up words against you - Or, rather, “I could string together words against you.”…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Job might have wanted to shake his head in to make fun or in horror (2 Kings 19:21; Psalms 22:7; 109:25; Isaiah 37:22; Jeremiah 18:16; Lamentations 2:15; Matthew 27:39).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. heap up--rather, "marshal together (an army of) words against you." shake ... head--in mockery; it means nodding, rather than shaking; nodding is not with us, as in the East, a gesture of scorn (Is 37:22; Jr 18:16; Mt 27:39).Read the comment

Topics related to Job 16:4

• Persecution
• Speaking

In the dictionaries

• Comforter
• Foul
• Plead
• Scorn
• Gesture
• Heap
• Job, Book of

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