New International Version
Job 9:16
16Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
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.
- 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.
- 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
14“How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him? 15Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy. Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing. 17He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason. 18He would not let me catch my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.
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 to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
- Psalms 66:18If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
- Psalms 116:1I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.
- Job 29:24When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
- Exodus 6:9Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.
- Judges 6:13“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
- Psalms 126:1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.
- Luke 24:41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
- Acts 12:14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is 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
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