Job 16:18

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 eyes are red with weeping; dark shadows circle my eyes. 17Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure. “O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf. 19Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high. 20My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.

Job 16:18 word by word

אֶ֭רֶץ אַל־תְּכַסִּ֣י דָמִ֑י וְֽאַל־יְהִ֥י מָ֝ק֗וֹם לְזַעֲקָתִֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• O earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
• coverכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
• not thou my bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• and let my cryזְעָקָהza‛aq ze‛âqâh · outcryH2201
• have no placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725

Cross-references for Job 16:18

• Jeremiah 22:29O earth, earth, earth! Listen to this message from the Lord!
• Genesis 4:11Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood.
• Nehemiah 4:5Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.”
• Isaiah 26:21Look! The Lord is coming from heaven to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed. They will be brought out for all to see.
• Ezekiel 24:7For the blood of her murders is splashed on the rocks. It isn’t even spilled on the ground, where the dust could cover it!
• Job 27:9Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them?
• Psalms 66:18If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
• Isaiah 1:15When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
• Isaiah 58:9Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
• James 4:3And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you 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

• Self-Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• Comforter
• Foul
• Plead
• Scorn
• Bildad
• Death
• God

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