Job 16:21

Job 16:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
• New International Version (NIV)on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.
• English Standard Version (ESV)that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!

Context of Job 16:21

19Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he that coucheth for me is on high. 20My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God; That he would maintain the right of a man with God, and of a son of man with his neighbour! 22For when a few years are come, I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Job 16:21 word by word

וְיוֹכַ֣ח לְגֶ֣בֶר עִם־אֱל֑וֹהַּ וּֽבֶן־אָדָ֥ם לְרֵעֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear

• manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• Godאֱלֹהַּ'ĕlôahh 'ĕlôahh · godH433
• sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121

Cross-references for Job 16:21

• Job 9:34Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid:
• Job 13:3Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
• Job 23:3Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!
• Job 31:35Oh that I had one to hear me! (lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me;) and that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
• Job 40:1Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
• Ecclesiastes 6:10Whatsoever hath been, the name thereof was given long ago, and it is known that it is man: neither can he contend with him that is mightier than he.
• Isaiah 45:9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
• Romans 9:20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?

Commentaries on Job 16:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21O that one might plead - Let me only have liberty to plead with God, as a man hath with his fellow.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Oh that one might plead for a man - A more correct rendering of this would be, “Oh that it might be for a man to contend with God;” that is, in a judicial controversy. It is the expression of an earnest desire to carry his cause at once before God, and to be permitted to argue it there. This desire Job had often expressed; see Job 13:3, note; Job 13:18-22, notes. On the grammatical construction of the passage, see Rosenmuller. As a man pleadeth for his…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. 19-21my witness is in heaven: Job wished for a kind third party to be "a mediator" between him and God (see 9:32–35). Job wanted a heavenly advocate who would eventually stand on the earth (16:19; compare Zechariah 3:1; Job 19:25; compare 1 Samuel 24:15; John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. one--rather, "He" (God). "Oh, that He would plead for a man (namely, me) against God." Job quaintly says, "God must support me against God; for He makes me to suffer, and He alone knows me to be innocent" [Umbreit]. So God helped Jacob in wrestling against Himself (compare Job 23:6; Ge 32:25). God in Jesus Christ does plead with God for man (Ro 8:26, 27). as a man--literally, "the Son of man." A prefiguring of the advocacy of Jesus Christ--a boon…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 16:21

• Intercession

In the dictionaries

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

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