Job 16

Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz

¹Then Job answered,

²“I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters!

³Shall vain words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?

⁴I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul’s place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you,

⁵but I would strengthen you with my mouth. The solace of my lips would relieve you.

⁶“Though I speak, my grief is not subsided. Though I forbear, what am I eased?

⁷But now, God, you have surely worn me out. You have made all my company desolate.

⁸You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me. My leanness rises up against me. It testifies to my face.

⁹He has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.

¹⁰They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.

¹¹God delivers me to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target.

¹³His archers surround me. He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare. He pours out my bile on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks me with breach on breach. He runs at me like a giant.

¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping. Deep darkness is on my eyelids,

¹⁷although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“Earth, don’t cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.

¹⁹Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven. He who vouches for me is on high.

²⁰My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,

²¹that he would maintain the right of a man with God, of a son of man with his neighbor!

²²For when a few years have come, I will go the way of no return.

Previous Job 15

Next Job 17

Job responds to Eliphaz with bitter frustration, calling his friends 'miserable comforters' who offer empty words instead of genuine support. He describes God as his adversary who has torn him apart and made him a target, yet maintains his innocence and appeals for divine vindication. Despite his anguish, Job expresses faith that he has a witness in heaven who will advocate for him, even as he faces the prospect of death.

Context

This chapter continues Job's response to the first cycle of speeches, following Eliphaz's harsh accusation in chapter 15 and setting up Bildad's second speech in chapter 18.

Key Themes

Outline

1-5
Condemnation of False Comforters Job criticizes his friends as miserable comforters who offer vain words instead of true encouragement.
6-11
God as Adversary Job describes how God has worn him out, made him desolate, and delivered him to the wicked.
12-17
Violent Divine Attack Job uses military imagery to portray God's assault on him, despite his innocence and pure prayers.
18-22
Appeal for Vindication Job calls for his blood to cry out and expresses faith in a heavenly witness who will advocate for him before death.

Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz

16:1–17:16

wisdom speech anguished

Job responds to Eliphaz's counsel by calling his friends 'miserable comforters' and describing his intense suffering at God's hands. Despite his anguish, Job maintains his innocence and expresses hope that he has a witness in heaven who will vindicate him.

person_contrast

Job's desperate cry for a heavenly witness (16:19) introduces the book's first explicit hope for divine vindication, contrasting sharply with his earlier resignation to God's sovereign judgment.

Insight Character Study

Job's desperate cry for a heavenly witness (16:19) introduces the book's first explicit hope for divine vindication, contrasting sharply with his earlier resignation to God's sovereign judgment.