Job 16

16:4 Job might have wanted to shake his head in mockery or in horror (2 Kgs 19:21; Pss 22:7; 109:25; Isa 37:22; Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15; Matt 27:39).

16:7 Job’s family here means his extended household, including his servants (1:15-19).

16:9-10 jeer and laugh at me: Job was the subject of mockery (cp. Ps 35:21; Isa 57:4; Lam 2:16; 3:46). • To slap the cheek was less an act of violence (Ps 3:7; Mic 5:1) than an insult (1 Kgs 22:24; Isa 50:6; Lam 3:30; Matt 26:67).

16:12 took me by the neck: This might refer to a wild animal with its prey (see 16:9), but it is more likely a military image that signaled defeat (Gen 49:8; Ps 18:40).

16:13 pierce me: Literally pierce my kidneys. • my blood: Literally my gall. The picture is of wounds to vital organs.

16:14 Again and again he smashes against me: Job pictures himself as a fortress that God is besieging. Job saw God as a warrior (cp. Exod 15:3; Ps 24:8) who did not defend him or offer him salvation (Jer 20:11; Zeph 3:17) but attacked him as though he were dangerous (Job 6:12; see Isa 42:13).

16:15 Since Job insisted on his innocence, his wearing burlap (literally I sewed on burlap) was a sign of mourning, not penitence. Perhaps it was attached to indicate that he would never remove it because he could never be consoled (Gen 37:34-35). • My pride lies in the dust (literally I have buried my horn in the dust): A horn symbolized dignity and power (1 Sam 2:1; Pss 75:4-5; 89:17, 24; 92:10; 112:9; 148:14); cutting it off inflicted degrading humiliation (Ps 75:10; Jer 48:25; Zech 1:12).

16:17 done no wrong (or done no violence; Hebrew lo’-khamas): If violence is the meaning, Job was possibly denying that he was a formidable warrior who should be attacked (16:12-14; see also Isa 59:6; Jon 3:8). • Contrary to Eliphaz’s charge (Job 15:4-5) and Bildad’s assumption (8:6), Job’s prayer was pure because he was innocent (Gen 20:5; Isa 59:3).

16:18-22 Job expected his suffering to prove fatal (7:7, 21; 10:20-22); he pleaded with God to reveal his innocence even if he died first.16:18 Job’s blood would cry out that he had been innocent and that he had suffered undeservedly (cp. Gen 4:10-11; Isa 26:21; Ezek 24:7-8).

16:19-21 my witness is in heaven: Job wished for a benevolent third party who would mediate between him and God (see 9:32-35). Job wanted an advocate from heaven (16:19; cp. Zech 3:1) who would eventually stand on the earth (Job 19:25; cp. 1 Sam 24:15; John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 Jn 2:1).