Job's Lament and Plea for a Mediator
Job 16:1-17:16
Job.16.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויען: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- איוב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 6:1 (verbal): Begins with the same speech-introduction formula (ויאמר איוב), marking the start of another extended reply by Job to his friends.
- Job 9:1 (structural): Another instance where Job's words are formally introduced (ויאמר איוב), serving the same dialogical function of launching a theological reflection on God's justice.
- Job 10:1 (thematic): Though phrased differently, this verse opens a direct lament addressed to God and continues themes of complaint and desire for vindication found after the speech-introduction in 16:1.
- Job 17:1 (structural): Yet another speech-opening formula introducing Job's continued lament and defense; parallels 16:1 in the book's recurrent pattern of speech markers delimiting Job's responses.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Job answered and said:
- Then Job answered and said:
Job.16.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- כאלה: DEM,f,pl
- רבות: ADJ,f,pl,abs
- מנחמי: NOUN,m,pl,poss1s
- עמל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כלכם: PRON,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 13:4 (verbal): Same context of rebuking the friends' counsel—Job calls his friends worthless/ineffective ("worthless physicians"), paralleling "miserable comforters are you all."
- Lamentations 1:16 (thematic): Lament over the absence/failure of comforters—"the comforter that should relieve me is far from me" echoes Job's complaint about useless consolers.
- Jeremiah 6:14 (thematic): Leaders proclaiming false or shallow consolation ("Peace, peace, when there is no peace") parallels the idea of miserable or deceptive comfort offered to the suffering.
- Proverbs 25:20 (thematic): Simile condemning inappropriate consolation (singing to a broken heart; removing a garment in cold) illustrates the futility and harm of ill-suited comfort, akin to Job's accusation.
- Psalm 55:12-14 (thematic): Complaint about betrayal/failure by a close companion who should offer support—parallels Job's lament that those around him provide no real comfort.
Alternative generated candidates
- I have heard many such things; you are all consolers of toil.
- I have heard many such things; you are all wearisome comforters.
Job.16.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הקץ: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- לדברי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- או: CONJ
- מה: PRON,int
- ימריצך: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- תענה: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- James 1:19 (thematic): Admonishes restraint in speech—'be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath'—echoing Job's rebuke to cease provocative, windy words.
- Psalm 39:1 (verbal): The psalmist resolves to guard his tongue ('I will take heed to my ways... I will keep my mouth with a bridle'), paralleling Job's call to stop empty speech.
- Ecclesiastes 5:2 (thematic): Warns against haste of mouth and rash words before God; similar concern for avoiding unwise, provocative utterance as in Job 16:3.
- Proverbs 10:19 (verbal): 'In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin' connects to Job's criticism of 'words of wind'—excessive speech that provokes error or offense.
- Proverbs 26:20 (thematic): 'Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out'—the idea that silence (absence of combustible words) ends strife resonates with Job's call to cease speaking.
Alternative generated candidates
- Are these words of wind to be at an end? Or what drives you that you answer?
- Are there no bounds to windy words? What stirs you to reply?
Job.16.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- ככם: PREP+PRON,2mp
- אדברה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- יש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- נפשכם: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:2,m,pl
- תחת: PREP
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- אחבירה: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
- במלים: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ואניעה: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
- במו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ראשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Job 16:2-3 (structural): Immediate context: Job accuses his friends of vain words and miserable comfort, setting up the retort in 16:4.
- Job 6:14 (thematic): Contrasts expected compassion from a friend toward the afflicted with the harsh, unsympathetic speech Job experiences from his companions.
- Psalm 55:12-14 (thematic): Laments betrayal and reproach from a close companion—paralleling Job's complaint about friends who answer harshly instead of consoling.
- Proverbs 18:2 (thematic): Describes one who values speaking over understanding—echoes the critique of those who respond with empty, self‑assured words.
- Proverbs 18:13 (verbal): Warns against answering before hearing; parallels Job's charge that his friends speak rashly and without true empathy.
Alternative generated candidates
- I too could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul, I could heap words against you and shake my head at you.
- I, too, could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul's place, I would heap words against you and shake my head at you with my hand.
Job.16.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אאמצכם: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,sg
- במו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- פי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- וניד: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שפתי: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- יחשך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (structural): Immediate context—Job earlier calls his friends “miserable comforters,” framing his remark about offering consolation by contrast with their failed comfort.
- Job 6:14 (thematic): Speaks of the proper role of a friend to show pity to the afflicted; contrasts Job’s claim to offer soothing words with friends who have not done so.
- Proverbs 12:25 (thematic): “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad”—parallels the idea that words from the lips can relieve pain or sorrow.
- Proverbs 25:11 (verbal): “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold”—emphasizes the power and appropriateness of speech to comfort, echoing Job’s appeal to solace through his lips.
- Isaiah 50:4 (allusion): God gives the servant “a word in season to him who is weary,” resonating with the motif that timely speech can strengthen and sustain the afflicted.
Alternative generated candidates
- I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the comfort of my lips would assuage you.
- I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the tip of my lips would give you comfort.
Job.16.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- אדברה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- יחשך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כאבי: NOUN,m,sg,suff+1
- ואחדלה: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- יהלך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 32:3-4 (verbal): Speaks of keeping silent and the resulting internal torment—'When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long'—paralleling Job's point that speaking does not relieve his pain and refraining brings no gain.
- Psalm 39:2-3 (verbal): Describes holding one's peace while inward anguish burns ('I was mute with silence... my heart was hot within me'), echoing Job's dilemma that neither speech nor silence eases his suffering.
- Jeremiah 20:9 (thematic): Jeremiah resolves not to speak because of reproach but finds God's word a 'burning fire' in his heart compelling him to speak—similar theme of being forced between silence and speech while suffering.
- Psalm 38:9-10 (thematic): Expresses persistent distress and gloom despite silence or withdrawal ('all my lovers and friends stand aloof... I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me'), resonating with Job's claim that neither speaking nor holding back removes his pain.
Alternative generated candidates
- If I speak, my pain is not eased; and if I forbear, what will become of me?
- If I speak, my pain is not eased; and if I hold back, what will become of me?
Job.16.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אך: PART
- עתה: ADV
- הלאני: PART+PRON,1,sg
- השמות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- כל: DET
- עדתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss1s
Parallels
- Psalm 44:14 (verbal): Uses the language of being made a byword/reproach among the peoples—closely parallels Job’s complaint about public humiliation.
- Psalm 22:7-8 (thematic): Depicts derision and mockery by onlookers (‘they laugh me to scorn’), comparable to Job’s experience of being ridiculed before his community.
- Psalm 31:11 (thematic): Speaks of becoming a reproach and an object of scorn to neighbours—a similar motif of social shame and isolation.
- Psalm 69:12 (verbal): Describes being spoken against in the gates and made a song of drunkards—another vivid image of public contempt akin to Job’s charge.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): Summarizes the motif of being despised, rejected, and a man of sorrows; thematically parallels Job’s portrayal of suffering and shame before others.
Alternative generated candidates
- But now you have wearied me; you have made me a byword among all my company.
- But now he has made me a byword of the people; I have become their object of scorn.
Job.16.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותקמטני: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- לעד: ADV
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ויקם: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- כחשי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- בפני: PREP
- יענה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:7-8 (thematic): Both passages depict the speaker as an object of mockery and scorn before onlookers—‘all who see me mock me’ parallels being set up and opposed before others.
- Job 30:1-10 (structural): Within the same book Job laments a similar experience of disgrace and contempt—young men mock and trample him, paralleling the theme of being opposed and made a byword.
- Psalm 35:11 (verbal): Describes malicious witnesses rising up and opposing the innocent—language of enemies rising against the speaker echoes the sense of adversaries standing up against Job.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): The suffering servant is ‘despised and rejected,’ a thematic parallel to being made a byword and the object of scorn and opposition.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he has wrenched me; he has risen against me as a fierce one; he answers me for a lie.
- They hem me in as a mark; they set me up and rise against me as adversaries.
Job.16.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
- טרף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישטמני: VERB,qal,perf,3,sg
- חרק: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בשניו: PREP
- צרי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ילטוש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עיניו: NOUN,f,pl,suff
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 35:16 (verbal): Enemies are described as gnas hing/gnashing their teeth at the speaker — a close verbal parallel to Job's 'my adversary gnashes at me with his teeth.'
- Psalm 37:12 (verbal): The wicked 'gnash their teeth' at the righteous; parallels the image of hostile foes showing violent, tooth‑gnashing enmity in Job 16:9.
- Matthew 8:12 (allusion): The New Testament phrase 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' echoes the hostile, teeth‑gnashing imagery of biblical enemies — an eschatological reuse of the same hostile motif.
- Psalm 58:6 (thematic): Speaks of teeth and fangs as instruments of violence ('break the teeth in their mouths'), connecting to Job's imagery of being torn/attacked by an enemy's teeth and wrath.
Alternative generated candidates
- His fury tears me, he counts me as his enemy; he gnashes at me with his teeth; my adversaries open their eyes against me.
- His anger devours; he hates me, and his jaws gnash at me; my enemy sharpens his eyes against me.
Job.16.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- פערו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בפיהם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl+PRON,3,m,pl
- בחרפה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הכו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- לחיי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- יחד: ADV
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- יתמלאון: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 50:6 (verbal): Both speak of being struck on the cheek and publicly humiliated—Isaiah: “I gave my back to the smiters…my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair,” echoing Job’s ‘they smote me on the cheek’ imagery.
- Job 30:10 (structural): Intra‑book parallel: Job again describes contempt and physical insult—‘they abhor me…they spit in my face’—closely related thematically and rhetorically to 16:10.
- Psalm 35:15 (verbal): Psalmist complains of enemies gloating and gathering against him—‘they gaped at me and gathered themselves together’—echoing Job’s language of mouths opened in scorn and enemies assembling.
- Psalm 22:7–8 (thematic): The psalm depicts public mockery—‘all who see me mock me; they make mouths at me’—paralleling Job’s experience of reproach and derision.
- Matthew 26:67 (allusion): The mob’s spitting and striking of Jesus (‘they spat in his face and struck him’) recalls the motif of humiliation and blows found in Job 16:10, a later New Testament echo of prophetic/Suffering‑Servant motifs.
Alternative generated candidates
- They open their mouths against me with reproach; they strike at my life; together they gloat over me.
- They open their mouths wide against me in reproach; they strike me upon the cheek with contempt—together they gape at me.
Job.16.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יסגירני: VERB,hiphil,impf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- אל: NEG
- עויל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- ידי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- רשעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ירטני: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Judges 2:14 (verbal): Uses the same motif/verb of God handing/selling Israel into the hand(s) of enemies — God ‘delivering’ people into the power of hostile nations as judgment.
- Judges 6:1 (verbal): The LORD ‘delivered’ Israel into the hand of Midian; a near-verbal parallel of divine handing over to hostile peoples who oppress the righteous.
- Judges 3:8 (verbal): Israel is ‘sold’ into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim — another instance of the language and theme of God giving his people into the hands of enemies.
- Romans 1:24 (thematic): Paul speaks of God ‘giving them up’ to sinful passions — a theological parallel in which God hands people over, here to moral corruption rather than hostile men.
- Matthew 27:2 (thematic): Jesus is ‘delivered’ to Pilate (and thus to crucifixion) — a New Testament instance of the motif of being handed over to hostile/wicked agents.
Alternative generated candidates
- He has delivered me over to the arm of the violent; and in the hands of the wicked he has cast me.
- He has delivered me into the hand of the ruthless, and by the hands of the wicked they seize me.
Job.16.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שלו: PRON,3,m,sg
- הייתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- ויפרפרני: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ואחז: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בערפי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,1
- ויפצפצני: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ויקימני: VERB,hiphil,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- למטרה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Lamentations 3:12 (verbal): Uses the same image of God making the sufferer a 'target/mark' for attack — 'He has bent his bow and set me as a mark,' closely paralleling 'set me as his mark.'
- Job 19:11–12 (thematic): Job here similarly complains of being broken, pursued and stripped of hope by God and men — the theme of divine assault and humiliation mirrors 16:12.
- Job 16:8–11 (structural): Immediate context in Job's speech: these verses describe the same actions (seizing, tearing, shaking, stripping) and form a continuous depiction of God’s violent treatment of Job.
- Psalm 22:6–8 (thematic): The psalmist depicts himself as despised, mocked and made an object of scorn/attack — thematically parallel to being set up as a target and assaulted in Job 16:12.
Alternative generated candidates
- I was at ease, and he shattered me; he took me by the neck and dashed me in pieces; he set me up as his target.
- When I was at ease, he shattered me; he seized me by the neck, dashed me apart, and set me as his target.
Job.16.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יסבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- רביו: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,ms
- יפלח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כליותי: NOUN,f,pl,poss1
- ולא: CONJ
- יחמול: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ישפך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מררתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 22:16-18 (verbal): Enemy violence and bodily piercing imagery (’they pierced my hands and my feet’ / gaping mouths) resonates with Job’s language of being pierced in his inward parts and attacked by foes.
- Psalm 69:20-21 (verbal): The psalmist’s experience of reproach and being given ‘sour wine’/poison parallels Job’s image of adversaries pouring out his bitterness and showing no mercy.
- Lamentations 3:19-20 (verbal): Lamentations explicitly pairs ‘bitterness’ and ‘gall’ with personal affliction, echoing Job’s complaint that his bitterness is poured out to the ground.
- Isaiah 53:4-5 (thematic): The motif of suffering borne in the body—wounding and piercing—parallels Job’s depiction of visceral, bodily attack by adversaries, though in a different theological context.
Alternative generated candidates
- His companies encamp around me; they pierce my kidneys; they show me no mercy; they pour out my gall upon the ground.
- My company turn aside from me; they pluck at my inward parts and show me no mercy; they pour out my gall upon the ground.
Job.16.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יפרצני: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- פרץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- פרץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירץ: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- כגבור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Job 16:9 (structural): Immediate context in the same speech—Job continues to portray God (or his persecutors) as physically seizing and attacking him, a direct structural parallel to the image of being broken and run upon.
- Job 6:4 (verbal): Uses violent, bodily attack imagery (‘the arrows of the Almighty are within me’); parallels Job 16:14’s metaphor of being assaulted and broken by a mighty aggressor.
- Psalm 74:3-6 (thematic): Describes enemies breaching and profaning the sanctuary with force (cutting, smashing), echoing the ‘breach upon breach’/siege imagery of repeated breaking in Job 16:14.
- Psalm 22:16 (thematic): Presents a vivid personal assault on the sufferer’s body (‘they have pierced my hands and feet’), paralleling Job’s experience of being violently overrun and afflicted like a warrior attacking him.
Alternative generated candidates
- They break me with breach upon breach; they run upon me like a warrior.
- Break upon break rushes over me; it rushes against me like a warrior.
Job.16.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תפרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- עלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- גלדי: NOUN,m,pl,abs,1,sg
- ועללתי: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- בעפר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קרני: NOUN,f,sg,suff1
Parallels
- Job 2:12 (structural): Friends tear their clothes and sprinkle dust on their heads and sit with Job in mourning—same ritual context of dust/sackcloth as signs of mourning and humiliation.
- Psalm 35:13 (verbal): ‘My clothing was sackcloth’ (Hebrew imagery of sackcloth on the body) parallels Job’s language of sewing sackcloth upon his skin as self-humiliation.
- Jonah 3:5-8 (thematic): The people of Nineveh put on sackcloth and sat in ashes—a communal instance of sackcloth/ashes used to express repentance and humiliation, echoing Job’s gesture.
- Daniel 9:3 (thematic): Daniel seeks God with prayer, fasting, and sackcloth—uses sackcloth as a penitential/humiliating practice like Job’s self-lowering.
- Jeremiah 6:26 (verbal): ‘Put on sackcloth, roll in ashes’—the pairing of sackcloth and dust/ashes mirrors Job’s image of sackcloth upon his skin and laying low (horn in the dust).
Alternative generated candidates
- I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin, and my face is poured out with dust.
- I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin; I have thrust my horn into the dust.
Job.16.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- חמרמרו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- מני: PREP+PRON,1,_,sg
- בכי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- עפעפי: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- צלמות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Job 10:21 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of 'darkness' and the 'shadow of death' as a surrounding reality; both verses employ tsalmavet language to describe immanent gloom and the approach of death.
- Psalm 23:4 (allusion): Speaks of the 'valley of the shadow of death' (tsalmavet); parallels the motif of death-shadow as an oppressive darkness touching the sufferer's eyes/way.
- Psalm 6:7 (thematic): Describes continual weeping that soaks the bed ('I water my couch with my tears'), thematically parallel to Job's face marred by weeping and the physical marks of grief.
- Lamentations 3:49-50 (verbal): 'Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water' — similar ocular imagery of eyes overflowing with tears and the bodily effects of prolonged sorrow.
- Psalm 42:3 (thematic): 'My tears have been my food day and night' — parallels the idea of incessant weeping and the consuming, bodily nature of grief reflected in Job's swollen face and darkened eyelids.
Alternative generated candidates
- My face is foul from weeping, and on my eyelids is darkness.
- My face is foul from weeping, and darkness covers my eyelids.
Job.16.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- על: PREP
- לא: PART_NEG
- חמס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בכפי: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,?,sg
- ותפלתי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
- זכה: ADJ,f,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 18:20 (verbal): Speaks of being rewarded according to the cleanness of one's hands—parallel verbal motif of 'clean/pure hands' and innocence like Job's 'no violence in my hands.'
- Psalm 24:4 (verbal): 'He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart' uses the same paired imagery of clean hands and purity that echoes Job's claim and his 'pure' prayer.
- Psalm 26:6 (verbal): 'I will wash my hands in innocency'—a closely related image of hands free from wrongdoing, matching Job's protest of no violence in his hands.
- Job 27:5-6 (structural): Within the same book Job again insists on personal integrity and innocence ('my righteousness I hold fast'), thematically reinforcing 16:17's claim of clean hands and a pure plea.
- Acts 24:16 (thematic): Paul's desire to maintain a conscience 'void of offence toward God and men' echoes the ethical/theological theme of claiming innocence and a pure prayer found in Job 16:17.
Alternative generated candidates
- Not from violence are my hands, and my prayer is pure.
- For I have not put forth violence in my hands; my prayer is pure.
Job.16.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- תכסי: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- דמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- יהי: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- מקום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לזעקתי: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,1cs
Parallels
- Genesis 4:10 (verbal): Abel's blood 'cries' from the ground—direct verbal and thematic parallel to Job's plea that the earth not cover his blood and that his cry be heard.
- Numbers 35:33 (thematic): The land is defiled by shed blood and demands atonement/justice; echoes Job's concern about blood on the earth and the pursuit of vindication.
- Matthew 23:35 (quotation): Jesus cites 'the blood of Abel' as having cried from the ground (quoting Genesis), connecting the New Testament witness to the Old Testament motif of blood crying for justice, as in Job.
- Revelation 6:9-10 (thematic): The souls of the slain cry aloud for vindication; parallels Job's plaint that his blood not be hidden and his cry for justice before God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry have no resting place.
- O earth, do not cover my blood; let there be no place for my cry to be hidden.
Job.16.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- גם: ADV
- עתה: ADV
- הנה: PART
- בשמים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- עדי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ושהדי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- במרומים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Job 16:20-21 (structural): Immediate context in Job's speech: he appeals for a pleader/advocate and laments friends — continuation of the same complaint about needing a witness/pleader before God.
- Deuteronomy 30:19 (thematic): Moses calling 'heaven and earth' to be witnesses parallels the motif of heaven serving as a witness or record in covenantal or legal settings.
- Malachi 3:16 (allusion): The image of a record or memorial being kept 'before the LORD' (a heavenly register/witness) echoes Job's claim of a witness in the heavens.
- 1 John 2:1 (verbal): Uses the term 'Advocate/Paraclete' (παράκλητος) with the Father — parallels Job's notion of an advocate/pleader on high interceding for the sufferer.
- Romans 8:34 (thematic): Speaks of Christ at the right hand of God who intercedes for believers; resonates with Job's claim that a pleader/advocate is on high.
Alternative generated candidates
- Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.
- For now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.
Job.16.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מליצי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- רעי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- אל: NEG
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דלפה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
Parallels
- Job 19:19 (verbal): Same setting of friends turning against the sufferer—'all my intimate friends abhor me' echoes Job's complaint that his companions scorn him.
- Psalm 6:6 (verbal): Both speak of copious weeping directed before God—'every night I flood my bed with tears' parallels Job's image of his eye pouring out to God.
- Psalm 42:3 (thematic): Links persistent weeping and the taunts of others—'my tears have been my food... while they say to me continually, Where is your God?' resonates with Job's weeping before God amid the derision of companions.
- Lamentations 3:49-51 (allusion): The speaker's eyes failing from tears and enemies opening their mouths against him parallels Job's intense lamentation and the hostility of those around him.
Alternative generated candidates
- My friend is my one who pleads for me; my eyes pour out tears to God,
- My friends scorn me; yet my eye pours out tears to God.
Job.16.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויוכח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לגבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עם: PREP
- אלוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ובן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לרעהו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss3ms
Parallels
- Job 9:33 (thematic): Speaks of the absence of a mediator/daysman between God and man—parallel to Job's wish for someone to plead between him and God.
- Job 13:3 (verbal): Job explicitly expresses the desire to argue or reason with God and state his case—a close verbal/thematic echo of pleading with God as one pleads with a neighbor.
- Isaiah 1:18 (verbal): God invites humans to 'let us reason together'—language and the idea of arguing/pleading a case closely parallel Job's wish for a human-like plea between him and God.
- Proverbs 18:17 (thematic): Uses legal/neighborly imagery about pleading a cause and being examined by another—parallels the courtroom/neighborly plea motif in Job 16:21.
Alternative generated candidates
- that a man may be tried with God, and as a son with his neighbor.
- Would that a man might plead with God, even as a man pleads with his neighbor!
Job.16.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- שנות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- מספר: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- יאתיו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- וארח: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- אשוב: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- אהלך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2fs
Parallels
- Job 14:5 (verbal): Speaks of the "number" of a man's days/months being appointed — close verbal parallel to the image of years being numbered in Job 16:22.
- Psalm 39:5 (thematic): Laments the brevity of life — "Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth" — thematically echoes the sense of few, numbered years and mortality.
- Psalm 90:10 (thematic): States the typical span of human life ("the days of our years are threescore years and ten"), reflecting the theme of limited, numbered years found in Job 16:22.
- Isaiah 38:12–13 (thematic): Hezekiah's lament that his days have departed and he will not return echoes the motif of life's end and the disappearance of years expressed in Job 16:22.
Alternative generated candidates
- For the number of my days is few, and what remains will pass away; go I to the road from which I shall not return.
- For his appointed days will come to me, and I shall not return; I will walk the road from which there is no return.
Job.17.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- רוחי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- חבלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- נזעכו: VERB,nip,perf,3,m,pl
- קברים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Job 10:20-22 (verbal): Speaks of few days and a desire to be left alone before going 'to the land of darkness and the shadow of death,' echoing Job 17:1's sense of exhausted days and impending grave.
- Job 14:10-12 (thematic): Reflects the theme of human mortality—man dies and returns to the earth; thoughts perish when the breath departs—paralleling the image of days ending and the grave prepared.
- Psalm 88:3-5 (thematic): Describes life drawing near to the grave and being numbered with those who go down to the pit, closely matching the grave-imagery and hopeless tone of Job 17:1.
- Isaiah 38:10-11 (allusion): Hezekiah laments that his days are ended and he will go to the gates of the grave; the language of dying days and the grave resonates with Job's complaint in 17:1.
- Psalm 31:10 (verbal): Speaks of life spent in grief and years consumed with sighing, with strength failing—paralleling Job 17:1's depiction of a broken/spoiled spirit and exhausted days.
Alternative generated candidates
- My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave is ready for me.
- My breath is broken; my days are cut off; the graves are ready for me.
Job.17.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- התלים: VERB,hitpael,perf,3,m,pl
- עמדי: PREP+1cs
- ובהמרותם: PREP
- תלן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
Parallels
- Job 16:2 (verbal): Same context of Job reproaching his 'comforters' — an immediate verbal and thematic continuation of his complaint that his friends give no real support.
- Job 16:20 (thematic): Job speaks of friends scorning him and of his eyes pouring out tears; parallels the image of failing/dimmed eyes and the emotional hurt caused by friends.
- Psalm 6:7 (verbal): The psalmist says 'my eye grows dim with sorrow,' using similar language of the eyes failing under grief.
- Psalm 88:9 (thematic): A communal lament that images eyes wasting away and the speaker's sense of abandonment — parallels Job's portrayal of physical decline and isolation.
- Psalm 41:9 (thematic): Speaks of betrayal by a close companion who fails him; thematically parallels Job's complaint about friends who do not uphold or support him.
Alternative generated candidates
- Are there not mockers with me, and does not my eye dwell on their provocations?
- Are there not mockers with me, and do not my eyes endure their provocation?
Job.17.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שימה: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- נא: PART
- ערבני: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- לידי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- יתקע: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 17:18 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of ‘striking hands’/becoming surety — a verbal parallel about entering a binding pledge or guaranty.
- Proverbs 6:1-5 (thematic): Warnings about becoming surety or striking hands for another; thematically parallels Job’s appeal for a guarantor and the dangers of pledging oneself.
- Proverbs 22:26-27 (thematic): Advises against acting as surety or striking hands for debts — a thematic echo of Job’s concern about finding a pledge or sponsor.
- Ruth 4:7-8 (structural): Describes the customary legal action used to confirm transactions/redeem land (removal of a sandal, public act between parties) — a structural parallel to Job’s appeal for a formal pledging/guarantee.
- Deuteronomy 24:10-13 (structural): Regulates the taking and handling of a pledge in legal transactions; connects to Job’s language of laying down a pledge/guarantor in a legal/social sense.
Alternative generated candidates
- Lay a pledge for me with you; who is there that will put up security for me?
- Set a surety for me with you—who is there that will strike hands with me?
Job.17.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- לבם: NOUN,m,sg,poss
- צפנת: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- משכל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- כן: ADV
- לא: PART_NEG
- תרמם: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 14:1 (verbal): Both speak of an inward disposition ('in his heart') that rejects God/wisdom; Job 17:4 says the heart hides understanding so they do not exalt him, parallel to the fool who says in his heart there is no God.
- Romans 1:21 (thematic): Paul describes people who, though knowing God, did not glorify him but became vain in their thinking—echoing Job's point that an inwardly fixed mind/heart leads to failure to exalt God.
- Proverbs 1:7 (thematic): Proverbs links true knowledge with fear of the LORD and contrasts it with those who despise wisdom; this parallels Job's remark that a heart that stores up its own understanding refuses to honor God.
- Isaiah 29:13 (allusion): Isaiah condemns external piety while the heart is distant from God—like Job's observation that concealed human wisdom results in not exalting the LORD.
Alternative generated candidates
- For you have hidden their heart from understanding; therefore you will not exalt them.
- For you have shut up their heart from understanding; therefore you will not exalt them.
Job.17.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לחלק: VERB,qal,inf
- יגיד: VERB,hif,impf,3,m,sg
- רעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ועיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- בניו: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- תכלנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,pl
Parallels
- Job 19:17 (thematic): Within Job: speaker complains of being abandoned and despised by relatives and friends — parallels the theme of social rejection and loss of family/Joy in 17:5.
- Psalm 22:6-8 (verbal): Psalmic language of contempt and humiliation (“a worm... scorned by men”) parallels Job’s imagery of reproach and the degradation of the sufferer.
- Psalm 109:13-15 (thematic): An imprecatory text praying that a man’s children be bereaved and his line cut off — thematically parallels the misfortune and loss of offspring implied in Job 17:5.
- Deuteronomy 28:32 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses describing loss and dispossession of sons and daughters — echoes the motif of offspring taken away or diminished as a consequence of disaster in Job 17:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- He who is at ease has been plundered of his friends, and the children of his house have been left desolate.
- One who flatters his friends will make even the eyes of his children fail.
Job.17.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והצגני: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- למשל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עמים: NOUN,pl,m,abs
- ותפת: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לפנים: PREP
- אהיה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
Parallels
- Job 12:4 (verbal): Same speaker earlier calls himself a laughingstock to his friends—parallel language of being mocked and scorned within the book.
- Job 30:9-10 (thematic): Describes younger men mocking and jeering at Job; parallels the theme of being publicly ridiculed and reduced to an object of contempt.
- Psalm 22:7-8 (verbal): "All who see me mock me..." closely parallels Job's claim to be a byword among the peoples and an object of derision.
- Psalm 69:12 (verbal): Speaks of being a proverb/song among those who sit in the gate and the drunkards—similar imagery of becoming a byword and object of scorn.
- Isaiah 53:3 (thematic): The suffering servant is "despised and rejected," echoing the motif of being scorned and abased by the nations.
Alternative generated candidates
- And I am a byword to them; I am something of horror before their faces.
- He has made me a byword among the nations; I have become their mockery.
Job.17.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותכה: VERB,qal,impf,3,fs
- מכעש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- ויצרי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,poss1
- כצל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כלם: PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Job 12:4 (verbal): Job complains of being a laughingstock and the object of his friends' derision—closely echoing the theme of being mocked and made a byword.
- Job 30:1–9 (thematic): An extended lament about being scorned and derided by the young and bystanders—parallel theme of social humiliation and mockery.
- Psalm 22:6–8 (verbal): Speaks of being despised and mocked by onlookers ('all who see me mock me'), a verbal and thematic echo of Job's experience of public derision.
- Psalm 69:7–8 (thematic): The psalmist laments reproach, alienation, and being a byword—sharing the motifs of shame, reproach, and social isolation found in Job 17:7.
- Matthew 27:39–44 (allusion): The mocking of Jesus by passersby and leaders recalls the biblical motif of one held up to scorn and made a byword, echoing Job's experience of derision.
Alternative generated candidates
- My eye has grown dim from sorrow, and all my members are like a shadow.
- My eye has grown dim from sorrow, and all my members are like a shadow.
Job.17.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישמו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ישרים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- ונקי: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- חנף: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- יתערר: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Proverbs 10:9 (thematic): Both contrast the secure path of the upright with the downfall of the perverse—affirming that the righteous ‘hold’ or walk securely while the wicked fall.
- Proverbs 28:18 (thematic): Affirms that walking uprightly results in preservation/salvation, while perversity leads to collapse—parallel to the righteous holding fast and the ungodly failing.
- Psalm 24:4 (verbal): Uses the specific motif of ‘clean hands’ and moral purity; Job’s ‘clean will rise up against the ungodly’ echoes this emphasis on purity as vindication.
- Isaiah 33:15 (thematic): Describes the person who walks righteously and speaks uprightly being upheld/blessed—similar theme of righteous conduct leading to vindication or stability.
Alternative generated candidates
- Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir himself up against the hypocrite.
- The upright will be appalled at this, and the innocent will rise up against the hypocrite.
Job.17.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאחז: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- צדיק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דרכו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וטהר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ידים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יסיף: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אמץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 24:4 (verbal): Uses the phrase 'clean hands'/'pure heart'—explicit verbal parallel stressing moral purity as a credential for standing before God, echoing Job's 'clean hands' and strengthened state.
- Psalm 26:6-7 (verbal): The psalmist insists on washing his hands in innocence and approaching the altar—a concrete image of 'clean hands' and upright conduct like Job's claim to hold to the righteous way.
- Proverbs 4:18 (thematic): Describes the way of the righteous as growth in light ('shines more and more'), thematically paralleling Job's idea that the one with clean hands 'grows stronger' along the righteous path.
- Proverbs 10:9 (thematic): Asserts that the person who walks in integrity walks securely—echoing Job's coupling of holding to the right way and the resulting stability/strength for the righteous.
- James 4:8 (allusion): Calls for sinners to 'cleanse your hands' and purify hearts; New Testament echo of the moral/ritual purity motif (clean hands) that underlies Job's claim about the righteous gaining strength.
Alternative generated candidates
- The righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
- The righteous will hold fast to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
Job.17.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואולם: CONJ
- כלם: PRON,3,m,pl
- תשבו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ובאו: VERB,qal,imp,2,mp
- נא: PART
- ולא: CONJ
- אמצא: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- בכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- חכם: ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 13:5 (verbal): A near verbal echo and same demand: Job wishes his friends to be silent — “Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace!” matches 17:10’s call for them to sit down/keep silent.
- Job 6:24 (verbal): Job asks to be taught so he will hold his tongue (“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue”), linking the theme of silence and the friends’ failure to instruct or comfort.
- Job 16:2 (thematic): Job’s earlier denunciation of his friends as “miserable comforters” aligns thematically with 17:10’s charge that there is no wise (helpful) person among them.
- Job 12:2 (thematic): Job’s sarcastic remark about his friends’ claimed wisdom (“No doubt but ye are the people; and wisdom shall die with you”) parallels the ironic dismissal in 17:10 that he finds no wise one among them.
Alternative generated candidates
- But you all—be silent and come; I will not find a wise one among you.
- But you all will lie down and come to rest, and I shall not find a wise one among you.
Job.17.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- עברו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- זמתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- נתקו: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,pl
- מורשי: NOUN,m,sg,pr-1s
- לבבי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
Parallels
- Psalm 102:11 (thematic): Both depict the brevity and fading of life—'my days are past' parallels 'my days are like a shadow' (transience and decline).
- Psalm 39:5-6 (thematic): Speaks of the shortness and measured span of life ('you have made my days a handbreadth'), echoing Job's sense that his days are gone and his plans frustrated.
- Proverbs 13:12 (thematic): 'Hope deferred makes the heart sick' parallels Job's loss of inner hopes/desires—his 'survivors of my heart' or remaining desires are cut off/perished.
- Isaiah 38:10-11 (thematic): Hezekiah's lament that his days are past and he will not live to see the LORD in the land of the living parallels Job's declaration that his days have passed and his inner supports are gone.
- Psalm 73:26 (thematic): 'My flesh and my heart may fail' resonates with Job's image of the heart's remaining strength/comfort being cut off—both express the failure or loss of the heart's strength and consolation.
Alternative generated candidates
- My days have passed; my plans are broken; the desires of my heart.
- My days have passed; my plans are broken off—the purposes of my heart.
Job.17.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לילה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ליום: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישימו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קרוב: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- מפני: PREP
- חשך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Job 3:4-6 (verbal): Job’s earlier curse on his birth calls for the day to perish and for darkness to claim the light—close verbal and thematic echo of light and night being inverted or confounded.
- Amos 5:18-20 (thematic): The prophet warns that the expected ‘day of the LORD’ will be darkness rather than light—a moral/theological reversal of day/light that parallels Job’s image of light set against darkness.
- Genesis 1:3-4 (structural): Creation language about God separating light from darkness provides the canonical background; Job’s line effectively collapses or inverts that established order by bringing light close to darkness.
- Zechariah 14:6-7 (thematic): An eschatological scene where distinctions between day and night are altered (evening shining as day), reflecting the motif of day/night reversal or the mingling of light and darkness found in Job 17:12.
Alternative generated candidates
- They change the night into day; they put near light for the darkness.
- They make the night like day; light is near to darkness.
Job.17.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אם: CONJ
- אקוה: VERB,qal,impf,1,c,sg
- שאול: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ביתי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- בחשך: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רפדתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- יצועי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 139:8 (verbal): Uses the same image of making one's bed in Sheol — 'If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there' — directly paralleling Job's 'I spread my bed in darkness' as dwelling in the realm of the dead.
- Job 10:21-22 (thematic): Job speaks of going to 'the land of darkness and deep shadow' and not returning, echoing Job 17:13's expectation of Sheol as a home and the darkness that surrounds it.
- Job 7:9-10 (thematic): Pictures death as going down into the grave from which one does not return ('He shall return no more to his house'), resonant with the idea of waiting for Sheol as one's house in 17:13.
- Psalm 88:3-6 (thematic): Laments identification with the pit and the dead and imagery of darkness and abandonment in Sheol, paralleling Job's mood and the darkness of his 'bed' in Sheol.
- Isaiah 38:10-11 (allusion): Hezekiah's language about being cut off and not coming 'into the land of the living' and dwelling at the gates of Sheol echoes Job's expectation of Sheol as a final dwelling place.
Alternative generated candidates
- If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness,
- If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness,
Job.17.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לשחת: VERB,qal,inf
- קראתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- אבי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- אמי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואחתי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
- לרמה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 22:6 (verbal): Uses the same self‑degrading worm imagery: "I am a worm, and not a man," echoing Job's identification with worms/decay.
- Job 25:6 (verbal): Another passage in Job that explicitly calls mortals "maggots" and "worms," closely paralleling the personification of corruption and worms as kin.
- Job 21:26 (thematic): Speaks of the dead lying in the dust and being covered by worms—same mortality and decay imagery as Job 17:14.
- Job 17:13–16 (structural): Immediate context where Sheol, darkness, and the grave are presented as Job's dwelling and companion—verse 14 personifies corruption/worms as family within this theme.
- Isaiah 14:9 (allusion): Personifies Sheol as stirred up to meet the fallen, a similar trope of the grave/underworld acting as an animate, relational force toward the dying.
Alternative generated candidates
- if I call to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
- if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
Job.17.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואיה: ADV,interr
- אפו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,suff3ms
- תקותי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
- ותקותי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- ישורנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,ms,sg,3fs
Parallels
- Lamentations 3:18 (verbal): Expresses the same idea of hope being lost/vanished ('My strength and my hope is perished'), a close verbal parallel to Job’s lament about where his hope is.
- Psalm 13:1 (thematic): A lament asking how long God will hide His face and implying abandonment and loss of hope—similar tone of despair and questioning God's presence.
- Psalm 42:11 (thematic): Voices deep despondency ('Why are you cast down?') and concern for lost hope, addressing the soul’s despair and longing for restoration—thematically akin to Job’s question about his hope.
- Job 13:15 (thematic): Within the same book but contrasting posture: Job declares trust despite suffering ('Though he slay me, yet will I hope/ trust'), highlighting the tension between clinging to hope and lamenting its apparent absence in 17:15.
Alternative generated candidates
- where then is my hope? Who will see for me any good?
- where then is my hope? And who will see my hope?
Job.17.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בדי: PREP
- שאל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- תרדנה: VERB,qal,impf,3,fp
- אם: CONJ
- יחד: ADV
- על: PREP
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נחת: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 3:19 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of human mortality and return to the dust (‘for dust you are and to dust you shall return’), echoing Job’s descent into the earth/dust motif.
- Ecclesiastes 3:20 (thematic): Speaks of all humans going to one place and returning to dust—a direct thematic parallel about death and common destiny.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (thematic): States that the dust returns to the earth and the spirit to God, paralleling Job’s concern with going down into the dust of the grave.
- Job 10:21-22 (structural): Earlier Job laments going ‘to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death,’ a closely related theme and imagery of descending into the grave as in 17:16.
- Psalm 30:9 (thematic): Contains a rhetorical question about going down to the grave and whether the dust can praise God—mirroring Job’s rhetorical descent-into-dust question in 17:16.
Alternative generated candidates
- Will it go down together with me to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?
- Shall they go down together to the gates of Sheol? Shall we go down together into the dust?
Then Job answered and said:
I have heard many such things; your consolations are all weariness.
Are you exhausted with empty words? What stirs you to reply?
I too could speak as you do. If your life were under my life, I would lay a charge against you with words and shake you with the palms of my hands.
I would seize you by the throat with my mouth; the breath of my lips would make you faint.
Yet if I speak, my pain is not diminished; and if I refrain, what do I gain? But now I have become a byword among all my company; I am a song for them.
They hem me in so that I cannot pass; my opponent rises up against me like a warrior.
His wrath rages like a ravening beast; he gnashes his teeth at me; my enemies tighten their grip and sharpen their eyes against me.
They open their mouths against me with insult; they strike at my life—together they set upon me.
He delivers me over to a godless man, and hands me to the wicked.
When I was at peace, he shattered me; he seized me by the hair and dashed me; he set me up as his target.
His ranks encircled me; they pierced my kidneys—no pity they showed; they poured out my gall upon the ground.
A breach burst upon a breach; by force he ran at me like a mighty man.
I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin and buried my horn in the dust.
My face is wasted from weeping; and dark shadows rest upon my eyelids.
For there is no violence in my hands; my prayer is pure.
O earth, do not cover my blood; and let my cry find no resting place.
Even now—look—my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.
My friends mock me; to God my eye pours out tears.
Would that a man might argue with God, as a man argues with his neighbor!
For the number of my months has drawn near, and my path will not return; I shall go where I do not return.
My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished—graves are ready for me.
If you do not support me, and if, under their reproaches, my eye fails,
set a surety for me with you—who is there that will put forth his hand for me?
For you have shut their heart from understanding; therefore you will not lift them up.
He assigns the wicked their portion, and their children's eyes will waste away.
He has made me a byword among the nations; I am a taunt among the peoples.
My eyes have grown dim from grief, and all my members are like a shadow.
The upright will be appalled at this, and the blameless will rise up against the hypocrite.
The righteous will hold fast to his way; the pure in hand will gain strength.
Yet you all turn back and come—there is none of you that is wise.
My days have passed away; my purposes are broken—keepers of my heart have perished.
They make night for day; they put light near to darkness.
If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness,
I call to corruption, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'You are my mother and my sister.' And where then is my hope? And who will see my hope?
Will you go down with me to the bars, to lie together in the dust?