Job 16:21

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

Key Reflection

Job's statement in Job 16:21 reflects a poignant moment of suffering where his friends, who initially tried to comfort him, are now seen as scoffing at his plight by the desperate Job himself. In the ancient Near Eastern context, tears were often understood as a powerful and authentic expression of one’s pain and devotion. By saying he pours out his tears to God, Job highlights that even in the face of his friends' perceived insensitivity, his trust remains unwavering, emphasizing the directness and sincerity of his relationship with God.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Oh 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; seeJob 13:3, note;Job 13:18-22, notes. On the grammatical construction of the passage, see Rosenmuller. As a man pleadeth for his neighbour -Hebrew “the son of man;” that is, the offspring of man. Or, rather, as a man contendeth with his neighbor; as one man may carry on a cause with another.

Related Verses

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