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Job 16
Job 16:1
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Job 16:2
you are all miserable comforters
"instead of comforting me, you all make me more miserable"
Job 16:3
Will useless words ever have an end?
Job uses this rhetorical question to express that he wishes that they would stop speaking useless words. This question can be written as a statement. Alternate translation: "How I wish your useless words would end!" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)
What is wrong with you that you answer like this?
Job uses this rhetorical question to rebuke Eliphaz. Here the word "you" is singular and refers to Eliphaz, who just finished speaking to Job. This question can be written as a statement. Alternate translation: "Eliphaz, you should stop answering me like this!" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)
Job 16:4
I could collect and join words together
Job speaks of thinking of useless things to say as if his words were random items that he collected and joined together. Alternate translation: "I could think of things to say" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
shake my head
This is an action that shows disapproval. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/translate-symaction)
in mockery
The word "mockery" can be expressed as a verb. Alternate translation: "to mock you" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-abstractnouns)
Job 16:5
I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the quivering of my lips will bring you relief!
The words "mouth" and "lips" are metonyms for the words or messages that a person speaks using his mouth and lips. Here Job is speaking sarcastically and means the opposite of what he says. Alternate translation: "My words would surely not be encouraging to you! They would surely not lighten your grief" or "By speaking to you as you spoke to me earlier, I would not encourage you or lighten your grief!" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-irony)
with my mouth
Here Job's "mouth" represents what he says. Alternate translation: "with what I say" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy)
the quivering of my lips
This is a metonym for the words or message that he speaks. Alternate translation: "my comforting words" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy)
will bring you relief
This speaks of grief as if it were a heavy physical burden. Alternate translation: "will lessen your grief" or "will help you feel less grief" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Job 16:6
grief
Job has experienced great loss of family and health that is unexplained and therefore causes him "great sorrow and emotional pain."
how am I helped?
Job uses this rhetorical question to express that keeping quiet does not lessen his grief. This question can be written as a statement. Alternate translation: "it does not help me at all." (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)
Job 16:7
But now, God, you
Job now turns his complaining to God.
made all my family desolate
"destroyed all my family"
Job 16:8
You have made me dry up
This means that Job's body has shriveled and become wrinkled. Alternate translation: "You have made my body shrivel up" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit)
which itself is a witness against me
Job describes the shriveling of his body as if it were an accuser against him. Alternate translation: "and people think that shows me to be a sinner" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-personification)
the leanness of my body rises up against me, and it testifies against
Job describes the thinness of his body as if it were accuser against him. Alternate translation: "They see how thin my body is, and they think that proves that I am guilty" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-personification)
against my face
Here Job is referred to by his "face." Alternate translation: "against me" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche)
Job 16:9
God has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me ... as he tears me apart
This speaks of God causing Job pain as if God were a wild animal and Job were his prey that he was killing. Alternate translation: "Because God is very angry with me, it is as though he were a wild animal that tore my body apart with his teeth because he was my enemy" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
my enemy
Job refers to God as his "enemy" as he describes how he has caused him great pain.
fastens his eyes on me
This is an idiom. Alternate translation: "glares at me" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom)
Job 16:10
People have gaped with open mouth
To "gape" means to stare in amazement with open mouth.
Job 16:11
hands me over to ungodly people, and throws me into the hands of wicked people
These two lines mean basically the same thing. Together they emphasize Job's feeling of having been betrayed by God. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-parallelism)
hands me over to
This is an idiom. Alternate translation: "puts me under the control of" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom)
throws me into the hands
Here a person's "hands" refer to his "control." Alternate translation: "delivers me to the control" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy)
Job 16:12
and he broke me apart
Job speaks of his pain and despair as if he himself were something that was broken into pieces. Alternate translation: "but then it felt as though he broke me apart" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
dashed me to pieces
Job speaks of God causing him pain and despair as if he were something that God had taken and smashed into pieces. Alternate translation: "it is as though he has taken me by the neck and smashed me to pieces" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
he has also set me up as his target
Job speaks of himself being the focus of God's attacks as if God has set him up as a target to shoot arrows at. Alternate translation: "it is as though he set me up like a target" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Job 16:13
His archers surround me all around
Job speaks of himself being the focus of God's attacks as if God has set him up as a target and God had archers surrounding him to attack him. Alternate translation: "It is as though his archers have me surrounded" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
God pierces my kidneys and does not spare me; he pours out my bile on the ground
Job speaks of the pain he is feeling by comparing it to God piercing his body with arrows. Here "God" represents the arrows that he shoots. Alternate translation: "It feels like God's arrows have pierced my kidneys and my liver, spilling my bile on the ground. He does not spare me" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Job 16:14
He smashes through my wall
Job speaks of the pain that he feels by comparing himself to a wall that God smashes through. Alternate translation: "I feel like a wall that God smashes through" or "I feel like a wall that God breaks through" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
he runs upon me like a warrior
Job describes God as a soldier that attacks him. Alternate translation: "it is like he is a warrior who runs at me to attack me" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Job 16:15
I have sewn sackcloth on my skin
Job speaks of wearing clothing made of sackcloth as if the cloth were attached to his body. People often wore sackcloth to express mourning or great grief. Alternate translation: "Because I am mourning, I have sewn together sackcloth to wear as my clothing" or "I wear clothing that I made from sackcloth, because I am mourning" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
I have thrust my horn into the ground
Job's "horn" represents the power and authority he had before but now is no more. Alternate translation: "I sit here in the dirt, very depressed" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Job 16:16
on my eyelids is the shadow of death
Here Job's eyes are represented by his "eyelids." Job speaks of his eyes' dark appearance as if his eyes looked like the eyes of a dead person. Alternate translation: "there are dark circles around my eyes" or "my eyes are dark, like the eyes of a dead person" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-synecdoche and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)
Job 16:17
there is no violence in my hands
"Hands" refers to a person's ability and activity. Alternate translation: "I have not acted violently" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy)
Job 16:18
Earth, do not cover up my blood
Jobs speaks to the "earth" directly even though it cannot hear him, to add strength to his statement. The earth is personified as purposefully covering up his blood after he dies. Alternate translation: "I wish my blood would not soak into the ground but that it would remain on top of the ground as proof of how I died" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-apostrophe and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-personification)
Earth, do not cover up my blood
Job speaks of himself dying as if he would be murdered. Here his "blood" is a metonym referring to his death. Alternate translation: "Earth, when I die, do not hide how I died unfairly" or "Let it not be hidden how I died unfairly" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy)
let my cry have no resting place
Job speaks of wanting everyone to know what happened to him as if his "cry" were a person that never stopped testifying to what happened to him and never rested. Alternate translation: "let everyone hear about what has happened to me" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-personification)
Job 16:19
see
Job uses this word to draw attention to what he says next. Alternate translation: "listen"
vouches for me
"testifies that I am righteous"
on high
This is an idiom. Alternate translation: "in heaven" or "in heaven on high" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-idiom)
Job 16:20
scoff at
"scorn" or "ridicule"
my eye pours out tears
Job describes how strongly he feels his sorrow. Here he exaggerates how he often cries by saying that tears pour from his eyes. Alternate translation: "my eyes are full of tears while I cry out" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole)
Job 16:21
for this man
"for me." Here Job refers to himself in the third person. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-123person)
as a man does with his neighbor!
"as a man does for his neighbor." Job describes how he wants that one in heaven to plead for him. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-simile)
Job 16:22
I will go to a place
Here Job is referring to himself dying. Alternate translation: "I will die and go to a place" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit)