Job 16:18 kjv
O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
Job 16:18 nkjv
"O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place!
Job 16:18 niv
"Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!
Job 16:18 esv
"O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.
Job 16:18 nlt
"O earth, do not conceal my blood.
Let it cry out on my behalf.
Job 16 18 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 4:10 | And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground." | Abel's blood cries for justice from the earth. |
| Isa 26:21 | For behold, the LORD is coming out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity...and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it and will no more cover its slain. | Earth reveals unavenged blood. |
| Eze 24:7-8 | For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust. To rouse wrath, to take vengeance, I have put her blood on the bare rock, that it may not be covered. | Uncovered blood demands vengeance. |
| Heb 12:24 | and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. | Christ's blood provides forgiveness, not vengeance. |
| Rev 6:9-10 | When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God...They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” | Martyred saints cry for justice. |
| Dt 21:7-8 | Then all the elders of that city nearest the slain man shall declare: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood...O LORD, provide atonement for Your people Israel...’ | Ritual to cleanse land of innocent blood. |
| Nu 35:33 | You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. | Innocent blood pollutes the land, requiring justice. |
| Ps 9:12 | For He who avenges blood is mindful of them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. | God remembers and avenges the cries of the suffering. |
| Ps 34:17 | When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. | God hears and delivers the righteous. |
| Ps 38:9 | O Lord, all my longing is before You; my sighing is not hidden from You. | God is aware of all our deep distress. |
| Lam 3:49-50 | My eyes flow with rivers of tears, without ceasing, till the LORD looks down and sees from heaven. | Persistent weeping and appeal to God. |
| Hab 2:11 | For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will answer it. | Injustice is so great even creation cries out. |
| Lk 18:7 | And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them? | God hears and will answer persistent pleas for justice. |
| Jas 5:4 | Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you... | Exploited workers' cries for justice. |
| Job 9:24 | The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges; if it is not He, who then is it? | Job's perception of pervasive injustice. |
| Job 10:1-3 | I loathe my very life...I will speak in the bitterness of my soul...Why do You contend with me? | Job's bitter complaint of God's injustice. |
| Job 19:25-27 | For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. | Job's ultimate hope for vindication. |
| Ps 10:1-4 | Why, O LORD, do You stand far away? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor... | Complaint against God's seeming inaction for the wicked. |
| Isa 41:17 | When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. | God promises to respond to the distressed. |
| 1 Kgs 18:29 | ...and there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention. | Contrast to Job; false gods cannot respond. |
| 2 Sam 1:20 | Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice... | Prevent enemies from rejoicing over misfortune. |
| Rev 12:16 | But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. | Earth acts to protect. |
Job 16 verses
Job 16 18 Meaning
Job 16:18 is a desperate lament where Job, in profound agony and conviction of his innocence, appeals to the very earth. He demands that his innocent "blood"—a metaphor for his life unjustly taken or violently cut short—not be concealed by the ground upon his death. He wants it to remain exposed, crying out as a perpetual witness to the injustice inflicted upon him. Concurrently, he pleads for his "outcry"—his relentless cry for justice and vindication—to find no resting place or be silenced, but rather to continue to echo unceasingly until his case is acknowledged and settled. This reflects his profound belief that his suffering is unwarranted and must not be forgotten or go unheeded.
Job 16 18 Context
Job 16:18 comes as Job responds to his "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2). He expresses profound despair, believing God Himself has attacked him and become his adversary (16:9-14). Though severely afflicted and seeing himself nearing death, Job adamantly asserts his blamelessness (16:17), affirming his pure hands and innocent prayer. This verse, therefore, represents a climax in his lament. Feeling abandoned by man and oppressed by God, Job appeals to the very earth to ensure that his unmerited suffering and impending death, which he perceives as an unjust shedding of innocent blood, will not be covered up. It is a desperate legal plea, a cosmic protest, demanding that his tragic case be eternally exposed until justice is rendered.
Job 16 18 Word analysis
O earth, (אֶרֶץ, ’erets)
- Word Level: Refers to the ground or land, but here personified.
- Significance: Job makes an urgent appeal to creation itself, a desperate move beyond human recourse. It indicates a cosmic scale of injustice and his extreme isolation, turning to the fundamental elements when all else has failed.
cover not (תְּכַסּוּ, t'kassu)
- Word Level: Negative imperative from כָּסָה (kasah), meaning "to cover," "conceal," or "hide."
- Significance: A direct command prohibiting concealment. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, covering spilled blood might imply either atonement for the crime or that the crime has been forgotten. Job explicitly rejects this, demanding that his "blood" remain exposed, as a stark witness.
my blood, (דָמִי, damiy)
- Word Level: Refers to Job's "blood," often a metonym for life or specifically, life violently and unjustly taken. The suffix indicates possession ("my").
- Significance: Alludes to the concept of innocent blood crying out from the ground (Gen 4:10). Job views himself as a victim of an unjust act, as if his life were being shed like that of a murdered person. The demand not to cover his blood is a plea for the injustice of his impending demise to remain perpetually visible and accountable.
and let my cry (וְאַל-יְהִי צְוָחָתִי, w'al-y'hiy ts'vachatîy)
- Word Level: A strong negation ("and let not be") combined with צְוָחָתִי (ts'vachatîy), which is an "outcry" or "shriek"—a more intense and desperate form of crying than mere weeping.
- Significance: This emphasizes the loudness and desperation of Job's plea for vindication. It is a persistent and forceful protest against the perceived injustice of his suffering.
find no resting place. (מָקוֹם, maqom)
- Word Level: Literally, "let no place hold my cry." Maqom signifies a "place" or "resting place."
- Significance: Job wants his complaint and demand for justice to reverberate unendingly, never settling, ceasing, or being forgotten. It should perpetually seek an answer until vindication is achieved. This ensures that his suffering does not pass into oblivion.
Words-Group Analysis:
- "O earth, cover not my blood": This urgent address personifies the earth as a witness to cosmic injustice. It implies Job believes his suffering is leading to an unjust death, and his life's demise must serve as unignorable evidence, mirroring ancient concepts of unavenged blood.
- "and let my cry find no resting place": This complements the first part, moving from a static witness (blood) to an active, ceaseless protest (cry). Job demands that his desperate pleas for truth and justice never be contained, silenced, or allowed to dissipate into quiet forgetfulness until his righteous standing is acknowledged.
Job 16 18 Bonus section
- Job's invocation of the earth as a witness elevates his personal tragedy to a cosmic injustice, suggesting that the order of the universe itself is disrupted by his unmerited suffering.
- The desire for "no resting place" for his cry is paradoxical: by refusing to let his cry settle, Job hopes to attain ultimate rest through vindication.
- This verse can be seen as Job establishing an everlasting testimony to his innocence before God and creation, prior to his personal meeting with the Almighty. It's an appeal for historical and divine memory.
Job 16 18 Commentary
Job 16:18 vividly captures the anguish and resolve of Job. Having exhausted human comfort and believing even God to be his oppressor, he turns to the fundamental element of creation, the earth itself. His plea—that his unjustly spilled blood not be covered and his anguished cry never be silenced—is a profound demand for cosmic accountability. It reflects the ancient understanding that innocent blood cries out for justice and cannot be placated until a wrong is righted. Job's protest is therefore both a cry of ultimate despair and a fierce insistence that his unmerited suffering not be swept away or forgotten, demanding an answer that goes beyond human judgment. This powerful imagery underscores his desperate need for vindication, portraying his agony as a wound upon the very fabric of existence, calling out relentlessly for a resolution.