Job 16 20

Job 16:20 kjv

My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

Job 16:20 nkjv

My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God.

Job 16:20 niv

My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;

Job 16:20 esv

My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

Job 16:20 nlt

My friends scorn me,
but I pour out my tears to God.

Job 16 verses

Job 16 20 Meaning

Job 16:20 portrays Job's profound anguish stemming from the perceived betrayal and scorn of his closest companions. Despite his friends' dismissive attitude, Job's deep sorrow and unfeigned distress find their immediate and desperate outlet not in self-pity or revenge, but in a direct, tearful appeal to God. This verse encapsulates a core paradox of Job's struggle: feeling abandoned by humanity, and perceiving God as his assailant, yet simultaneously finding solace and a final resort in the very God he contends with. His "eye weeps to God" signifies a raw, unfiltered pouring out of the soul's deepest pain directly before the divine presence, an act of radical honesty in lament.

Job 16 20 Context

Job chapter 16 captures Job's despairing response to Eliphaz's second speech, where Eliphaz falsely accuses Job of hidden sin and pride. Overwhelmed by both physical suffering and the relentless, unhelpful accusations of his friends, Job views them not as comforters but as "miserable comforters" (v. 2). He expresses the futility of their words, stating they would also speak similarly if they were in his shoes (v. 4-5). He describes how God has shattered him (v. 12-14), that his own people detest him (v. 20b), and that his face is red with weeping (v. 16).

Verse 20 particularly highlights Job's utter isolation from human comfort. While his friends offer no genuine empathy or understanding, becoming instead tormentors, Job paradoxically turns to God. This immediate context underscores Job's deep conviction of his own innocence, and his desperate appeal for vindication, not from his earthly companions, but from his heavenly witness and advocate mentioned just prior in Job 16:19. His "eyes pour out tears to God" is the direct, unmediated expression of his broken heart to the ultimate authority in the universe, despite his ongoing struggle to reconcile his suffering with God's justice. Culturally, deep public lament and wailing were common expressions of grief, but Job's specific turning of these tears "to God" indicates an active appeal rather than mere passive sorrow.

Job 16 20 Word analysis

• My (לִי, li): A possessive suffix. This emphasizes the intensely personal nature of the suffering and the scorn. It is his friends, his eye.
• friends (רֵעַ, rēa'): A common Hebrew term for a close companion, intimate acquaintance, or neighbor. The term underscores the profound depth of the betrayal; these are not distant acquaintances but those expected to provide comfort and loyalty. Their scorn is particularly grievous due to the established relationship.
• scorn (לִיץ, līts): To mock, scoff, deride, treat with contempt. This isn't mere disagreement but a demeaning, mocking attitude that belittles Job's suffering and sincerity. It suggests a cruel delight in his predicament or a dismissive rejection of his claims of innocence.
• me (לִי, li): Another possessive/dative particle, reinforcing the direct target of the friends' contempt.
• my eye (עֵינִי, ʿê-nî): Literally "my eye" (singular), but often understood idiomatically as "my eyes" or as a metonymy for the entire person consumed by grief. The singular "eye" may intensify the focus on the raw, visible outflow of sorrow, perhaps suggesting one eye specifically blurred by a continuous flow, or the depth of one's entire being pouring out in tears. It represents the visible manifestation of Job's profound inner anguish.
• weeps (דָּלְפָה, dāl-phāh): The verb means "to drip," "to drop," or "to leak," as water from a leaky roof. Applied to tears, it indicates a continuous, profuse outpouring, not just a few drops. It implies an unstoppable flow, reflecting the depth and duration of Job's suffering and sorrow. The active participle form conveys the ongoing nature of his weeping.
• to (אֶל, ʾel): A preposition indicating direction, movement towards, or presence before. It's crucial here, showing Job's intentional directing of his tears, not merely shedding them aimlessly. He is purposefully bringing his complaint before God.
• God (אֱלוֹהַּ, ʾĔlôah): This is a singular form of God, distinct from the more common Elohim (plural of majesty or intensity). In Job, Eloah frequently highlights God's unique power and transcendence, emphasizing Him as the sole supreme being before whom Job is standing. It signifies the specific, personal, yet awe-inspiring, object of Job's address.

Words-group analysis:

• My friends scorn me: This phrase establishes the immediate source of Job's acute pain and sense of abandonment. It highlights the devastating blow of betrayal and public contempt from those who should have offered solace, confirming Job's isolation in his suffering. This scorn is a human manifestation of the rejection Job feels, mirroring (in his perception) divine abandonment.
• my eye weeps to God: This phrase stands in stark contrast to the first. While humans scorn him, Job's raw, tearful plea is directed solely and immediately to God. It speaks of a deep, paradoxical faith that, even in profound anguish and perceived divine hostility, seeks ultimate refuge and vindication from God alone. It is an act of utterly honest and unadorned prayer, bypassing human intermediaries. It is a powerful image of radical sincerity and desperation in approaching the divine.

Job 16 20 Bonus section

• The singular "eye" (ʿê-nî) can also be seen as reflecting an extreme state of singular focus in sorrow. His entire being is concentrated on this act of weeping to God.
• This verse provides a powerful theological statement about the nature of lament. True faith allows for the expression of intense pain, anger, and confusion directly to God, without needing to censor or rationalize feelings. It validates raw, unadorned communication with the Almighty, rejecting the notion that faith requires stoicism or pretending everything is well.
• Job's experience foreshadows elements of Christ's suffering, who was also scorned, rejected, and endured unimaginable pain, yet also cried out to the Father (Mk 14:36, Heb 5:7).
• The paradox of Job appealing to God while also seeing God as his antagonist (as implied in the broader context of Job 16) highlights a central tension in the book. It demonstrates that faith can exist, even flourish, in the presence of unresolved theological questions and a perceived antagonistic divine posture. This isn't a simple act of devotion but an intense, desperate plea rooted in profound spiritual agony and a stubborn insistence on God's ultimate justice, even if currently veiled.

Job 16 20 Commentary

Job 16:20 succinctly captures the depth of Job's suffering and his unique response. It paints a picture of extreme personal distress: isolated, not merely from the world, but from his presumed closest confidantes who have become his tormentors, pouring salt into his wounds with their scorn. This human rejection leaves Job with nowhere else to turn but God. The "eye weeps to God" is not a passive expression of sorrow, but an active, visceral, and direct appeal. It represents the ultimate surrender of one's agony into the divine presence. Job doesn't offer polished prayers or theological pronouncements; he simply brings his brokenness and tears before God. This illustrates the honesty permissible and even desired in true prayer, where every part of human experience, even the most bitter and despairing, can be laid bare before the Lord. It prefigures later biblical examples where honest lament and questioning are not antithetical to faith, but intrinsic to its wrestling and deepening. Job, though wrestling with God, holds firm to God as his only ultimate recourse, embodying a radical, though seemingly contradictory, faith.