College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Job 16:1-5
B. JOB'S TRIALVINDICATION OR? (Job 16:1, Job 17:16).
1. The words of his friends are aimless and unprofitable. (Job 16:1-5)
TEXT 16:1-5
16 Then Job answered and said,
2 I have heard many such things: Miserable comforters are ye all.
3 Shall vain words have an end?
Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
4 I also could speak as ye do;
If your soul were in my soul's stead.
I could join words together against you,
And shake my head at you.
5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips would assuage your grief.
COMMENT 16:1-5
Job 16:1-2Job's fourth reply continues the lamentation form and emphasizes the denunciation of enemies, who are his three friends and God. But suddenly in the midst of his response there is a sudden appeal to a witness in heaven, who will take up Job's defense. But the speech ends, as do his previous responses, with consideration of approaching death and Sheol. He begins with statement of weariness. He has heard all of this unprofitable talk before. The A. V. translates -amal as miserable, which is a good rendering. Eliphaz has offered divine consolationJob 15:11. Using a cognate word, Job accuses them of being miserable consolers (wearisome is not strong enough).
Job 16:3Their comfort only serves to increase his suffering. He turns their talkJob 8:2; Job 15:2upon them by calling them purveyors of windy words, which only irritateJob 6:25.
Job 16:4In Job 16:4-5 the pronouns are plurals, thus Job is speaking to all three friends. Were our positions only reversed, I would have no difficulty playing a pious moralist, shaking my head in scandalized self-righteousness (Job, Soncino, p. 81). How Job actually conducted himself in the past in similar circumstances is projected in Job 4:3 ff. Job further encroaches on his self-righteous friend by crying out that he too could join words together as Eliphaz had doneJob 15:2 Off.[183] The imagery of the shaking of the head is associated with mockery and derision2 Kings 19:21; Isaiah 37:22; Psalms 22:8; Psalms 109:25; Lamentations 2:15; Eccl. 12:18; and Matthew 27:39. As in all cultures, body language can have different meanings in different circumstances.
[183] For critical analysis of this verse, see J. J. Finkelstein, JBL, 75, 1956, 328-31; and O. Loretz, CBQ, 23, 1961, 293ff, who suggests the translation I could also speak to you with mere noise.
Job 16:5Job continues to heap scornful sarcasm on the heads of his helpers. Mere words have no power to console. The word translated solace is a noun from the root used in Job 2:11. The original meaning of the verb was to be agitated. (Brown, Driver, Briggs, Lexicon, have quivering motion for the noun.) Time-honored cliches will not and cannot heal when removed from a sympathetic heart of the utterer.