Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!
Parallel translations
- WEB that he would maintain the right of a man with God, of a son of man with his neighbor!
- KJV O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
- NKJV Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!
- NASB That one might plead for a man with God As a son of man with his neighbor!
- NLT I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job longs for someone to plead his case with God, as one might for a friend. He yearns for a mediator between himself and God.
Overview
Job voices a deep desire that one would maintain his right with God, arguing his cause as a man pleads for his neighbor. This expresses the felt need for a mediator who can stand between the sufferer and the Almighty. The longing is answered fully in Christ, the one mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5), who represents his people before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eccl 6:10Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
- Rom 9:20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Job 13:3Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
- Job 13:22Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.
- Job 9:34–35Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
- Job 40:1–5And the LORD said to Job:
- Job 23:3–7If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 16:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.