For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me.
Parallel translations
- KJV For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
- BSB God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
- NKJV For God made my heart weak, And the Almighty terrifies me;
- NASB “It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has terrified me,
- NLT God has made me sick at heart; the Almighty has terrified me.
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 says God Himself has melted his courage and terrified him. It matters because Job traces even his fear back to God's hand, not chance.
Overview
Job declares that God has made his heart faint and the Almighty has filled him with dread. He attributes his inner collapse directly to God, refusing to deny divine sovereignty even in his anguish. Job's faint heart contrasts with Christ, who though sorrowful unto death entrusted Himself fully to the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 22:14I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
- Job 27:2“As God lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter
- Isa 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
- Deut 20:3and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;
- Ps 88:16Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
- Isa 57:16For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
- Joel 1:15Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Ruth 1:20She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
- Jer 51:46Don’t let your heart faint. Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land. For news will come one year, and after that in another year news will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 23:16 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.