Job 16 · Verse 18

Job 16:18

O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
Job 16:18, King James Version

Job 16:18 in other translations

BSBO earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.
WEB“Earth, don’t cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.
ASVO earth, cover not thou my blood, And let my cry have no resting -place.
YLTO earth, do not thou cover my blood! And let there not be a place for my cry.
DARBYO earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry!
BBEO earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place!
WebsterO earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.

What does Job 16:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. my blood--that is, my undeserved suffering. He compares himself to one murdered, whose blood the earth refuses to drink up until he is avenged (Ge 4:10, 11; Eze 24:1, 8; Is 26:21). The Arabs say that the dew of heaven will not descend on a spot watered with innocent blood (compare 2Sa 1:21). no place--no resting-place. "May my cry never stop!" May it go abroad! "Earth" in this verse in antithesis to "heaven" (Job 16:19). May my innocence be as well-known to man as it is even now to God!

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 O earth, cover not thou my blood - This is evidently an allusion to the murder of Abel, and the verse has been understood in two different ways: 1. Job here calls for justice against his destroyers. His blood is his life, which he considers as taken away by violence, and therefore calls for vengeance. Let my blood cry against my murderers, as the blood of Abel cried against Cain. My innocent life is taken away by violence, as his innocent life was; as therefore the earth was not permitted to cover his blood, so that his murderer should be concealed, let my death be avenged in the same way. 2. It has been supposed that the passage means that Job considered himself accused of shedding innocent blood; and, conscious of his own perfect innocence, he prays that the earth may not cover any blood shed by him. Thus Mr. Scott: - "O earth, the blood accusing me reveal; Its piercing voice in no recess conceal." And this notion is followed by Mr. Good. But, with all deference to these learned men, I do not see that this meaning can be supported by the Hebrew text; nor was the passage so understood by any of the ancient versions. I therefore prefer the first sense, which is sufficiently natural, and quite in the manner of Job in his impassioned querulousness.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 16:17-22

Job's condition was very deplorable; but he had the testimony of his conscience for him, that he never allowed himself in any gross sin. No one was ever more ready to acknowledge sins of infirmity. Eliphaz had charged him with hypocrisy in religion, but he specifies prayer, the great act of religion, and professes that in this he was pure, though not from all infirmity. He had a God to go to, who he doubted not took…

Read the full comment on Job 16:17-22 →

Job 16:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אֶ֭רֶץ'E.retzO earthH776
אַל\־'al-may notH408
תְּכַסִּ֣יte.kha.Siyou coverH3680
דָמִ֑יda.Miblood myH1818
וְֽאַל\־ve.'al-and may notH408
יְהִ֥יye.Hiit belongH1961
מָ֝ק֗וֹםma.Koma placeH4725
לְזַעֲקָתִֽי\׃le.za.'a.ka.Tito outcry myH2201

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 16:18

  • Isaiah 26:21

    For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

  • Ezekiel 24:7

    For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;

  • Psalms 66:18-19

    If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

  • Genesis 4:11

    And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

  • Nehemiah 4:5

    And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

  • Jeremiah 22:29

    O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.

  • James 4:3-4

    Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

  • Isaiah 1:15

    And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

  • Isaiah 58:9-10

    Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

  • Job 27:9

    Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
O earth.
Jer 22:29
cover not.
Ge 4:11; Ne 4:5; Isa 26:21; Eze 24:7
let my cry.
27:9; Ps 66:18,19; Isa 1:15; 58:9,10; Jas 4:3,4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 16:17

    Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

  • Job 16:18

    O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.

  • Job 16:19

    Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

Read all of Job 16

Job 16:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Oh tierra! no cubras mi sangre, y no haya lugar á mi clamor.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ô terre, ne recouvre pas mon sang, et qu’il n’y ait pas de place pour mon cri!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Erde, bedecke nicht mein Blut, und für mein Geschrei sei kein Platz!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Hæc passus sum absque iniquitate manus meæ, cum haberem mundas ad Deum preces.