Job 16:4

If it were you three and not I who were suffering, I could say the things that you are saying; I could make great speeches to criticize/condemn you, and I could shake my head at you to ridicule you.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

In Context

3Will your speeches, which are only hot air, never end [RHQ]? Eliphaz, what bothers/irritates you so much that you continue replying to me?

5But, unlike all of you, with what I said [MTY] I would encourage you and try to cause your pain to be less.

Read all of Job 16

Cross References

Job 6:2“If all my troubles and misery could be put on a scale and weighed,

Job 11:2“◄Should no one answer all that you have said?/Someone should certainly answer all that you have said.► [RHQ] Just because you talk a lot, ◄should that cause us to declare that you <are innocent/have done nothing wrong>?/that should not cause us to declare that you <are innocent/have done nothing wrong>.► [RHQ]

Psalms 22:7Everyone who sees me [HYP] makes fun of me. They sneer at me and insult me by shaking their heads at me as though I were an evil man. They say,

Psalms 44:14They make jokes using the name of our country, they shake their heads to indicate that they despise us.

Proverbs 10:19When people talk a lot, that will lead them to sin a lot by what they say; if you are wise, you will refuse to say very much.

Jeremiah 18:16Therefore, their land will become desolate, and people who see it will hiss to ridicule it. Everyone who passes by will be appalled; they will shake their heads to show that they are shocked.

Matthew Henry on Job 16:2-6

The Reply of Job to Eliphaz. ( b. c. 1520.) 1 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 emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? 4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. 5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief. Both Job and his friends took the same way that disputants commonly… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Job 16:4