Job 16:19–21

Context

This passage is part of Job 16–17, where Job replies to the second speech of Eliphaz the Temanite (chapter 15). Job calls his friends "miserable comforters" (16:2), people who add to his distress while claiming to console him. He then laments that God strikes him as though He were an enemy (16:9–14). Next he cries out, "O earth, cover not thou my blood" (16:18), wishing that his unjustly shed blood would not be buried but would continue to cry out for justice. Immediately after this cry comes the present passage, in which Job confesses that although no one on earth will take his side, he has a witness in heaven: "Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high" (16:19). The second term, rendered "record" in the King James Version, denotes one who vouches for another, a guarantor. In the Hebrew it is an Aramaic-derived word with the same meaning as "witness," and it stands in parallel with the preceding "witness."

Interpretation

• God Himself: Many modern Old Testament scholars identify this witness as God. On this view, Job appeals from the God who seems to be striking him to the God who will vindicate him. This reading lays bare the tension within Job himself.
• A heavenly mediator: This interpretation holds that the passage envisions a third party standing between God and Job. Its proponents point to Job 9:32–33, where Job earlier laments that there is no "daysman betwixt us," and to the language of a mediating angel in 33:23.
• Christological reading: Many preachers and commentators in the Christian tradition read this passage as anticipating Jesus Christ, who pleads as advocate between God and humanity. From the perspective of Christology, this reading connects the passage with New Testament texts on the Mediator.

Debates and Issues

The passage is not a notable point of controversy between denominations. It does, however, raise several translation issues.

• The opening of verse 20 in Hebrew can be read either as "My friends scorn me" or as "My intercessor is my friend." Some English translations adopt the latter reading.
• In verse 21 ("O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!"), the Hebrew expression literally rendered "son of man" is a common idiom meaning simply a human being. For this reason, some interpreters caution against reading the Gospel title "Son of Man" directly into the verse.
• The term rendered "record" in verse 19 is translated variously in different versions as guarantor, advocate, or intercessor. Readers are therefore often encouraged to compare Bible translations.

Related Passages

• Job 9:32–33
• Job 19:25–27
• 1 Timothy 2:5–6
• 1 John 2:1–2
• Hebrews 4:14–16