Job 16:4
in Job 16I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I also could speak as ye do; If your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could join words together against you, And shake my head at you.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Job 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI also could speak - It is probably better to render some of these permissives or potential verbs literally in the future tense, as in the Hebrew: I also Will speak. Mr. Good has adopted this mode. If your soul were in my soul’s stead - If you were in my place, I also could quote many wise sayings that might tend to show that you were hypocrites and wicked men; but would this be fair?
This site's exposition
Then Job answered
on Job 16:1-5
Job opens his reply by naming the friends outright, "miserable comforters are you all", the book's only use of the phrase and his plainest verdict. He chooses the harder path instead, "I would encourage you with my mouth", naming the comfort he needed and did not receive.
This site's exposition
shake my head at you
Barnes reads it as a claim that it is easy to heap up old proverbs against a man in pain. Henry calls it an easy thing to trample on those who are down. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain that to shake the head was a gesture of scorn.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Job has phrased this in the form of a question and not in order to look for an argument. This means "Will I really join words together against you? Or will I really shake my head at you? Not at all! It is convenient for …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Ver. 4-6. And O that your soul were for my soul! I too would comfort you with speeches, and move my head over you: I would strengthen you with my mouth, and move my lips as if sparing you.
Job, however, was annoyed. To preclude anyone thinking that ease in argumentation was attributed to the prominence of the friends in knowledge, Job shows that if adversity had not deprived him and he were in the condition of the friends, he would speak with the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is an easy thing to trample upon those that are down, and to find fault with what those say that are in extremity of pain and affliction: " I could heap up words against you, as you do against me; and how would you like it? how would you bear it?" (3.) He shows them what they should do, by telling them what in that case he would do (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I also could speak as ye do,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
heap up--rather, "marshal together (an army of) words against you." shake . . . head--in mockery; it means nodding, rather than shaking; nodding is not with us, as in the East, a gesture of scorn (Isa 37:22;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I also could speak as ye do - In the same reproachful manner, and stringing together old proverbs and maxims as you have. If your soul were in my soul’s stead - If you were in my place. The idea is, that there is no difficulty in finding arguments to overwhelm the afflicted - a truth which most persons who have been unfortunate, have had opportunity to experience. I could heap up words against you - Or, rather, “I could string together words against you.” The idea is not that of heaping up, or accumulating; it is that of tying together, or uniting; and refers here to stringing together old maxims, saws, and proverbs, in the form of a set argument or discourse. The idea of Job is, that their discourses were nothing but ancient proverbs, thrown together, or strung along without regard to order, pertinency, or force. The Hebrew word used here (חבר châbar) means to bind, to bind together, to associate, to be confederate. It may be applied to friends - united in friendship; to nations - united in an alliance, etc. Gesenius supposes that it means here that he “would make a league with words against them;” but the above seems to be the more probable interpretation. The Septuagint renders it, “then I could insult you - ἐναλοῦμαι enaloumai - with words.” Jerome (Vulgate) “I would console you with words, and move my head over you.” The Chaldee is as the Hebrew - חבר châbar. Dr. Good renders it, “against you will I string together old sayings.” And shake mine head at you - An action common to all countries and ages, expressive of contempt, or of threatening; compare Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15; Zep 2:15; Mat 27:39. So Lucretius ii. 1163: Jamque caput quassans grandis suspirat ararat Crebrius incassum magnum cecidisse laborem. In like manner Virgil, Aeneid xii. […]
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֤ם׀ | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָנֹכִי֮ | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| כָּכֶ֪ם | kakhem | like you | ||
| אֲדַ֫בֵּ֥רָה | ʾadaberah | I will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| ל֤וּ־ | lu- | if | H3863 → | |
| יֵ֪שׁ | yesh | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| נַפְשְׁכֶ֡ם | nafshekhem | [were] self your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| תַּ֤חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֗י | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אַחְבִּ֣ירָה | ʾachbirah | I will make join | H2266 → | |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּמִלִּ֑ים | bemilim | <in> words | H4405 → | 38 times |
| וְאָנִ֥יעָה | veaniah | and I will shake | H5128 → | |
| עֲ֝לֵיכֶ֗ם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּמ֣וֹ | bemo | with | H1119 → | 9 times |
| רֹאשִֽׁי׃ | roshi | head my | H7218 → | 599 times |
גַּ֤ם׀also
gamH1571 →769 times
אָנֹכִי֮I
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
כָּכֶ֪םlike you
kakhem
אֲדַ֫בֵּ֥רָהI will speak
ʾadaberahH1696 →1141 times
ל֤וּ־if
lu-H3863 →
יֵ֪שׁthere
yeshH3426 →140 times
נַפְשְׁכֶ֡ם[were] self your
nafshekhemH5315 →754 times
תַּ֤חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
נַפְשִׁ֗יself my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
אַחְבִּ֣ירָהI will make join
ʾachbirahH2266 →
עֲלֵיכֶ֣םon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
בְּמִלִּ֑ים<in> words
bemilimH4405 →38 times
וְאָנִ֥יעָהand I will shake
veaniahH5128 →
עֲ֝לֵיכֶ֗םon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
בְּמ֣וֹwith
bemoH1119 →9 times
רֹאשִֽׁי׃head my
roshiH7218 →599 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 22:7All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
it leads to
- Mark 15:29
And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 109:25
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 15:29
Through
Jeremiah 18:16They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 19:8
I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 27:39
And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 22:7
All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
- Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Jeremiah 19:8
Through
Psalms 109:25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
it leads to
- Psalms 22:6–7
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
- Psalms 22:6–7
Through
2 Kings 19:21This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:13
What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your…
- Lamentations 2:13
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIII; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 19.16.4C-D; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.