Job 19:16
in Job 19I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, Though I entreat him with my mouth.
KJV
I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
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This verse in Job 19
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI called my servant, and he gave me no answer. For what was the Jewish people but a 'servant,' which never obeyed the Lord with the love of a son, but the fear of a slave? Contrariwise it is said to us by Paul, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father.
This site's exposition
He has removed my brothers from me
on Job 19:13-16
The catalogue of estrangement descends by rank through a patriarchal household. Henry marks the inversion of the last pair, a lord begging his own servant and refused, as the depth of the humiliation. Gill notes that every relation the restoration of 42:11 names again is lost here first.
This site's exposition
I implore him with my own mouth
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the servant as one born in the family, the most bound to answer. Once a nod was enough; now Job must implore him aloud with his own mouth. Barnes says Job has ceased to be master.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He places next the disobedience of the slaves, "I called my slave and he did not answer me." He adds proud contempt, "I begged him with my mouth," i.e., for I had to urge him not by command, but by entreaties because he despised me.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
A certain number for an uncertain. Strange - That you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity. Erred - If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than reproaches.
I called my servant,....
We must not think it strange if we receive evil at the hand of those from whom we have deserved well. Though he was now sickly, yet he was not cross with his servants, and imperious, as is too common, but he entreated his servants with his mouth, when he had authority to command; and yet they would not be civil to him, neither kind nor just.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I called my servant - He lost all respect for me, and paid me no attention. I entreated him - I ceased to expect “obedience,” and tried to see what “persuasion” would do. I ceased to be master in my own house.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
servant--born in my house (as distinguished from those sojourning in it), and so altogether belonging to the family. Yet even he disobeys my call. mouth--that is, "calling aloud"; formerly a nod was enough.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
to the children of my body To those who I raised in my house as though they were my own children.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְעַבְדִּ֣י | leavdi | to servant my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| קָ֭רָאתִי | karati | I call | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲנֶ֑ה | yaaneh | he answers | H6030 → | 331 times |
| בְּמוֹ־ | bemov- | with | H1119 → | 9 times |
| פִ֝֗י | fi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| אֶתְחַנֶּן־ | ʾetchanen- | I seek favor | H2603 → | 78 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to him |
לְעַבְדִּ֣יto servant my
leavdiH5650 →799 times
קָ֭רָאתִיI call
karatiH7121 →733 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲנֶ֑הhe answers
yaanehH6030 →331 times
בְּמוֹ־with
bemov-H1119 →9 times
פִ֝֗יmouth my
fiH6310 →498 times
אֶתְחַנֶּן־I seek favor
ʾetchanen-H2603 →78 times
לֽוֹ׃to him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Job 1:19when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:11–12
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow…
- Luke 13:1–5
At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
- 1 Kings 20:30
The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
- Genesis 42:36
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
- Ephesians 2:2
in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the…
- Jeremiah 4:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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 XIV; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.