Job 9:16
New International Version
Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

New Living Translation
And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me.

English Standard Version
If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

Berean Standard Bible
If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

King James Bible
If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

New King James Version
If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

New American Standard Bible
“If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

NASB 1995
“If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

NASB 1977
“If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

Legacy Standard Bible
If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was giving ear to my voice.

Amplified Bible
“If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

Christian Standard Bible
If I summoned him and he answered me, I do not believe he would pay attention to what I said.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

American Standard Version
If I had called, and he had answered me, Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice.

Contemporary English Version
And if God came into court when I called him, he would not hear my case.

English Revised Version
If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If I cried out and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to me.

Good News Translation
Yet even then, if he lets me speak, I can't believe he would listen to me.

International Standard Version
"Were I to be summoned, and he were to answer me, I wouldn't even believe that he was listening to what I have to say.

Majority Standard Bible
If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

NET Bible
If I summoned him, and he answered me, I would not believe that he would be listening to my voice--

New Heart English Bible
If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn't believe that he listened to my voice.

Webster's Bible Translation
If I had called, and he had answered me; yet I would not believe that he had hearkened to my voice.

World English Bible
If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn’t believe that he listened to my voice.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Though I had called and He answers me, I do not believe that He gives ear [to] my voice.

Young's Literal Translation
Though I had called and He answereth me, I do not believe that He giveth ear to my voice.

Smith's Literal Translation
If I called and he will answer me, I shall not believe that he will give ear to my voice.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And if he should hear me when I call, I should not believe that he had heard my voice.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And if he should listen to me when I call, I would not believe that he had heard my voice.

New American Bible
If I appealed to him and he answered me, I could not believe that he would listen to me;

New Revised Standard Version
If I summoned him and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I would not believe that he had hearkened to my voice.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
If I called and he answered me, still I would not believe that he heard my voice
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
If I had called, and He had answered me; Yet would I not believe that He would hearken unto my voice--

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And if I should call and he should not hearken, I cannot believe that he has listened to my voice.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job: How Can I Argue with God?
15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. 16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice. 17For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.…

Cross References
Psalm 66:18-20
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. / But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer. / Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion!

Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

Lamentations 3:8
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.

Psalm 22:2
I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.

Psalm 18:41
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.

Isaiah 59:1-2
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. / But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Psalm 34:15-16
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry. / But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.

Psalm 145:18-19
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth. / He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.

Jeremiah 11:11
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. / For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

John 9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.

1 John 5:14-15
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. / And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.

James 4:3
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”


Treasury of Scripture

If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had listened to my voice.

If I had

Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Psalm 66:18-20
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: …

Psalm 116:1,2
I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications…

would I

Job 29:24
If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.

Exodus 6:9
And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

Judges 6:13
And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

Jump to Previous
Believe Ear Faith Hearing Hearken Hearkened Listening Present Responded Summoned Voice Wouldn't
Jump to Next
Believe Ear Faith Hearing Hearken Hearkened Listening Present Responded Summoned Voice Wouldn't
Job 9
1. Job acknowledges God's justice
22. Man's innocence is not to be condemned by afflictions














If I called
This phrase reflects Job's deep yearning for communication with God. The Hebrew root for "called" is "קָרָא" (qara), which implies a loud cry or proclamation. In the context of ancient Israel, calling upon God was an act of faith and desperation, often done in times of distress. Job's use of this word indicates his desire for a direct and personal interaction with the Divine, a theme that resonates throughout the book as Job seeks understanding and vindication.

and He answered me
The concept of God answering is central to the relationship between humanity and the Divine in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Hebrew word "עָנָה" (anah) means to respond or reply. In the historical context, divine responses were often sought through prayer, prophecy, or signs. Job's hypothetical scenario of God answering him underscores his struggle with the silence he perceives from God amidst his suffering, highlighting the tension between faith and experience.

I would not believe
Here, Job expresses a profound skepticism. The Hebrew root "אָמַן" (aman) means to confirm or support, often translated as "believe" or "trust." Job's statement reveals his inner turmoil and doubt, a common human experience when faced with inexplicable suffering. This skepticism is not a denial of God's power but rather a reflection of Job's emotional and spiritual exhaustion, questioning whether his cries are truly heard.

that He was listening
The act of listening, "שָׁמַע" (shama) in Hebrew, implies not just hearing but understanding and acknowledging. In the ancient Near Eastern context, gods were often seen as distant and unapproachable, yet the God of Israel is portrayed as one who listens to His people. Job's doubt about God listening to him highlights the perceived distance between his current reality and the covenantal promise of a God who hears.

to my voice
The phrase "my voice" personalizes Job's plea, emphasizing the individual nature of his suffering and his desire for a personal response from God. The Hebrew "קוֹל" (qol) can mean sound or voice, often used in the context of prayer or lament. Job's focus on his own voice underscores the isolation he feels, as if his unique plight is lost in the vastness of human suffering. This personal aspect of Job's lament invites readers to reflect on their own experiences of seeking God's attention in times of distress.

Verse 16. - If I had called, and he had answered me. "If," that is, "I had challenged God to a controversy, and he had granted it, and bidden me to plead my cause at his bar, yet could I not suppose that he had really hearkened to me, and would allow me boldly to stand up before him and freely to challenge his doings. Such condescension on his part, such an abnegation of his supremacy, is inconceivable, and could not have acted on it." Yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice; rather, yet could I not believe. It was not that he would not have wished, but that he would not have been able, to believe.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

I summoned Him
קָרָ֥אתִי (qā·rā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

and He answered me,
וַֽיַּעֲנֵ֑נִי (way·ya·‘ă·nê·nî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | first person common singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

I do not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

believe
אַ֝אֲמִ֗ין (’a·’ă·mîn)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 539: To confirm, support

He would listen
יַאֲזִ֥ין (ya·’ă·zîn)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 238: To broaden out the ear, to listen

to my voice.
קוֹלִֽי׃ (qō·w·lî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6963: A voice, sound


Links
Job 9:16 NIV
Job 9:16 NLT
Job 9:16 ESV
Job 9:16 NASB
Job 9:16 KJV

Job 9:16 BibleApps.com
Job 9:16 Biblia Paralela
Job 9:16 Chinese Bible
Job 9:16 French Bible
Job 9:16 Catholic Bible

OT Poetry: Job 9:16 If I had called and he had (Jb)
Job 9:15
Top of Page
Top of Page