Job 16:1 — Word Study
WLCוַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
BSAThen JobʼÎyôwb [a patriarch famous for his patience] answeredʻânâh▸ [replied, made a response, and said, to Eliphaz and the others]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַן | and he answered | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| אִיּ֗וֹב | Job | Noun proper masculine |
| וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ | and he said | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Then Job answered: |
| KJV | Then Job answered and said, |
| ASV | Then Job answered and said, |
| YLT | And Job answereth and saith: — |
| WEB | Then Job answered, |
| BBE | And Job made answer and said, |
The translations agree on Job's response, using 'answered' for עָנָה.
The sentence is structured with a main clause followed by a subordinate verb phrase, emphasizing Job's immediate response.
7 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
subjectאִיּוֹב
verbעָנָה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 16:1
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Job's Response to His Friendsgenerated
Job 16:1 shows Job beginning to answer his friends after they have spoken. His response indicates his frustration with their attempts to comfort him, suggesting that their words are not helpful. This sets the stage for a deeper exploration of his suffering and the nature of true comfort.
Cross References
The Key Word — עָנָה, vai.Ya.'angenerated
The verb עָנָה (*anah*) is a Qal sequential imperfect form meaning 'to answer' or 'to respond.' It originates from a root that conveys the idea of paying attention, and it encompasses a range of meanings including to testify or even to sing. Here, it emphasizes Job's active engagement in the dialogue, as he replies to the accusations and statements made by his friends.
In this context, Job's use of עָנָה signifies not just a verbal response but also a deeper emotional reaction to the comfort he perceives as inadequate. His answer is a critical moment in the narrative, reflecting his struggle and the intensity of his situation.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses 'answered' to translate עָנָה.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The sentence consists of two main clauses, with the finite verbs יַּ֥עַן and יֹּאמַֽר governing the structure. The first clause introduces Job's action of answering, while the second clause follows with his statement.
The straightforward structure emphasizes Job's immediate response, highlighting the directness of his engagement with his friends.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates עָנָה with ὑπολαβὼν (hypolabōn), meaning 'having taken up' or 'having replied.' This choice suggests a more active engagement on Job's part, as if he is taking up the challenge posed by his friends' words.
This translation reflects an interpretive choice that highlights Job's role in the dialogue, emphasizing his assertiveness in responding to their claims.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 16:1 shows Job answering his friends after they have spoken. He expresses his frustration with their words, indicating that their comfort is not helpful. This moment is part of a larger dialogue where Job articulates his suffering and challenges the responses of those around him.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Job is responding to his friends' comments, indicating that he has heard enough and is ready to express his own perspective.
Job feels that their attempts to comfort him are misguided and do not address his true suffering.
Job's reply marks a pivotal moment in the dialogue, showcasing his determination to speak his truth amid his pain.
Job's patience and integrity are highlighted as he confronts his friends with honesty about their inadequacy as comforters.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways do I seek comfort from others during difficult times, and how can I ensure it is meaningful?
- How do I respond when I feel misunderstood or inadequately supported by those around me?
- What can I learn from Job's honesty in expressing his feelings?
- How can I offer better support to friends who are suffering, based on Job's experience?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Early commentators reference Job's response to highlight the inadequacy of his friends' comfort. Quotations are provided from John Chrysostom and Hesychius of Jerusalem.
Since Eliphaz speaks so, as if the matter were of extraordinary importance, and talks as if his speech derived from the wisdom of the ancestors, Job also resumes the argument he had used at the beginning.Early Church Fathers on Job 16 →
You are “comforters” but very wicked ones. No word of yours is for the good, but they are all for the bad. You teach, you give advice, and you propose not how ordeals must be avoided,Early Church Fathers on Job 16 →
Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 16:1 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThen Job answered and said. As soon as Eliphaz had done speaking, Job stood up, and made the following reply.
Read John Gill on Job 16 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThen Job answered and said, No JFB commentary on this verse.
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 16 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 16:1 Then Job answered and said,Ver. 1. Then Job answered and said] Although he had little or nothing to answer unto but what he had answered before, yet that he might not say nothing, he replieth to Eliphaz’ s painted speech, and giveth him to know, that prudentibus viris non placent phalerata sed fortia (as Bishop Jewel was wont to say), that is, that wise men look for matter, and not for words only, from those that accost them.
Read John Trapp on Job 16 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersXVI.(1) Then Job answered.—Job, in replying, ceases to continue the argument, which he finds useless; but, after complaining of the way his friends have conducted it, and contrasting the way in which they have treated him with that in which he would treat them were they in his case, he proceeds again to enlarge upon his condition, and makes a touching appeal to Heaven, which prepares us for the more complete confession in Job 19. He ends by declaring that his case is desperate.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Job 16 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleCHAPTER XVI Job replies to Eliphaz, and through him to all his friends, who, instead of comforting him, had added to his misfortunes; and shows that, had they been in his circumstances, he would have treated them in a different manner, 1-5. Enters into an affecting detail of his suffering, 6-16. Consoles himself with the consciousness of his own innocence, of which he takes God to witness, and patiently expects a termination of all his sufferings by death. 17-22. NOTES ON CHAP. XVI
Read AdamClarke on Job 16 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCh. Job 16:1-5. Job expresses his weariness of the monotony of his friends’speeches, and rejects their consolation, which is only that of the lip
Read Cambridge on Job 16 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the BibleJOB’S FOURTH REPLY. Chaps. 16, 17.1. Job answered and said — He replies to their heartless speeches, that there is a vast difference between the condition of a sufferer and that of his upbraiders.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Job 16 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Then Job answered:
Then Job answered,
Then Job answered:
Then Job replied:
Tyndale line
Then Job answered and said,
Then Job answered and said,
Then Job answered and said,
Then Job answered and said,
Bvt Iob answered, and said,
Strictly literal
And Job answered and said,
And Job answereth and saith: —
And Job answers and says:
Then answered Job, and said,
Then Job answered and said,
From the Latin
Then Job answered, and said:
Simplified
Job replied,
And Job made answer and said,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text reads וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃, which matches the Septuagint's rendering in terms of the core words. Both texts present Job's response without significant variation, indicating a consistent understanding of this moment in the narrative.
וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 16:1
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word עָנָה (*anah*) is built from a primitive root meaning to heed or pay attention, covering a range of meanings including to answer, respond, testify, and sing. It appears in contexts where one responds to speech or circumstances, and can also refer to singing. The lexicons indicate that it can imply both verbal responses and musical expression.
[עוּן] vb. dwell
base
עָנָה 316 vb. answer, respond
Qal
answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
money meets all demands
specif. respond as a witness, testify
less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
Niph.
make answer
be answered
Hiph. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
base
עָנָה vb. sing
Qal sing, utter tunefully
Pi. sing sweetly of it
base
H6030a עוּן dwell H6030b עָנָה answer, respond .. answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
. . respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
. money meets all demands
. . specif. respond as a witness, testify
. less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
. . make answer
. be answered
. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
H6030c עָנָה sing
6030 `anah aw-naw'
a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed,
i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extens. to
begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify,
announce:--give account, afflict (by mistake for 6031),
(cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for 6031), cry,
hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, X scholar, (give a) shout, sing
(together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness.
See also 1042, 1043.
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 01042
see HEBREW for 01043
עוּן (un) — to dwell.
(Qal) to dwell
עָנָה (a.nah) — to answer.
1) to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to answer, respond to
1a2) to testify, respond as a witness
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to make answer
1b2) to be answered, receive answer
Aramaic equivalent: a.nah (עֲנָה "to answer" H6032)
עָנָה (a.nah) — to sing.
(Qal) to sing, utter tunefully
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
אִיּוֹב (Iyowb) refers to Job, a patriarch known for his patience, as described in the book of Job. The name is associated with the meaning 'hated' or 'persecuted.' It is mentioned in the context of the Exile and Return, and its exact meaning remains uncertain.
אִיּוֹב n.pr.m. Job (meaning unknown)
base
H347 אִיּוֹב
347 'Iyowb ee-yobe'
from 340; hated (i.e. persecuted); Ijob, the patriarch famous
for his patience:--Job.
see HEBREW for 0340
אִיּוֹב (iy.yov) — Job.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Job.1.1
Also named: Iōb (Ἰώβ "Job" G2492)
§ Job = "hated"
a patriarch, the subject of the book of Job
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
job ('iyobh, meaning of name doubtful; some conjecturing "object of enmity," others "he who turns," etc., to God; both uncertain guesses; Iob): The titular hero of the Book of Job, represented as a wealthy and pious land-holder who lived in patriarchal times, or at least conditions, in the land of Uz, on the borders of Idumea. Outside of the Book of Job he is mentioned by Ezekiel (Eze 14:14,20) as one of 3 great personages whose representative righteousness would presumably avail, if that of any individuals could, to redeem the nation; the other two being Noah, an ancient patriarch, and Daniel, a contemporary of the prophet. It is difficult to determine whether Job was an actual personage or not. If known through legend, it must have been on account of some such experience as is narrated in the book, an experience unique enough to…
Job
Persecuted, an Arabian patriarch who resided in the land of Uz (q.v.). While living in the midst of great prosperity, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of sore trials that fell upon him. Amid all his sufferings he maintained his integrity. Once more God visited him with the rich tokens of his goodness and even greater prosperity than he had enjoyed before. He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity (Ezek. 14:14, 20) and of submissive patience under the sorest calamities (James 5:11). His history, so far as it is known, is recorded in his book.
the patriarch, from whom one of the books of the Old Testament is named. His residence in the land of Uz marks him as belonging to a branch of the Aramean race, which had settled in the lower part of Mesopatamia (Probably to the south or southeast of Palestine, in Idumean Arabia), adjacent to the Sabeans and Chaldeans. The opinions of Job and his friends are thus peculiarly interesting as exhibiting an aspect of the patriarchal religion outside of the family of Abraham, and as yet uninfluenced by the legislation of Moses. The form of worship belongs essentially to the early patriarchal type; with little of ceremonial ritual, without a separate priesthood, it is thoroughly domestic in form and spirit. Job is represented as a chieftain of immense wealth and high rank, blameless in all the relations of life. What we know of his history is given in the book that bears his name.
A patriarch distinguished for his integrity and piety, his wealth, honors, and domestic happiness, whom God permitted, for the trial of his faith, to be deprived of friends, property, and health, and at once plunged into deep affliction. He lived in the land of Uz, lying, it is generally thought, in Eastern Edom, probably not far from Bozrah.
THE BOOK OF JOB, has originated much criticism, and on many points a considerable diversity of opinion still exists. Sceptics have denied its inspiration, and called it a mere philosophical romance; but no one who respects revelation can entertain this notion, or doubt that Job was a real person. Inspired writers testify to both. See Eze 14:14 Jas 5:11, and compare 1Co 3:19 with
אָמַר (amar) is a Hebrew verb meaning 'to say' or 'to utter,' with a broad range of uses including to promise, command, or even boast. It appears in various forms, such as in the Qal (to say), Niphal (to be told), and Hiphil (to avow). The entries highlight its versatility in both spoken and internal contexts, though no specific verse is noted.
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
Say
Say in the heart (= think)
Promise
Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
base
H559 אָמַר utter, say .. Say
. Say in the heart (= think)
. Promise
. Command (esp. late)
. be said, told
. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
. act proudly, boast
559 'amar aw-mar'
a primitive root; to say (used with great
latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call,
certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X
expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise,
publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X
suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech),
utter, X verily, X yet.
אָמַר (a.mar) — to say.
1) to say, speak, utter
1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend
1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called
1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly
1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch
Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)
Hc/Vqw3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms