O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry!
Job's friends insist that such crushing losses can only mean hidden guilt, so he refuses to let his case die with him. He appeals over the heads of his friends to God, though commentators ask how much self-defence runs through that appeal.
Blood that soaks into the ground disappears. Blood left uncovered stays visible and demands an answer. That is the picture behind Job's plea. He asks the same for his cry:
William KellySo Job calls on the earth not to hide his blood. His life was, as it were, poured out, and he wanted it to stand out in open view. With the same purpose, he asks that his cry should find no place to rest down here, but go straight up on high.
No one has murdered Job. Another writer explains what the blood stands for, and where Job's confidence lay:
Leslie M. GrantHe calls to the earth not to cover his blood. That is, he asks it not to cover up the fact of his undeserved suffering. He also asks that his cry should have no resting place, apparently so that it should be heard rather than silenced. For he was confident that the witness of his innocence was in heaven, even though his friends on earth had refused it and scorned him.
The picture reaches back to Abel, the first man to be murdered. Job is willing for his blood to cry out like that. Underneath the demand for vengeance there is something better:
Samuel RidoutHe would let his blood cry for vengeance like Abel's. Yet he instinctively knows there is a just God in heaven who has the record of his life. To Him he can appeal against the false charges of his friends. He knows, though not fully, for he has not yet seen, that there is One who pleads for him before God. What he longs for, we know that we have — One who pleads for us with God as a man pleads for his neighbour.
Eliphaz, one of the friends, had charged Job with giving up prayer. This cry is Job's answer to that charge:
William KellyBut was it true that he restrained prayer before God? Listen to his own words: "My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness, although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure." Eliphaz had thoroughly wronged him. "O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place. Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high" — that is, on this point he can turn to God. Only God Himself could judge for certain whether Job had held back from prayer.
Commentators differ on how to weigh the cry. Ridout hears real faith in it. Others hear a man building his own case:
F. B. HoleIt was good that he did take it all from the hands of God. But we still see that note of self-righteousness and self-vindication marring his prayer, above all in verse 17. So his prayer did pass into a complaint that God was dealing harshly with him. The complaint grew mainly because he felt he could speak of God on high as the Witness to his integrity, even though his friends scorned him.
Job summons heaven and earth as his witnesses. Zophar, another of the friends, turns both witnesses around:
Samuel RidoutThe heavens are against him; their holy light only reveals his iniquity. Job had appealed to heaven and earth to witness to his righteousness. Zophar hints at the exact opposite. The heavens only declare his sin, and earth rises up in the judgment against him.
Kelly adds what Job's appeal never reached for:
William KellyJob did not expect vindication in this life. But grace was yet to give, as it gives us too, more than faith looks for. Faith is in us, though it comes from God, and it has its measure. Grace is in Him — free, unmixed, and unlimited.
- Blood — Job asks the ground not to swallow the evidence of his suffering. Blood left in plain sight keeps his case open.
- Cry — He wants his cry to settle nowhere on earth, so it travels straight up instead of dying away among his friends.
- Witness — The appeal lands in heaven, where God keeps the record of his life, while every voice on earth turns against him.
- Flaw — The same prayer carries a note of self-vindication. It slides into a complaint that God is dealing harshly with him.
- Answer — What Job could only long for — One who pleads for a man with God — believers now know they have. Grace gives more than faith looks for.
Even now, behold, my Witness is in the heavens, and he that voucheth for me is in the heights.
Two blows have hit Job. First came disaster, then three friends who insist his suffering proves hidden guilt. In the middle of his bitterest speech he suddenly looks up. Whatever people on earth decide about him, someone in heaven knows the truth and will say so.
Most of chapter 16 is raw protest. This verse breaks the pattern. One writer sees faith stirring here, not fading.
But in all these ravings, faith, which sleeps in his breast, asserts itself and tries to wake. He says, "my witness is in heaven, and He who vouches for me is on high." So he clings to God. It hardly needs saying how beautifully this word suits us. We know Him who has gone on high, and who vouches for us there. But Job did not know Him as we know Him.
Job's witness is not an idea or a hope. It is God Himself, testifying for him in heaven while his friends mock him on earth.
William KellySo his eye turned upward. His disasters were not beyond explanation, only unexplained so far. Yet he speaks in confident faith: his witness is in heaven, even God Himself, to testify on his behalf in those high places. His friends were only mockers. They completely misunderstood his case and rushed to judge him instead of admitting their ignorance. From them he can only weep out his sorrow and his prayer to God.
The verse follows straight on from Job's plea that the earth not cover his blood. He wants his case left open, not settled and buried here on earth.
Leslie M. GrantHe calls to the earth not to cover his blood — that is, not to cover up the fact of his undeserved suffering. He also asks that his cry find no resting place, apparently so that it should be heard and not silenced. For he was confident that the witness of his innocence was in heaven. His friends on earth had refused it and scorned him.
Job's appeal to a record kept on high is more than a protest against his friends. He reaches toward someone who would speak to God for him. What he could only long for, we now have.
Samuel RidoutHe would let his blood cry out for vengeance, as Abel's did. Yet he knows by instinct that there is a just God in heaven who keeps the record of his life. To Him he can appeal against the false charges of his friends. He knows, though not fully, for he has not yet seen, that there is One who pleads for him before God. What he longs for, we know that we have — One who pleads for us with God as a man pleads for his neighbour. We know a High Priest who is touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, who "always lives to make intercession for us."
Commentators differ on the tone of these words. Kelly hears an honest man answering a false charge. Only God could settle whether Job had stopped praying:
William Kelly"My witness is in heaven, and my record is on high" — that is, on this point he can turn to God. None but God Himself could judge for certain whether he had held back from prayer.
Another writer hears self-defence in the same claim. The prayer then slides into a complaint about how God is treating him.
F. B. HoleIt was good that he took it all from the hands of God. But we still notice that note of self-righteousness and self-vindication spoiling his prayer, especially in verse 17. So his prayer did pass into a complaint that God was dealing harshly with him. He felt this all the more because he could speak of God on high as the Witness to his integrity, even though his friends scorned him.
Whatever is mixed in it, this upward look is what keeps Job from letting go — and it points him forward, past the grave he expects, to a settled outcome.
William Kelly"The righteous also" — you see it is turned for good — "shall hold on his way." That is what he looked forward to. His record was on high; his witness was in heaven; he clung to God. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." That was Job's language; that was his spirit. He had far more faith than any one of the three.
- Witness identified — the one who testifies for Job is God Himself, speaking for him in heaven.
- Witness needed — his friends had closed the case on earth, so he sent his cry higher than their verdict.
- Witness sought — he reached toward One who would plead for him with God, though he had not yet seen Him.
- Witness given — what Job longed for, we now have: a High Priest who feels our weaknesses and always lives to intercede for us.
- Witness holding — his record was on high, so he clung to God. He expected no clearing in this life, yet grace gives more than faith looks for.