concretely · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
heaven
בַשָּׁמַ֣יִםva.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
record
וְ֝שָׂהֲדִ֗יve.sa.ha.Di
H7717
a witness · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
high
בַּמְּרוֹמִֽיםba.me.ro.Mim
H4791
altitude · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers…
Genesis 31:50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me…
1 Samuel 12:5 And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And t…
Job 25:2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.
Psalms 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 Corinthians 1:23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 16:17–end
Job's condition was very deplorable; but had he nothing to support him, nothing to comfort him? Yes, and he here tells us what it was.
I. He had the testimony of his conscience for him that he had walked uprightly, and had never allowed himself in any gross sin. None was ever more ready than he to acknowledge his sins of infirmity; but, upon search, he could not charge himself with any enormous crime, for which he should be made more miserable than other men, Job 16:17.
1. He had kept a conscience void of offence, (1.) Towards men: "Not for any injustice in my hands, any wealth that I have unjustly got or kept." Eliphaz had represented him as a tyrant and an oppressor. "No," says he, "I neve…
Also now--Even now, when I am so greatly misunderstood on earth, God in heaven is sensible of my innocence.
record--Hebrew, "in the high places"; Hebrew, "my witness." Amidst all his impatience, Job still trusts in God.
John Gill on Job 16:19
Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven,.... That is, God, who dwells in the heavens, where his throne is, and which is the habitation of his holiness, and from whence he beholds all the sons of men, and their actions, is the all seeing and all knowing Being; and therefore Job appeals to him as his witness, if he was guilty of the things laid to his charge, to bear witness against him, but if not to be a witness for him, which he believed he would, and desired he might:
for my record is on high; or "my testimony"; that can testify for me; who is an "eyewitness" (k), as some render it, before whom all things are naked and open; who has seen all my actions, even the very inmost recesses of…
18 Oh earth, cover thou not my blood,
And let my cry find no resting-place!! -
19 Even now behold in heaven is my Witness,
And One who acknowledgeth me is in the heights!
20 Though the mockers of me are my friends -
To Eloah mine eyes pour forth tears,
21 That He may decide for man against Eloah,
And for the son of man against his friend.
22 For the years that may be numbered are coming on,
And I shall go a way without return.
Blood that is not covered up cries for vengeance, Eze 24:7.; so also blood still unavenged is laid bare that it may find vengeance, Isa 26:21. According to this idea, in the lofty consciousness of his innocence, Job calls upon the earth not to suck in his blood as of…
The Church Fathers
"Let the earth not cover the blood of my veins. That is to say, if my prayer was not pure, because of my carnal desires, that the heaped earth does not cover the link of my mortality; this is what he calls the word "blood," as if he were saying that a misfortune greater than these guilty desires, that of a voluntary sin, does not fall on me: this sin brings us the nature condemned to death. "And let my cries be muffled. May my prayer remain without merit.
Ver. 19. Also, now, behold my witness is in heaven, and my heart's associate is on high. For when the Son was brought to His downfall on earth, there was a witness to Him in heaven. Since the Father is the witness of the Son; concerning Whom He Himself saith in the Gospel, And the Father Himself, Which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Who is also rightly called 'mine heart's associate,' in that with one will, and with one counsel, the Father acts always in union with the Son. Whose witness too He is, in that no man knoweth the Son but the Father. Thus He had then 'a witness in heaven,' and His 'heart's associate' on high, when they, who saw Him dying in the flesh, had their eyes closed to see the power of His Divine nature; and whereas men did not know, yet in the hour of death the Mediator between God and man did know, that the Father was working together with Himself. Which perhaps may be likewise applied to the voice of His Body. For Holy Church for this reason undergoes the miseries of this life, that the grace above may lead her on her way to the rewards of eternity. She slights the death of her flesh, because she is intent on the glory of the resurrection; and what she suffers is transitory, what she expects everlasting, concerning which same everlasting blessings she has no misgiving, in that she has already a faithful testimony in the glory of her Redeemer. For she sees with the mind the resurrection of His flesh, and is strongly fortified to have hope, in that what she sees already brought to pass in her Head, she hopes without doubting will also follow in His Body, which is herself. Which same Church the Psalmist seeing destined to continue in everlasting perfection, describes her under the title of the moon. A perfect moon for everlasting. And whereas the Resurrection of the Lord heartens her to entertain the hope of a Resurrection, he properly added, And a faithful witness in heaven. Forasmuch as that she may not tremble for her own resurrection, she has Him in heaven for a witness, Who rose again from the dead; and so let the faithful People when it suffers adversity, when it is harassed with sore tribulations, lift up the mind to the hope of the glory to follow, and trusting in the resurrection of the Redeemer, let it say, Also now behold my witness is in heaven, and mine associate on high. Who is also rightly called 'an associate,' in…
Dictionary and topics
Holy Spirit · 31:3;35:31; — 31:3;35:31;
Zeal, Religious · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
my witness is in heaven: Job wished for a benevolent third party who would mediate between him and God (see 9:32-35). Job wanted an advocate from heaven (16:19; cp. Zech 3:1) who would eventually stand on the earth (Job 19:25; cp. 1 Sam 24:15; John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 Jn 2:1).
Rashi on Job 16:19
behold my Witness is in heaven My Creator, Who knows my ways.
