What is the meaning of Job 16:21?

Oh,

• A single exclamation captures Job’s intense emotion—anguish mixed with hope.

• It echoes other Scriptural cries that pour out unfiltered longing (Psalm 42:1-2; Lamentations 3:55-57).

• This sigh affirms that God hears raw, honest lament; He welcomes the heart’s deepest groanings (Romans 8:26-27).

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that a man might plead with God

• “Plead” pictures a legal scene: Job wants a courtroom where evidence is weighed fairly (Job 13:3; Isaiah 43:26).

• He trusts that the Sovereign Judge will listen, yet he senses the need for an Advocate—hinting at the Mediator later revealed in Christ (Job 9:32-35; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16).

• This line assumes God’s accessibility; He is not distant, but personally engages petitions (Psalm 62:8; Jeremiah 33:3).

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as he pleads with his neighbor!

• Job longs for the same open, face-to-face dialogue he might have with another human (Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 1:16-17).

• The comparison highlights fairness and familiarity: a neighbor listens, responds, and can be reasoned with (Leviticus 19:15-18).

• In Christ, believers receive that very privilege—friendship with God and confident conversation (John 15:15; Hebrews 10:19-22).

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summary

Job 16:21 says, “Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!” The verse captures three linked truths: an aching sigh, a desire for a just hearing before God, and a yearning for conversational closeness. Taken literally, it shows Job’s certainty that God is real, righteous, and reachable. His cry foreshadows the Gospel reality that in Jesus the perfect Mediator now stands ready, so every believer may approach the throne as freely as speaking to a trusted friend.