Job17
New American Standard
1“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.
2Mockers are certainly with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.
3“Make a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?
4For You have kept their hearts away from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.
5He who informs against friends for a share of the spoils, The eyes of his children also will perish.
6“But He has made me a proverb among the people, And I am one at whom people spit.
7My eye has also become inexpressive because of grief, And all my body parts are like a shadow.
8The upright will be appalled at this, And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
9Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, And the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10But come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you.
11My days are past, my plans are torn apart, The wishes of my heart.
12They make night into day, saying, ‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13If I hope for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness;
14If I call to the grave, ‘You are my father’; To the maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15Where then is my hope? And who looks at my hope?
16Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 17.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job appeals from man to God. (1–9). His hope is not in life, but in death. (10–16).
vv1-9
Job reflects upon the harsh censures his friends had passed upon him, and, looking on himself as a dying man, he appeals to God. Our time is ending. It concerns us carefully to redeem the days of time, and to spend them in getting ready for eternity. We see the good use the righteous should make of Job's afflictions from God, from enemies, and from friends. Instead of being discouraged in the service of God, by the hard usage this faithful servant of God met with, they should be made bold to proceed and persevere therein. Those who keep their eye upon heaven as their end, will keep their feet in the paths of religion as their way, whatever difficulties and discouragements they may meet with.
vv10-16
Job's friends had pretended to comfort him with the hope of his return to a prosperous estate; he here shows that those do not go wisely about the work of comforting the afflicted, who fetch their comforts from the possibility of recovery in this world. It is our wisdom to comfort ourselves, and others, in distress, with that which will not fail; the promise of God, his love and grace, and a well-grounded hope of eternal life. See how Job reconciles himself to the grave. Let this make believers willing to die; it is but going to bed; they are weary, and it is time that they were in their beds. Why should not they go willingly when their Father calls them? Let us remember our bodies are allied to corruption, the worm and the dust; and let us seek for that lively hope which shall be fulfilled, when the hope of the wicked shall be put out in darkness; that when our bodies are in the grave, our souls may enjoy the rest reserved for the people of God.
Key Words
רוּחַ: wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions)
חָבַל: to wind tightly (as a rope), i.e. to bind; specifically, by a pledge; figuratively, to pervert, destroy; also to writhe in pain (especially of parturition)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
זָעַךְ: to extinguish
קֶבֶר: a sepulchre
הָתֹל: a derision
עַיִן: an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape)
לוּן: to stop (usually over night); by implication, to stay permanently; hence (in a bad sense) to be obstinate (especially in words, to complain)
מָרָה: to be (causatively, make) bitter (or unpleasant); (figuratively) to rebel (or resist; causatively, to provoke)
עָרַב: to braid, i.e. intermix; technically, to traffic (as if by barter); also or give to be security (as a kind of exchange)
Cross References
Job 17Job asks for a surety with God, foreshadowing Christ as our Surety.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The custom of striking hands to go surety for another, illustrating Job's legal metaphor.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Striking hands as the standard cultural gesture for becoming surety or pledge.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Job repeats that he has become a byword and a song among the people.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Wasting away and dimness of the eyes because of grief and sorrow.
Supported by JFB
The metaphor of life and purposes being cut off like a weaver's thread.
Supported by JFB
Using intimate family terms (sister, mother) in parallelism; here applied mockingly to the worm.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts Job's sleepless, tearful eyes in provocation with mockers surrounding him.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Job charges his friends with speaking deceitfully and partially on God's behalf.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Job experiences the curse of becoming an astonishment and a byword to others.
Supported by JFB
The paradox where the righteous find renewed strength and vigor through afflictions.
Supported by JFB
The grave as the place where the weary find quiet rest in the dust.
Supported by JFB
Job's recurring desire for a daysman or mediator to try his cause fairly.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The legal concept of retribution extending to the children of the wicked.
Supported by JFB
The eye consumed with grief, reflecting Job's physical and mental distress.
Supported by JFB