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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Job 17 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/job/17.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/job/17-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Job 17</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../job/16.htm" title="Job 16">◄</a> Job 17 <a href="../job/18.htm" title="Job 18">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-1.htm">Job 17:1</a></div><div class="verse">My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves <i>are ready</i> for me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1-16.</span> - The general character of this chapter has been considered in the introductory section to ch. 16. It is occupied mainly with Job's complaints of his treatment by his friends, and his lamentations over his sufferings (vers. 1-12). At the end he appeals to the grave, as the only hope or comfort left to him (vers. 13-16). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">My breath is corrupt</span>; or, <span class="accented">my spirit is oppressed.</span> But the physical meaning is the more probable one. A fetid breath is one of the surest signs of approaching dissolution. <span class="cmt_word">My days are extinct</span>; or, <span class="accented">cut off</span>. The verb used does not occur elsewhere. <span class="cmt_word">The graves are ready for me</span>; or, <span class="accented">the chambers of the grave are mine already.</span> The plural form is best explained by regarding it as referring to the niches commonly cut in a sepulchral chamber to receive the bodies of the departed (see Smith's 'Dictionary of the Bible,' vol. 3. pp. 1528-1536). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-2.htm">Job 17:2</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Are there</i> not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Are there not mockers with me?</span> literally, <span class="accented">mockeries - the</span> abstract for the concrete. (For the sentiment, comp. <a href="/job/16-20.htm">Job 16:20</a> and Job 30:1-14.) <span class="cmt_word">And doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "Have I anything else to look upon? Are not the mockers always about me, always provoking me?" </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-3.htm">Job 17:3</a></div><div class="verse">Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who <i>is</i> he <i>that</i> will strike hands with me?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Lay down now</span>; or, <span class="accented">give now a</span> pledge (see the Revised Version). The terms used in this verse are law terms. Job calls upon God to go into court with him, and, first of all, to deposit the caution-money which the court will require before it undertakes the investigation of the case. Next, he goes on to say, <span class="cmt_word">put me in a surety with thee</span>; or rather (as in the Revised Version), <span class="accented">be surety for me with thyself</span> which is either the same thing with giving a pledge, or a further legal requirement. Finally, he asks the question, <span class="cmt_word">Who is he that will strike hands with me?</span> meaning, "Who else is there but thyself, to whom I can look to be my surety, and by striking hands (comp. <a href="/proverbs/6-1.htm">Proverbs 6:1</a>) with me to accept the legal responsibility?" As Dr. Stanley Leathes says, "It is wonderful the way in which the language of Job fits in with what we have since and elsewhere learnt concerning the Persons in the Godhead." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-4.htm">Job 17:4</a></div><div class="verse">For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt <i>them</i>.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For thou hast hid their heart from understanding</span>. My so-called friends will certainly not undertake for me, since thou hast blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts against me. <span class="cmt_word">Therefore shalt</span> <span class="cmt_word">thou not exalt them</span>. God will not exalt those who are without understanding. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-5.htm">Job 17:5</a></div><div class="verse">He that speaketh flattery to <i>his</i> friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He that speaketh flattery to his friends</span>; rather, he <span class="accented">that denounceth his friends for a prey.</span> Job means to accuse his "comforters" of so acting. By their persistent belief in his grievous wickedness they give him up, as it were, for a prey to calamity, which they pronounce him to have deserved on account of his secret sins. <span class="cmt_word">Even the eyes of his children shall fail</span>. Whoever so acts shall be punished, not only in his own person, but also in the persons of his descendants (comp. <a href="/exodus/20-5.htm">Exodus 20:5</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-6.htm">Job 17:6</a></div><div class="verse">He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He hath made me also a byword of the people</span>. God, by the unprecedented character of his afflictions, has made Job a byword among the surrounding nations - a byword, that is, for an afflicted person. Job, by the manner in which he bore his afflictions, made himself a byword for patience and endurance among God's people throughout all ages (see <a href="/james/5-11.htm">James 5:11</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And</span> <span class="cmt_word">aforetime I was as a tabret</span>; rather, I <span class="accented">am become an abomination before them</span>; or, as our Revisers translate, 1 <span class="accented">am become an open abhorring</span> (comp. <a href="/job/30-10.htm">Job 30:10</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-7.htm">Job 17:7</a></div><div class="verse">Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members <i>are</i> as a shadow.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/6-7.htm">Psalm 6:7</a>; <a href="/psalms/31-9.htm">Psalm 31:9</a>). Excessive weeping, such as stains the cheeks (<a href="/job/16-16.htm">Job 16:16</a>), will also in most cases dim and dull the eyesight. <span class="cmt_word">And all my members are as a shadow</span>. Weak, that is, worn out, unstable, fleeting, ready to pass away. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-8.htm">Job 17:8</a></div><div class="verse">Upright <i>men</i> shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Upright men shall be astonied at this</span>. When Job's case comes to beknown, "upright men" will be astonished at it. They will marvel how it came to pass that such a man - so true, so faithful, so "perfect" (<a href="/job/1-1.htm">Job 1:1</a>) - could have been allowed by God to suffer so terribly. In a world where, up to Job's time, prosperity had been taken as the measure of goodness, the marvel was naturally great. Even now many a Christian is surprised and disturbed in mind if he gives the case prolonged and serious attention, though he holds the clue to it in that most enlightening phrase, "perfect through sufferings" (<a href="/hebrews/2-10.htm">Hebrews 2:10</a>). And the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite. On astonishment will follow indignation. When it becomes generally recognized that, in a vast number of cases, the righteous suffer, while the wicked enjoy great prosperity, good men's feelings will be stirred up against these prosperous ones; they will wax indignant, and take part against them. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-9.htm">Job 17:9</a></div><div class="verse">The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The righteous also</span>; rather, <span class="accented">yet the righteous.</span> A strong opposing clause. Notwithstanding all the afflictions that befall him, and all the further afflictions which he anticipates, yet the truly righteous man shall hold on his way; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> maintain his righteous course, neither deviating from it to the right hand nor to the left, but holding to the strict line of rectitude without. wavering. Job is not thinking particularly of himself, but bent on testifying that righteous men generally act as they do, not from any hope of reward, but from principle and the bent of their characters. <span class="cmt_word">And he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger</span>. Not only will the just man maintain his integrity, but, as time goes on, his goodness will be more and more firmly established (comp. Aristotle's 'Theory of Habits'). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-10.htm">Job 17:10</a></div><div class="verse">But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find <i>one</i> wise <i>man</i> among you.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10</span>. - <span class="cmt_word">But as for you all, do ye return, and come now</span>. A challenge to his detractors. Return, all of you, to your old work of detraction, if you so please. I care not. Your accusations no longer vex me. <span class="cmt_word">For I cannot find one wise man among you</span>. If I could the case would be different. But, as you have all shown yourselves wholly devoid of wisdom (comp. <a href="/job/42-8.htm">Job 42:8</a>), what you say has no real importance. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-11.htm">Job 17:11</a></div><div class="verse">My days are past, my purposes are broken off, <i>even</i> the thoughts of my heart.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">My days are past</span>. My days are slipping away from me. Life is well-nigh over. What, then, does it matter what you say? <span class="cmt_word">My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart</span>; literally, <span class="accented">the possessions of my heart</span> all the store that it has accumulated - my desires, purposes, wishes. I no longer care to vindicate my innocence in the sight of men, or to clear my character from aspersions. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-12.htm">Job 17:12</a></div><div class="verse">They change the night into day: the light <i>is</i> short because of darkness.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They change the night into day</span>. They, my detractors, who are also my so-called "comforters," pretend to change my night into day; assure me that the cloud which rests on me is only for a time, and will ere long give place to the brightness of day, to a glorious burst of sunshine (see <a href="/job/5-18.htm">Job 5:18-26</a>; <a href="/job/8-21.htm">Job 8:21, 22</a>; <a href="/job/11-15.htm">Job 11:15-19</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The light</span> (they say) <span class="cmt_word">is short because of darkness</span>; or, rather, <span class="accented">is</span> <span class="accented">near because of the</span> darkness. To extreme darkness shows that dawn must be near, that the day must soon break when my <span class="accented">sorrow</span> will be turned into joy. Job had not found himself comforted by these assurances, which lacked the ring of sincerity, and could not be accomplished except by miracle, which he did not feel that he had any right to expect. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-13.htm">Job 17:13</a></div><div class="verse">If I wait, the grave <i>is</i> mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">If I wait, the grave is mine house</span>; rather, <span class="accented">surely I look for the grave</span> (<span class="accented">Sheol</span>) <span class="accented">as my house</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> I expect no return of prosperity, no renewal of life in a sumptuous mansion, no recovery of the state and dignity from which I have fallen - I look only for Sheol as my future abode and resting-place -there, in Sheol, <span class="cmt_word">I have made my bed in the darkness</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> I regard myself as already there, lying on my narrow bed in the darkness, at rest after my afflictions. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-14.htm">Job 17:14</a></div><div class="verse">I have said to corruption, Thou <i>art</i> my father: to the worm, <i>Thou art</i> my mother, and my sister.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I have said to corruption,</span> <span class="cmt_word">Thou</span> <span class="cmt_word">art my father</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> I do not murmur; I accept my lot; I am ready to lie down with corruption, and embrace it, and call it "my father," and henceforth remain with it. The idea that the soul is still with the body in the grave, more or less closely attached to it, and sensible of its condition and changes, was widely prevalent in the ancient world. Where bodies were simply buried, the horrible imagination of a close association with corruption naturally and almost necessarily intruded itself, and led to such reflections as those of Job in this verse. It was partly to get rid of this terrible nightmare that the Egyptians were so careful to embalm the bodies of their dead, and that the Babylonians deposited them in baked clay coffins, which they filled with honey (Herod., 1:198); while others still more effectually prevented the process of corruption by cremation. The modern revival of cremation is remarkable as indicating a peculiar form of atavism or recurrence to ancient types. For many ages after the coming of Christ, men so separated between the soul and the body after death that the corruption of the grave had no horror for them. Now materialistic ideas have so far recurred, that many of those who believe the soul to live on after death are doubtful whether it may not still be attached to the body more or less, end, dreading contact with the corruption, of the latter, fall back upon the old remedy. <span class="cmt_word">To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister</span>. An expansion of the idea contained in the previous clause. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-15.htm">Job 17:15</a></div><div class="verse">And where <i>is</i> now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And where is now my hope?</span> (comp. <a href="/job/14-18.htm">Job 14:18</a>-15). At first sight it might seem that to cue in Sheol there could be no hope. But Job is too conscious of his own ignorance to dogmatize on such a subject. What does he know of Sheol? How can he be sure that it is "God's last word to men"? There may be As for my hope, who shall see it?</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> what eye can penetrate the darkness of the future, and solve the riddle for me? </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/17-16.htm">Job 17:16</a></div><div class="verse">They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when <i>our</i> rest together <i>is</i> in the dust.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> <span class="cmt_word">- They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust</span>. There is great difficulty in determining the subject to the verb "go down," which is the third person plural <span class="accented">feminine</span>, whereas the only plural substantive at all near - the word translated "bars" - is masculine. Some suppose Job's <span class="accented">hopes</span> to be meant, "hope" in the preceding verse having the force of any number of "hopes" (so the R.V.) Others disregard the grammatical difficulty of the plural <span class="accented">feminine</span> verb, and, making "bars" the nominative, translate, "The bars of Sheol shall go down," <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "be broken down, perish;" or interrogatively, "Shall the bars of Sheol go down?" This rendering is thought to be "in harmony with the whole undercurrent of thought in the chapter;" but it has not approved itself to many commentators. The present commentator must acknowledge that he is unable to attach any satisfactory meaning to the words of the Hebrew text. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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