Job 17
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Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Contentment. The wise servant. The Lord tries the heart. Children a crown to their parents. We should hide our neighbour's faults. The poor should not be despised. Litigations and quarrels to be avoided. Wealth is useless to a fool. The good friend. A fool may pass for a wise man when he holds his peace.
Open source ↗JOB'S ANSWER CONTINUED. (Job 17:1-16) breath . . . corrupt--result of elephantiasis. But UMBREIT, "my strength (spirit) is spent." extinct--Life is compared to an expiring light. "The light of my day is extinguished." graves--plural, to heighten the force.
Open source ↗My breath is corrupt,.... Through the force of his disease, which made it have an ill smell, so that it was strange and disagreeable to his wife, Job 19:17; passing through his lungs, or other parts, which were affected with some disorder, or as frequently is the case of dying persons, and so Job thought himself to be. The word (n) used has the signification of pain, even of the pains of a woman in travail; and so may signify, that Job drew his breath with great pain, as people troubled with an asthma do, or dying persons in the hiccups, or just fetching their last breath; or "my spirit" (o), as it may be rendered, that is, his vital spirits which were exhausted and spent, there were scarce any left in him; or "my mind" (p), or soul, which was overwhelmed with grief, and so disturbed, that he was not himself, but in a manner distracted with the terrors of God, and the severity of his hand upon him: my days are extinct; here Job corrects himself; he had spoken of a few years before, but it is as if he should say now, why do I talk of a few years, when I have but a few days to live, and even those are as good as gone? meaning not only his days of prosperity, which were at an entire end, as he thought, but the days of his natural life; the lamp of life was almost burnt out, the oil was spent, the wick was just extinguished, it was like the snuff of a candle going out: the graves are ready for me; the place of his fathers' sepulchres, the burial place of his ancestors, where many graves were; or he may have respect to various things into which the dead are put, as into so many graves; as besides their being rolled up in linen, as was the way of the eastern countries, there was the coffin, a sort of a grave, and which sometimes was made of stone; and then the place dug in th…
Open source ↗1 My breath is corrupt, My days are extinct, The graves are ready for me. 2 Truly mockery surrounds me, And mine eye shall loiter over their disputings. Hirz., Hlgst., and others, wrongly consider the division of the chapter here to be incorrect. The thought in Job 16:22 is really a concluding thought, like Job 10:20., Job 7:21. Then in Job 17:1 another strain is taken up; and as Job 16:22 is related, as a confirmation, to the request expressed in Job 16:19-21, so Job 17:1, Job 17:2 are related to that expressed in Job 17:3. The connection with the conclusion of Job 16 is none the less close: the thoughts move on somewhat crosswise (chiastisch). We do not translate with Ewald: "My spirit is destroyed," because חבּל (here and Isa 10:27) signifies not, to be destroyed, but, to be corrupted, disturbed, troubled; not the spirit (after Arab. chbl, usually of disturbance of spirit), but the breath is generally meant, which is become short (Job 7:15) and offensive (Job 19:17), announcing suffocation and decay as no longer far distant. In Job 17:1 the ἅπ. γεγρ. נזעכוׁ is equivalent to נדעכו, found elsewhere. In Job 17:1 קברים is used as if the dead were called, Arab. ssâchib el-kubûr, grave-companions. He is indeed one who is dying, from whom the grave is but a step distant, and still the friends promise him long life if he will only repent! This is the mockery which is with him, i.e., surrounds him, as he affirms, Job 17:1. A secondary verb, התל, is formed from the Hiph. התל (of which we had the non-syncopated form of the fut. in Job 13:9), the Piel of which occurs in Kg1 18:27 of Elijah's derision of the priests of Baal, and from this is formed the pluralet. התלים (or, according to another reading, התלּים, with the same doubling of the ל as in מהתלּות, deceitful things, I…
Open source ↗Job's discourse is here somewhat broken and interrupted, and he passes suddenly from one thing to another, as is usual with men in trouble; but we may reduce what is here said to three heads: - I. The deplorable condition which poor Job was now in, which he describes, to aggravate the great unkindness of his friends to him and to justify his own complaints. Let us see what his case was. 1. He was a dying man, Job 17:1. He had said (Job 16:22), "When a few years have come, I shall go that long journey." But here he corrects himself. "Why do I talk of years to come? Alas! I am just setting out on that journey, am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. My breath is already corrupt, or broken off; my spirits are spent; I am a gone man." It is good for every one of us thus to look upon ourselves as dying, and especially to think of it when we are sick. We are dying, that is, (1.) Our life is going; for the breath of life is going. It is continually going forth; it is in our nostrils (Isa 2:22), the door at which it entered (Gen 2:7); there it is upon the threshold, ready to depart. Perhaps Job's distemper obstructed his breathing, and short breath will, after a while, be no breath. Let the Anointed of the Lord be the breath of our nostrils, and let us get spiritual life breathed into us, and that breath will never be corrupted. (2.) Our time is ending: My days are extinct, are put out, as a candle which, from the first lighting, is continually wasting and burning down, and will by degrees burn out of itself, but may by a thousand accidents be extinguished. Such is life. It concerns us therefore carefully to redeem the days of time, and to spend them in getting ready for the days of eternity, which will never be extinct. (3.) We are expected in our…
Open source ↗17:1 My spirit is crushed: This can refer to a properly contrite attitude (Ps 51:17), but more often it connotes an unbearably sad heart (Prov 18:14).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
רוּחַ (rûwach, H7307) — wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively,… חָבַל (châbal, H2254) — to wind tightly (as a rope), i.e. to bind; specifically, by a pledge; figuratively, to… יוֹם (yôwm, H3117) — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to… זָעַךְ (zâʻak, H2193) — to extinguish קֶבֶר (qeber, H6913) — a sepulchre
Open source ↗הָתֹל (hâthôl, H2049) — a derision עַיִן (ʻayin, H5869) — an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape) לוּן (lûwn, H3885) — to stop (usually over night); by implication, to stay permanently; hence (in a bad sense)… מָרָה (mârâh, H4784) — to be (causatively, make) bitter (or unpleasant); (figuratively) to rebel (or resist;…
Open source ↗שׂוּם (sûwm, H7760) — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and… עָרַב (ʻârab, H6148) — to braid, i.e. intermix; technically, to traffic (as if by barter); also or give to be… תָּקַע (tâqaʻ, H8628) — to clatter, i.e. slap (the hands together), clang (an instrument); by analogy, to drive… יָד (yâd, H3027) — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),
Open source ↗צָפַן (tsâphan, H6845) — to hide (by covering over); by implication, to hoard or reserve; figuratively to deny;… לֵב (lêb, H3820) — the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the… שֶׂכֶל (sekel, H7922) — intelligence; by implication, success רוּם (rûwm, H7311) — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)
Open source ↗נָגַד (nâgad, H5046) — properly, to front, i.e. stand boldly out opposite; by implication (causatively), to… חֵלֶק (chêleq, H2506) — properly, smoothness (of the tongue); also an allotment רֵעַ (rêaʻ, H7453) — an associate (more or less close) עַיִן (ʻayin, H5869) — an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape) בֵּן (bên, H1121) — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative… כָּלָה (kâlâh, H3615) — to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitived (to complete,…
Open source ↗יָצַג (yâtsag, H3322) — to place permanently מְשֹׁל (mᵉshôl, H4914) — a satire עַם (ʻam, H5971) — a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence… פָּנִים (pânîym, H6440) — the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and… תֹּפֶת (tôpheth, H8611) — a smiting, i.e. (figuratively) contempt
Open source ↗עַיִן (ʻayin, H5869) — an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape) כָּהָה (kâhâh, H3543) — to be weak, i.e. (figuratively) to despond (causatively, rebuke), or (of light, the eye)… כַּעַס (kaʻaç, H3708) — vexation יָצֻר (yâtsur, H3338) — structure, i.e. limb or part צֵל (tsêl, H6738) — shade, whether literal or figurative
Open source ↗יָשָׁר (yâshâr, H3477) — straight (literally or figuratively) שָׁמֵם (shâmêm, H8074) — to stun (or intransitively, grow numb), i.e. devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both… נָקִי (nâqîy, H5355) — innocent עוּר (ʻûwr, H5782) — to wake (literally or figuratively) חָנֵף (chânêph, H2611) — soiled (i.e. with sin), impious
Open source ↗צַדִּיק (tsaddîyq, H6662) — just אָחַז (ʼâchaz, H270) — to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in possession) דֶּרֶךְ (derek, H1870) — a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverb טְהוֹר (ṭᵉhôwr, H2890) — purity יָד (yâd, H3027) — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.), יָסַף (yâçaph, H3254) — to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing) אֹמֶץ (ʼômets, H555) — strength
Open source ↗אוּלָם (ʼûwlâm, H199) — however or on the contrary שׁוּב (shûwb, H7725) — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not… בּוֹא (bôwʼ, H935) — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) מָצָא (mâtsâʼ, H4672) — properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or… חָכָם (châkâm, H2450) — wise, (i.e. intelligent, skilful or artful)
Open source ↗יוֹם (yôwm, H3117) — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to… עָבַר (ʻâbar, H5674) — to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive,… זִמָּה (zimmâh, H2154) — a plan, especially a bad one נָתַק (nâthaq, H5423) — to tear off מוֹרָשׁ (môwrâsh, H4180) — a possession; figuratively, delight לֵבָב (lêbâb, H3824) — the heart (as the most interior organ);
Open source ↗שׂוּם (sûwm, H7760) — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and… לַיִל (layil, H3915) — properly, a twist (away of the light), i.e. night; figuratively, adversity יוֹם (yôwm, H3117) — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to… אוֹר (ʼôwr, H216) — illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.) קָרוֹב (qârôwb, H7138) — near (in place, kindred or time) פָּנִים (pânîym, H6440) — the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and… חֹשֶׁךְ (chôshek, H2822) — the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death,…
Open source ↗קָוָה (qâvâh, H6960) — to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect שְׁאוֹל (shᵉʼôwl, H7585) — Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories… בַּיִת (bayith, H1004) — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.) רָפַד (râphad, H7502) — to spread (a bed); by implication, to refresh יָצוּעַ (yâtsûwaʻ, H3326) — spread, i.e. a bed; (architecture) an extension, i.e. wing or lean-to (a single story or… חֹשֶׁךְ (chôshek, H2822) — the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death,…
Open source ↗קָרָא (qârâʼ, H7121) — to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of… שַׁחַת (shachath, H7845) — a pit (especially as a trap); figuratively, destruction אָב (ʼâb, H1) — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application רִמָּה (rimmâh, H7415) — a maggot (as rapidly bred), literally or figuratively אֵם (ʼêm, H517) — a mother (as the bond of the family); in a wide sense (both literally and figuratively… אָחוֹת (ʼâchôwth, H269) — a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)
Open source ↗Cross-references
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After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.
My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.
What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?