Job 17
Death Is Near; Job Demands a Surety 1–5
Job Becomes a Byword 6–9
Lost Hope and the Certainty of the Grave 10–16
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Study Notes for Job 17
Verse 1
my days are extinct — Zaak is the verb of a flame going out, and 'breath' (ruach) is the spirit that is 'corrupt', spoiled or worn down. 'The graves' is plural. Others in Scripture speak the same way when death is near: 'my life draweth nigh unto the grave' (Ps 88:3).
Verse 3
put me in a surety with thee — Job asks God himself to pledge for him, since 'who is he that will strike hands with me?' Striking hands (taqa) sealed a pledge (Prov 6:1). A plea in the same vein is 'Be surety for thy servant for good' (Ps 119:122), and Christ is called 'a surety of a better testament' (Heb 7:22).
Verse 4
hid their heart from understanding — Sekel is insight, and the verb 'hid' (tsaphan) is to keep covered. Job says the friends fail to see his case because God has kept it from them. Christ gives thanks that the Father 'hast hid these things from the wise and prudent' (Matt 11:25).
Verse 6
a byword of the people — Mashal is a proverb or taunt: his name has become a saying. He says the same later, 'And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword' (30:9). The people of God use a word from the same root of their shame in Ps 44:14, 'Thou makest us a byword among the heathen'.
Verse 8
Upright men shall be astonied — Yashar, straight, is the word the LORD himself uses of Job in 1:8, 'an upright man'. 'Astonied' is shamem, to be stunned, the verb of 21:5, 'Mark me, and be astonished'. The 'hypocrite' is chaneph, the godless, whom the innocent (naqi) will rouse against.
Verse 9
he that hath clean hands — 'Clean' is tahor, pure. Job has just said, 'Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure' (16:17). 'Hold on his way' is achaz, to take hold and not let go. The path of such a man is 'as the shining light, that shineth more and more' (Prov 4:18).
Verse 10
I cannot find one wise man among you — Chakam, wise, is from the root of chokmah, 'wisdom', in 12:2, where he mocked them that 'wisdom shall die with you'. Paul asks the Corinthians the same question: 'Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you?' (1 Cor 6:5). The LORD's verdict later is that 'ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath' (42:7).
Verse 11
my purposes are broken off — 'Purposes' (zimmah) are plans, and 'thoughts' (morash) are literally what the heart possesses. The verb nathaq is to tear off or snap, as a cord. His days were 'swifter than a weaver's shuttle' (7:6), and with them the plans of the heart end.
Verse 14
to corruption, Thou art my father — Shachath is the pit or the decay of the grave, and rimmah the maggot. Job names them as family. The same word stands in Ps 16:10, 'neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption', which Peter applies to Christ's resurrection (Acts 2:27, 31).
Verse 16
the bars of the pit — 'Pit' is sheol, the place of the dead, and 'bars' (bad) are its barriers. Jonah draws the same picture: 'the earth with her bars was about me for ever' (Jonah 2:6). 'Rest' recalls Job's own words in 3:17, 'there the weary be at rest', here 'our rest together is in the dust'.