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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Job 17:1–9. His four-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
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 long home: The graves are ready for me. But would not one grave serve? Yes, but he speaks of the sepulchres of his fathers, to which he must be gathered: "The graves where they are laid are ready for me also," graves in consort, the congregation of the dead. Wherever we go there is but a step between us and the grave. Whatever is unready, that is ready; it is a bed soon made. If the graves be ready for us, it concerns us to be ready for the graves. The graves for me (so it runs), denoting not only his expectation of death, but his desire of it. "I have done with the world, and have nothing now to wish for but a grave."
2.He was a despised man (Job 17:6): "He" (that is, Eliphaz, so some, or rather God, whom he all along acknowledges to be the author of his calamities) "has made me a byword of the people, the talk of the country, a laughing-stock to many, a gazing-stock to all; and aforetime (or to men's faces, publicly) I was as a tabret, that whoever chose might play upon." They made ballads of him; his name became a proverb; it is so still, As poor as Job. "He has now made me a byword," a reproach of men, whereas, aforetime, in my prosperity, I was as a tabret, deliciae humani generis - the darling of the human race, whom they were all pleased with. It is common for those who were honoured in their wealth to be despised in their poverty.
3.He was a man of sorrows, Job 17:7. He wept so much that he had almost lost his sight: My eye is dim by reason of sorrow, Job 16:16. The sorrow of the world thus works darkness and death. He grieved so much that he had fretted all the flesh away and become a perfect skeleton, nothing but skin and bones: "All my members are as a shadow. I have become so poor and thin that I am not to be called a man, but the shadow of a man."
II.The ill use which his friends made of his miseries.
They trampled upon him, and insulted over him, and condemned him as a hypocrite, because he was thus grievously afflicted. Hard usage! Now observe,
1.How Job describes it, and what construction he puts upon their discourses with him. He looks upon himself as basely abused by them. (1.) They abused him with their foul censures, condemning him as a bad man, justly reduced thus and exposed to contempt, Job 17:2. "They are mockers, who deride my calamities, and insult over me, because I am thus brought low. They are so with me, abusing me to my face, pretending friendship in their visit, but intending mischief. I cannot get clear of them; they are continually tearing me, and they will not be wrought upon, either by reason or pity, to let fall the prosecution." (2.) They abused him too with their fair promises, for in them they did but banter him. He reckons them (Job 17:5) among those that speak flattery to their friends. They all came to mourn with him. Eliphaz began with a commendation of him, Job 4:3. They had all promised him that he would be happy if he would take their advice. Now all this he looked upon as flattery, and as designed to vex him so much the more. All this he calls their provocation, Job 17:2. They did what they could to provoke him and then condemned him for his resentment of it; but he thinks himself excusable when his eye continued thus in their provocation: it never ceased, and he never could look off it. Note, The unkindness of those that trample upon their friends in affliction, that banter and abuse them then, is enough to try, if not to tire, the patience even of Job himself.
2.How he condemns it.
(1.)It was a sign that God had hidden their heart from understanding (Job 17:4), and that in this matter they were infatuated, and their wonted wisdom had departed from them. Wisdom is a gift of God, which he grants to some and withholds from others, grants at some times and withholds at other times. Those that are void of compassion are so far void of understanding. Where there is not the tenderness of a man one may question whether there be the understanding of a man.
(2.)It would be a lasting reproach and diminution to them: Therefore shalt thou not exalt them. Those are certainly kept back from honour whose hearts are hidden from understanding. When God infatuates men he will abase them. Surely those who discover so little acquaintance with the methods of Providence shall not have the honour of deciding this controversy! That is reserved for a man of better sense and better temper, such a one as Elihu afterwards appeared to be.
(3.)It would entail a curse upon their families. He that thus violates the sacred laws of friendship forfeits the benefit of it, not only for himself, but for his posterity: "Even the eyes of his children shall fail, and, when they look for succour and comfort from their own and their father's friends, they shall look in vain as I have done, and be as much disappointed as I am in you." Note, Those that wrong their neighbours may thereby, in the end, wrong their own children more than they are aware of.
3.How he appeals from them to God (Job 17:3): Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee, that is, "Let me be assured that God will take the hearing and determining of the cause into his own hands, and I desire no more. Let some one engage for God to bring on this matter." Thus those whose hearts condemn them not have confidence towards God, and can with humble and believing boldness beg of him to search and try them. Some make Job here to glance at the mediation of Christ, for he speaks of a surety with God, without whom he durst not appear before God, nor try his cause at his bar; for, though his friends' accusations of him were utterly false, yet he could not justify himself before God but in a mediator. Our English annotations give this reading of the verse: "Appoint, I pray thee, my surety with thee, namely, Christ who is with thee in heaven, and has undertaken to be my surety let him plead my cause, and stand up for me; and who is he then that will strike upon my hand?" that is, "Who dares then contend with me? Who shall lay any thing to my charge if Christ be an advocate for me?" Rom 8:32, Rom 8:33. Christ is the surety of the better testament (Heb 7:22), a surety of God's appointing; and, if he undertake for us, we need not fear what can be done against us.
III.The good use which the righteous should make of Job's afflictions from God, from his enemies, and from his friends, Job 17:8, Job 17:9. Observe here,
1.How the saints are described.
(1.)They are upright men, honest and sincere, and that act from a steady principle, with a single eye. This was Job's own character (Job 1:1), and probably he speaks of such upright men especially as had been his intimates and associates.
(2.)They are the innocent, not perfectly so, but innocence is what they aim at and press towards. Sincerity is evangelical innocency, and those that are upright are said to be innocent from the great transgression, Psa 19:13.
(3.)They are the righteous, who walk in the way of righteousness.
(4.)They have clean hands, kept clean from the gross pollutions of sin, and, when spotted with infirmities, washed with innocency, Psa 26:6.
2.How they should be affected with the account of Job's troubles. Great enquiry, no doubt, would be made concerning him, and every one would speak of him and his case; and what use will good people make of it?
(1.)It will amaze them: Upright men shall be astonished at this; they will wonder to hear that so good a man as Job should be so grievously afflicted in body, name, and estate, that God should lay his hand so heavily upon him, and that his friends, who ought to have comforted him, should add to his grief, that such a remarkable saint should be such a remarkable sufferer, and so useful a man laid aside in the midst of his usefulness; what shall we say to these things? Upright men, though satisfied in general that God is wise and holy in all he does, yet cannot but be astonished at such dispensations of Providence, paradoxes which will not be unfolded till the mystery of God shall be finished.
(2.)It will animate them. Instead of being deterred from and discouraged in the service of God, by the hard usage which this faithful servant of God met with, they shall be so much the more emboldened to proceed and persevere in it. That which was St. Paul's care (Th1 3:3) was Job's, that no good man should be moved, either from his holiness or his comfort, by these afflictions, that none should, for the sake hereof, think the worse of the ways or work of God. And that which was St. Paul's comfort was his too, that the brethren in the Lord would wax confident by his bonds, Phi 1:14. They would hereby be animated,
[1.]To oppose sin and to confront the corrupt and pernicious inferences which evil men would draw from Job's sufferings, as that God has forsaken the earth, that it is in vain to serve him, and the like: The innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite, will not bear to hear this (Rev 2:2), but will withstand him to his face, will stir up himself to search into the meaning of such providences and study these hard chapters, that he may read them readily, will stir up himself to maintain religion's just but injured cause against all its opposers. Note, The boldness of the attacks which profane people make upon religion should sharpen the courage and resolution of its friends and advocates. It is time to stir when proclamation is made in the gate of the camp, Who is on the Lord's side? When vice is daring it is no time for virtue, through fear, to hide itself.
[2.]To persevere in religion. The righteous, instead of drawing back, or so much as starting back, at this frightful spectacle, or standing still to deliberate whether he should proceed or no (allude to Sa2 2:23), shall with so much the more constancy and resolution hold on his way and press forward. "Though in me he foresees that bonds and afflictions abide him, yet none of these things shall move him," Act 20:24. 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 meet with in it [3.] In order thereunto to grow in grace. He will not only hold on his way notwithstanding, but will grow stronger and stronger. By the sight of other good men's trials, and the experience of his own, he will be made more vigorous and lively in his duty, more warm and affectionate, more resolute and undaunted; the worse others are the better he will be; that which dismays others emboldens him. The blustering wind makes the traveller gather his cloak the closer about him and gird it the faster. Those that are truly wise and good will be continually growing wiser and better. Proficiency in religion is a good sign of sincerity in it.
Historical interpretation
Two Centuries of Reception
2 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
“My spirit is broken” in bitterness and pain, because my ulcers torture me, or, on the other hand, because of my friends, who are ready to burst out against their friend.
32. ‘My spirit is wasted to thinness,’ by the fear of judgment; in that the minds of the Elect, the more they feel themselves to be approaching the final Judgment, tremble so much the more fearfully in the searching of their own selves; and if they ever find in themselves any carnal thoughts, they consume them by the fervour of their penance; nor do they suffer their thoughts to expand with carnal delight, in that they pass sentence and inflict punishment on themselves more rigorously in proportion as they are awaiting the strict Judge close at hand; whence it comes to pass, that they look upon their departure as always near. For the minds of the lost do many things wickedly on this account, because they suppose themselves living here for long; and so ‘the spirit of the righteous is wasted to thinness,’ but the spirit of the wicked is thickened. For in proportion as they swell out in self-elation, they have not the wearing down of the spirit: but the righteous, whilst they consider the shortness of their life, eschew the sins of pride and impurity. And hence it is added;
My days shall be shortened, and the grave only is left me.
33. For he that bethinks himself what he will be in death, is always rendered fearful in practice, and from the very cause that henceforth he does not as it were live in his own eyes, he does genuinely live in the eyes of his Creator; he goes after nothing of a nature to pass away, he withstands all the desire of the present life, and views himself as almost dead, in that he is not unaware that he is destined to die. For a perfect life is an imitation of death, which while the righteous diligently enact, they escape the snares of sins. Whence it is written, Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember thy latter end, and thou shalt never do amiss. [Ecclus. 7, 36] And hence blessed Job, because he sees that his ‘days are shortened,’ and reflects that ‘the grave only is left him,’
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Summary
Job 17:1 encapsulates the profound depths of Job's physical and spiritual anguish, articulating a desperate conviction that his life is irrevocably decaying, his days are abruptly terminated, and death is an imminent certainty. In this poignant lament, Job expresses an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, perceiving the grave as his only immediate escape from relentless suffering, the unjust accusations of his friends, and his perceived abandonment by God. The verse powerfully conveys the all-consuming despair that can engulf an individual facing extreme adversity without apparent relief.
Context
Literary Context
Job 17:1 emerges within Job's third cycle of speeches, specifically following his impassioned and deeply emotional response to Bildad's second speech (found in Job 16). Throughout earlier chapters, Job has repeatedly expressed a profound yearning for death as a release from his torment, notably in Job 3:11 and Job 10:1, where he declares his loathing for life. By chapter 17, this longing has intensified from a mere wish to a grim conviction of imminent death. He perceives his physical body failing, his vital breath corrupted, and his life's span violently cut short. This verse serves as a stark declaration of his physical and emotional nadir, setting the stage for Job's continued, albeit desperate, appeal to God, even as his bodily state deteriorates, highlighting the tragic irony of his friends' rigid theological pronouncements against his lived experience of inexplicable suffering.
Historical & Cultural Context
The Book of Job is situated within the patriarchal era, an ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context where a prevalent theological framework often directly correlated suffering with sin and prosperity with righteousness. This retributive theology, vigorously espoused by Job's three friends, forms the relentless backdrop for their accusations against him. Job's lamentations, including his fervent desire for death, resonate deeply with common ANE expressions of grief and despair found in various laments and wisdom literature, where physical decay, the cessation of breath, and the grim inevitability of the grave (Sheol) were stark realities of human existence. The concept of "the grave" or Sheol in this period was generally understood as a shadowy, subterranean realm of the dead, a place of no return, further emphasizing the finality and bleakness of Job's outlook. His severe physical symptoms described throughout the book—such as boils, foul breath, emaciation, and incessant pain—were not uncommon ailments in the ancient world, but their severity, duration, and the accompanying social isolation made his plight uniquely agonizing and seemingly without hope.
Key Themes
Job 17:1 powerfully encapsulates several core themes that permeate the entire book. It vividly portrays Profound Despair and Physical Decay, as Job's language of "corrupt breath" and "extinct days" paints a harrowing picture of a body and spirit succumbing to an unbearable affliction, highlighting the physical and emotional toll of his suffering. This directly leads to the theme of Imminent Death, which Job perceives not as a distant possibility but as an immediate, inescapable certainty, with "the graves... ready for me." For Job, death becomes a longed-for Release from Suffering, a final and absolute escape from both his agonizing physical pain and the relentless, unfounded accusations of his friends, as seen in his earlier longing for rest in Job 3:17-19. This verse also underscores Job's profound sense of Isolation and Misunderstanding, as he feels utterly alone in his suffering, abandoned by his community, and seemingly by God Himself, making death appear to be his only solace and ultimate destination.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
Meaning "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)." Here, rûwach signifies Job's vital life force, his very essence or spirit. Its corruption speaks to a deep, internal decay affecting his very being, possibly referencing the foul odor associated with his severe illness, but more profoundly, the decaying of his inner vitality.
A primitive root meaning "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)." When applied to Job's "breath," it conveys a sense of being utterly ruined, destroyed, or perverted. This is not merely a weakening, but a profound internal disintegration, suggesting that his life force is not just failing but is actively being ravaged and brought to ruin by his affliction.
A primitive root meaning "to extinguish; be extinct." Applied to "my days," this word paints a vivid picture of Job's life being abruptly and completely snuffed out, like a flame violently put out. It signifies a forceful and final termination rather than a natural, gradual end, reflecting Job's conviction that his life is being prematurely and unjustly brought to an end by an external force, leaving him with no hope of recovery or continuation.
Meaning "a sepulchre; burying place, grave, sepulchre." The KJV's use of the plural "graves" (though the root is singular) intensifies the sense of the overwhelming presence of death and the multitude of tombs awaiting humanity. The phrase "the graves are ready for me" (literally "graves for me") is stark and profoundly personal, emphasizing that his destiny is inextricably linked to the tomb, which he perceives as already prepared and awaiting his imminent arrival.
Verse Breakdown
"My breath is corrupt"
This clause speaks to the profound physical and perhaps spiritual deterioration Job is experiencing. "Breath" (rûwach) here signifies his vital life force, his very essence. The word "corrupt" (châbal) implies being ruined, destroyed, or perverted, suggesting that his illness has so ravaged him that his very breath, the sign of life, is decaying or being actively destroyed from within. It conveys a sense of internal rot and the repulsive nature of his physical state, both to himself and to others.
"my days are extinct"
This powerfully expresses Job's conviction that his life is not merely ending, but is being violently cut short or extinguished. "Extinct" (zâʻak) conveys a sense of being snuffed out, like a flame. Job believes his allotted time is not running out naturally, but is being abruptly and prematurely terminated, leaving him with no hope of recovery or continuation. This highlights his perception of a life unjustly and forcibly cut short.
"the graves [are ready] for me"
This final clause underscores the absolute certainty and immediacy of Job's perceived death. The plural "graves" (though the Hebrew root is singular, the context implies multiple potential resting places or the collective reality of death) emphasizes the overwhelming reality of death's presence. The phrase "for me" personalizes this inevitability, indicating that the tomb is not just a general destination, but his specific and imminent one. The KJV's interpretive addition "[are ready]" perfectly captures Job's profound sense that his burial place is already prepared, awaiting his arrival, signifying the absolute finality of his despair.
Literary Devices
Job 17:1 is rich in Imagery that vividly conveys the depth of Job's suffering and despair. The image of "corrupt breath" paints a visceral picture of internal decay and physical repulsiveness, while "extinct days" employs the Metaphor of a snuffed-out flame or a light extinguished, representing a life abruptly and violently cut short. The phrase "the graves are ready for me" uses a subtle form of Personification, attributing an active state of readiness to the inanimate graves, further emphasizing the inescapable and imminent nature of death. This declaration also functions as a powerful example of Hyperbole, as Job, in his extreme agony, expresses a certainty of death that, while reflecting his genuine feeling, is an exaggerated statement of finality before his ultimate, unexpected restoration. The entire verse, deeply rooted in the broader context of the book, functions as a profound Lament, a common literary form in biblical wisdom and prophetic literature, expressing deep sorrow, complaint, and a desperate resignation to fate.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Job 17:1 serves as a stark and unsettling reminder of the profound fragility of human life and the depths of despair that can accompany severe, inexplicable suffering. Theologically, it challenges simplistic notions of divine justice that rigidly link suffering directly to sin, as Job's experience vehemently defies this formula. His raw lament highlights the innate human tendency to desperately seek an end to overwhelming pain, even if that end is death, when faced with seemingly insurmountable anguish and a perceived absence of divine intervention. It underscores the profound importance of lament as a legitimate, even necessary, form of prayer and honest expression before God, validating the rawest emotions of despair and complaint. While Job's immediate outlook is bleak and focused on the grave, his cry for death paradoxically sets the stage for his later, more profound expressions of faith and his ultimate, transformative encounter with God, demonstrating that even in the deepest pits of human suffering, God remains sovereign, though His ways are often inscrutable and beyond human comprehension.
Reflection and Application
Job 17:1 offers a profound and unsettling glimpse into the human experience of utter despair, physical decay, and the longing for release through death. It challenges us to confront the reality of suffering, not merely as an abstract concept, but as a deeply personal, often isolating, and profoundly disorienting ordeal. For those who minister to the suffering, this verse serves as a potent reminder of the paramount importance of empathetic presence over simplistic theological answers or judgmental pronouncements. Job's friends failed precisely because they offered condemnation and a rigid theological framework instead of compassion and understanding. We are called to sit with those in pain, to listen to their raw laments without judgment, and to acknowledge the legitimacy of their anguish, even when we cannot provide immediate solutions or explanations. For those experiencing similar depths of despair, Job's cry validates their feelings, reminding them that the biblical narrative does not shy away from the darkest aspects of human experience. While Job's immediate hope is the grave, the broader biblical narrative points to a greater hope beyond the grave, where suffering is ultimately redeemed and death is overcome by a sovereign and loving God.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does Job's desire for death indicate a lack of faith or a sinful attitude?
Job's desire for death in Job 17:1 and elsewhere in the book (e.g., Job 3) is a raw, honest expression of overwhelming physical and emotional anguish, not necessarily a lack of faith or a sinful attitude. The book of Job explicitly portrays him as "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1:1), and his laments are a form of desperate prayer and complaint directed towards God, not a rejection of Him. In the biblical tradition, lament is a legitimate and often profound way to engage with God in the midst of suffering. It acknowledges the pain and confusion without denying God's existence or ultimate sovereignty, even if His actions are inscrutable at the moment. Job's cries are a testament to his continued, albeit agonizing, engagement with God, even in his darkest hour, rather than a sinful turning away.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
While Job 17:1 expresses a profound human despair and a longing for the grave as an escape, it subtly foreshadows the ultimate, divine answer to suffering and death found in Jesus Christ. Job's "corrupt breath" and "extinct days" vividly speak to the pervasive reality of sin and its ultimate consequence, death, which afflicts all humanity (Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23). Job longs for the grave as an end to his torment, yet Christ voluntarily entered the grave not as a victim of despair, but as a triumphant conqueror. Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, fully experienced human suffering, even crying out in agony and feeling forsaken on the cross (Matthew 27:46), yet His death was a voluntary, atoning sacrifice that swallowed up death's sting and brought victory over the grave (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Job's despair over the readiness of the grave finds its ultimate reversal in Christ's glorious resurrection, which demonstrates that the grave is not the final destination for those who believe (John 11:25-26). Thus, Job's lament, though bleak in its immediate context, points forward to the One who would truly conquer death, offering not just an end to suffering in the grave, but eternal life and resurrection hope beyond it for all who trust in Him (Philippians 3:20-21).