Job 17:4

For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].

For thou hast hid {H6845} their heart {H3820} from understanding {H7922}: therefore shalt thou not exalt {H7311} them.

For you have shut their minds to common sense; therefore you will not let them triumph.

You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.

For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

Commentary

Context

Job 17:4 is part of Job's deeply emotional and frustrated response to his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Throughout the Book of Job, these friends repeatedly assert that Job's immense suffering must be a direct consequence of his sin, a common theological framework of their time. In this chapter, Job laments his utter despair, feeling abandoned by both friends and, seemingly, by God. He perceives his friends' counsel as lacking true insight and compassion, attributing their inability to grasp his innocence or the complexity of his situation to a divine withholding of understanding. This verse reflects Job's plea to God regarding the misguided judgment of his companions.

Key Themes

  • Divine Sovereignty Over Understanding: Job attributes his friends' spiritual blindness directly to God's action ("For thou hast hid their heart from understanding"). This highlights the biblical concept that all true wisdom and understanding come from God, and He can grant or withhold it according to His purposes.
  • Misguided Counsel and False Comfort: The verse underscores the danger and pain caused by those who offer advice without true spiritual discernment or empathy. Job sees his friends as incapable of providing genuine comfort because their hearts are "hid from understanding" his unique predicament.
  • Justice and Humility: Job's concluding thought, "therefore shalt thou not exalt [them]," suggests a belief that those who lack divine understanding, especially when it leads to prideful or erroneous judgment, should not be honored or elevated. It implies a divine justice where true wisdom and humility are prerequisites for exaltation. This resonates with the principle that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Linguistic Insights

  • The phrase "hid their heart from understanding" uses the Hebrew word for "hid" (ื›ึผืกื” - kasah), meaning to cover or conceal. The word for "heart" (ืœึตื‘ - lev) in Hebrew thought refers not merely to emotion, but to the entire inner personโ€”the seat of intellect, will, and moral decision-making. So, their very capacity for discernment and moral insight is seen as divinely obscured.
  • "Understanding" (ื‘ึผื™ืŸ - bin) signifies discernment, insight, or the ability to distinguish between things. Job laments that his friends lack this critical faculty regarding his suffering.
  • "Exalt" (ืจื•ึผื - rum) means to be high, lifted up, or honored. Job is essentially saying that because God has withheld understanding from them, they are not worthy of honor or vindication in their judgmental stance.

Practical Application

Job 17:4 offers several profound lessons for believers today:

  • Empathy Over Judgment: When encountering others in suffering, especially those whose trials seem inexplicable, we should approach with profound empathy and humility rather than quick judgment. We may not have the full understanding of God's purposes, and our counsel can be harmful if it lacks divine insight.
  • Reliance on God for Wisdom: This verse reminds us that true wisdom and discernment are gifts from God. When seeking to understand complex situations, especially those involving suffering or difficult relationships, we must rely on God to open our hearts and minds to His truth, rather than trusting solely in human reason or conventional wisdom.
  • Humility in Counsel: Before offering advice, especially in spiritual matters, it is crucial to examine our own hearts and motives. Are we speaking from genuine understanding and compassion, or from pride and a limited perspective? The verse serves as a caution against presumptuous judgment and a call to humility.
Note: Commentary was generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit.

Please remember that only the commentary section is AI-generated. The main Scripture and cross-references are stored on the site and are sourced from trusted and verified materials.

Cross-References

  • Matthew 11:25

    ยถ At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

  • Matthew 13:11

    He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

  • 1 Corinthians 1:20

    Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

  • 2 Samuel 17:14

    And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite [is] better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

  • Romans 11:8

    (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

  • Isaiah 19:14

    The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit.

  • 2 Chronicles 25:16

    And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that [the king] said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
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