Job 17

Job 17 belongs to the second cycle of speeches between Job and his friends. Job's reply, which begins in Job 16, continues in this chapter; in the next chapter Bildad speaks again.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Job laments that his strength is spent, his days are ended, and the grave is ready for him. He says that mockers surround him.
• Verses 3–5 Job asks God to give a pledge and to become his surety himself. He says that God has hidden understanding from his friends' hearts and that the children of one who harms a friend will go blind.
• Verses 6–9 Job says that he has become a byword among the people, that men spit in his face, and that his body is like a shadow. Even so, he declares that the righteous will hold to his way and that he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
• Verses 10–16 Job says that there is not one wise man among his friends. He says that his plans and desires have been cut off; calling the grave his father and the worm his mother and sister, he asks where his hope is.

Key Verses

• Job 17:3 "Put me in a surety with thee." A paradoxical prayer in which Job asks for a guarantee from the very God he regards as his accuser.
• Job 17:9 "He that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." A statement of confidence spoken from the depths of despair.
• Job 17:15 "And where is now my hope?" The question toward which the lament of the entire chapter builds.

People and Places

• Job: The protagonist of the book, who disputes with his friends in the midst of his suffering.
• Job's three friends: Those whom Job addresses as "you" and rebukes for their lack of wisdom.
• Sheol: In the Old Testament, the place to which the dead were thought to descend (Hebrew she'ol).

Points for Reflection

The phrase "strike hands" in verse 3 refers to the ancient custom of clasping hands to stand as surety. Job regards God as his judge, yet at the same time seeks him as the one who will vouch for him. This lament connects with the daysman of Job 9:32–33 and the witness in heaven of Job 16:19–21. Christian tradition has sometimes read this passage in connection with Hebrews 7:22, which calls Jesus "a surety of a better testament," or with the mediator of 1 Timothy 2:5–6. The text itself, however, remains Job's desperate plea.

The Hebrew of verse 5 is difficult, and translations render its meaning in considerably different ways. Verse 9 has also drawn attention because it seems out of place amid the surrounding despair, and interpreters differ over whether to read it as Job's own conviction or in some other way. The chapter closes in verse 16 with hope going down only to the gates of Sheol. This lament stands in contrast to the confession of Job 19: "I know that my redeemer liveth."