Job 17: Job’s Lament: My Days are Extinct

Job 17 articulates a bleak vision of the future where the grave is the only house Job expects to inhabit and 'corruption' is his only family. He fiercely rejects the shallow promises of restoration offered by his friends, calling them out for their lack of true insight and their blindness to his reality.

  1. v1-5: The Mockery of the Friends
  2. v6-10: Job as a Byword to the People
  3. v11-16: The Grave as the Only Hope

Job chapter 17

My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.
And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

See how Job navigates the 'dark night of the soul' by confronting the reality of death without the sugar-coating of religious platitudes. Begin your study with job 17 summary.

Job asks God to 'lay down a pledge' for him, which is a legal term for posting bail or providing a guarantee. The ‘Word Secret’ is *Sheol*, often translated as the grave or the underworld, which Job here personifies as his final, inevitable home. Discover the riches with job 17 commentary, containing expert led word study (original greek/hebrew) and passage level analysis.

Unlock the hidden job 17 1 meaning and summary by exploring context, analyzing original greek and hebrew words, and studying cross references of each verse.

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2 min read (262 words)