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Job Chapter
Seventeen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 17
In
this chapter Job not only enlarges upon the reason given in the preceding
chapter
why he was desirous of an advocate with God
and one to plead his
cause with him for him
Job 17:1; but adds
other reasons taken from the usage of his friends
from the impossibility of
any but a divine Person being his surety; and of anyone being provided and
appointed as such but by God himself; from the insufficiency of his friends to
judge of his cause
and from the condition and circumstances he was in
Job 17:2; then he
takes notice of the effects his present case would have on good men
that
though they might be astonished at it
they would be filled with indignation
against hypocrites
and would not be moved and stumbled by his afflictions to
apostatize from and desert the good ways of God
Job 17:8; after
which he addresses his friends
and either calls upon them to renew the dispute
with him
or repent of their notions
and join with him in his sentiments
Job 17:10; and
lastly describes his state and circumstances
according to his apprehension of
things
observing the shortness of his life
and the darkness of the
dispensation he was under
through one thing and another
Job 17:11; that he
had nothing but the grave in view
which
and its attendants
he had made very
familiar with him
Job 17:13; and that
he had no hope of restoration to a better condition
as to his outward
circumstances
and that he
and his hopes his friends would have him entertain
and they also
would go down together to the grave
and there should lie in the
dust
and rest together till the morning of the resurrection
Job 17:15.
Job 17:1 “My
spirit is broken
My days are extinguished
The grave is ready for me.
YLT
1My spirit hath been
destroyed
My days extinguished -- graves [are] for me.
My breath is corrupt
.... Through the force of
his disease
which made it have an ill smell
so that it was strange and
disagreeable to his wife
Job 19:17; passing
through his lungs
or other parts
which were affected with some disorder
or
as frequently is the case of dying persons
and so Job thought himself to be.
The wordF14Pineda. used has the signification of pain
even of the
pains of a woman in travail; and so may signify
that Job drew his breath with
great pain
as people troubled with an asthma do
or dying persons in the
hiccups
or just fetching their last breath; or "my spirit"F15רוחי "spiritus meus"
V. L. Pagninus
Montanus
Junius & Tremellius
&c.
as it may be rendered
that is
his vital
spirits which were exhausted and spent
there were scarce any left in him; or
"my mind"F16"Anima mea"
Piscator
Schmidt.
or
soul
which was overwhelmed with grief
and so disturbed
that he was not
himself
but in a manner distracted with the terrors of God
and the severity
of his hand upon him:
my days are extinct; here Job corrects
himself; he had spoken of a few years before
but it is as if he should say
now
why do I talk of a few years
when I have but a few days to live
and even
those are as good as gone? meaning not only his days of prosperity
which were
at an entire end
as he thought
but the days of his natural life; the lamp of
life was almost burnt out
the oil was spent
the wick was just extinguished
it was like the snuff of a candle going out:
the graves are ready for me; the place of his
fathers' sepulchres
the burial place of his ancestors
where many graves were;
or he may have respect to various things into which the dead are put
as into
so many graves; as besides their being rolled up in linen
as was the way of
the eastern countries
there was the coffin
a sort of a grave
and which
sometimes was made of stone; and then the place dug in the earth
more properly
called the grave
and often over that a sepulchral monument was erected; so
that there was grave upon grave. Job does not seem to have any respect to the
usage of kings
and great personages
preparing stately monuments for
themselves while living
such as the pyramids of Egypt
built by and for their
kings
as is supposed; for the words "are ready" are not in the text
only supplied
though they are also by the Targum; they are very short and significant
in the original text
"the graves for me"
or they are mine; the
grave is my property
my house
where I expect shortly to be
and there to
abide and dwell until the resurrection
and which was desirable to him; "a
grave to me"; that is all that I desire
or can expect; here he wished to
be
as he did not doubt he quickly should be; and it is as if he should say
I
am ready for that
and so Jarchi paraphrases it; and happy is the man that is
ready for the grave
for death
and eternity
for the coming of his Lord
having the grace of God wrought in him
and the righteousness of his living
Redeemer on him
which was Job's case; such an one shall go into the nuptial
chamber at once
and be received into everlasting habitations.
Job 17:2 2 Are
not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?
YLT
2If not -- mockeries [are]
with me. And in their provocations mine eye lodgeth.
Are there not mockers
with me?.... Meaning not irreligious persons
such as make a mock at sin
a jest of religion
a laugh at good men
sneer at the doctrines and ordinances
of God
and scoff at things future
as the coming of Christ
the resurrection
of the dead
and a future judgment; with whom it is very uncomfortable to be
as well as with any sort of profane men
and such there were no doubt in Job's
time; but he seems to design his friends
by whom be thought himself mocked
and who were
as he imagined
scorners of him
Job 12:4; and
therefore for this reason entreats his case might be heard
and his cause
pleaded:
and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation? or
"lodge all night"F17תלן
"pernoctat"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Drusius
Schmidt
Michaelis
Schultens. ; his sense is
that they were continually provoking him
with their words
their scoffs and jeers
their censures and calumnies
and the
weak reasons and arguments they made use of to support their charges and
suspicions; these dwelt upon his mind not only in the daytime but in the night
so that he could not get a wink of sleep for them; their words were so teasing
and distressing
and they acted such a cruel part to him
and stuck so close to
him
and hung upon his thoughts
that he could not get clear of them in the
night season; but his mind ran upon them
which kept him waking
that he could
not close his eyelids for thinking of them.
Job 17:3 3 “Now put down a pledge for
me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me?
YLT
3Place
I pray Thee
my
pledge with Thee; Who is he that striketh hand with me?
Lay down now
.... A pledge that thou wilt provide a
surety
appoint and admit one to plead for me
and that thou wilt hear my
cause
and determine it; or "put now"
or "put
I pray
thee"F18שימה נא
"pone nunc"
Montanus; "poae quaeso"
Pagninus
Piscator
Mercerus
Cocceius
Schmidt; "sub cor tunm"
Vatablus.
thy heart
and mind to me and my case
to my petition and request
and grant it:
put me in a surety with thee; appoint
provide
and
place a surety for me with thee
and let him appear to do his work and office:
such an one Jesus Christ is; he is of God the Father's appointing to be the
Mediator between God and men
and who himself voluntarily engaged and agreed to
be the surety of the better testament; and this was known to the Old Testament
saints
and to Job; and his prayer was the prayer of faith: and this work and
office Christ performs; he was surety for his people from eternity
he drew
nigh to God on their account
and struck hands with his Father
or covenanted
and agreed with him about the salvation of his people
and the manner of it; he
gave his word
his bond
to his Father for them
that he would save them; and
upon that suretyship engagement of Christ all the Old Testament saints were
pardoned
justified
and glorified; he promised and bound himself to pay all
their debts
to satisfy for all their sins
to bring in an everlasting
righteousness for them
and to bring them all safe to heaven and happiness; in
order to which
he put himself in their room and stead
and laid down his life
a ransom for them; upon which Job might say
and so may every believer
what
follows
who is he that will strike hands with me? that will
enter the lists
litigate and dispute the point with me
or bring any charge or
accusation against me
having such a surety to answer for me
such an advocate
to plead my cause
such a Mediator between God and man
who has made
reconciliation for sin
brought in everlasting righteousness
and satisfied law
and justice
see Romans 8:33; or
else the sense is
"who is he"
besides him that is a surety
of God's appointing and providing
"can strike bands with me?" or be
a surety for me? there is no other Mediator
Saviour
or Redeemer
besides him;
if he had not undertaken the cause of his people
and the redemption of them
it must have ceased for ever
no other was equal to such a work; so that here
is another reason used with the Lord to provide a surety
since no other could
to any purpose.
Job 17:4 4 For You have hidden their
heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.
YLT
4For their heart Thou hast
hidden From understanding
Therefore Thou dost not exalt them.
For thou hast hid their heart from understanding
.... That is
the hearts of his friends
and therefore they were unfit to undertake his
cause
or be sureties for him
or be judges in it. It is the same thing as to
hide understanding from their hearts
which God sometimes does in a natural
sense; when men like not the knowledge of him
as attainable by the light of
nature
he gives them up to reprobate minds
minds void of knowledge and
judgment in things natural; and sometimes
in a spiritual sense
he hides men's
hearts from the knowledge of things divine and evangelical
and even this he
does from the wise and prudent of this world; yea
sometimes he hides the
knowledge of his providential dealings with men from his own people
as he did from
Asaph
Jeremiah
Habakkuk
and others; and
as it seems
from Job's friends
who therefore mistook his case
and were very unfit and insufficient to
determine it:
therefore shalt thou not exalt them; to such
honour and dignity
to be umpires
arbitrators
or judges in the case of Job;
this God had reserved for another
Elihu
or rather himself
who decided the
controversy between Job and his friends
and declared in his favour
and that
they had not spoken the thing that was right of him
as his servant Job had
done
Job 42:7;
Job 17:5 5 He who speaks flattery to his
friends
Even the eyes of his children will fail.
YLT
5For a portion he sheweth
friendship
And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
He that speaketh flattery to his friends
.... As Job's
friends did to him when they promised great outward prosperity
and a
restoration to his former state
and to a greater affluence upon his repentance
and reformation; or when they spoke deceitfully for God
pretending great
regard to the honour of his justice and holiness
and therefore insisted on it
that he must be a wicked man and an hypocrite
that was afflicted by him
as
Job was:
even the eyes of his children shall fail; so hateful
are some sins to God
and particularly deceitful tongues
and flattering lips
that he will punish them in their posterity; the eyes of their children shall
fail for want of sustenance
and while they are looking in vain for salvation
and deliverance out of trouble
see Exodus 20:4.
Job 17:6 6 “But He has made me a
byword of the people
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
YLT
6And he set me up for a
proverb of the peoples
And a wonder before them I am.
He hath made me also a byword of the people
.... Either
Eliphaz
or God; for whatsoever befell him
whether more immediately by the
hand of God
or by any instrument
the ascribes it to him
as being suffered in
Providence to befall him; as when he became a byword or proverb to the people
in common
to whom an example might be set by one or more of Job's friends. The
name of Job is to this day a byword or proverb among men
both for his poverty
and his patience; if a man is described as very poor
he is said to be as poor
as Job; or if very patient under his afflictions
he is said to be as patient
as Job; but as neither of these are to the disgrace of Job
something else
seems rather intended here
even something to his reproach; as when a man was
represented as a very wicked man
or an hypocrite
it used to be said
such an
one is as wicked a creature
and as arrant an hypocrite
as Job:
and aforetime I was as a tabret; the delight of the
people
who
when he appeared in the public streets
came out and went before
him
singing
and dancing
and beating on tabrets
and such like musical
instruments
to express their joy upon the sight of him; but now it was
otherwise with him
and he whom they could not sufficiently extol and commend
now knew not well what to say bad enough of him; such a change in the
sentiments and conduct of men must needs be very chagrining: or "aforetime
I was as a lord"
as Ben Gersom
from the use of the word in Daniel 3:2; as he
supposes; he was like a lord or nobleman
or as one in some high office
and
now as the offscouring of all things; or it denotes what he was "before
them"
the people
in their sight at present
and should be: the word used
is "Tophet"
which Aben Ezra takes to be the name of a place
and as
it seems of that place where children were offered to Moloch
and which place
was in being
and such practices used by the Canaanites in the times of Job;
and this place
which was also called the valley of Hinnom
being afterwards
used for hell
led the Targum to paraphrase the words thus
"and hell from
within shall I be"; and so Sephorno
in appearance hell to all that see
me; and in general it may signify that he was
or should be
avoided
as any
unclean place
very ungrateful and disagreeable
as that place was; or as
anything abominable
and to be loathed and rejected
and this way go several
interpretersF19Schmidt
Michaelis
Schultens. ; though some think
respect is had to the punishment of tympanization
in which sufferers were
beaten upon in several parts of their bodies
as if men were beating upon a
tabret or drum
which gave great pain and torment
see Hebrews 11:35; and
with such like cruelty and indignity Job suggests he was or should be used; and
therefore begs for a surety
for one to interpose and plead on his behalf; let
the carriage of men to him be what it will
that is here referred to; compare
with this Psalm 69:11.
Job 17:7 7 My eye has also grown dim
because of sorrow
And all my members are like shadows.
YLT
7And dim from sorrow is mine
eye
And my members as a shadow all of them.
Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow
.... Through
excessive weeping
and the abundance of tears he shed
so that he had almost
lost his eyesight
or however it was greatly weakened and impaired by that
means
which is often the case
see Psalm 6:7;
and all my members are as a shadow; his flesh was
consumed off his bones
there were nothing left scarcely but skin and bone; he
was a mere anatomy
and as thin as a lath
as we commonly say of a man that is
quite worn away
as it were; is a walking shadow
has scarce any substance in
him
but is the mere shadow of a man; the Targum interprets it of his form
splendour
and countenance
which were like a shadow; some interpret it
"my thoughts"F20יצרי
"cogitationes meae"
Pagninus
Bolducius
Codurcus
so Ben Gersom.
and understand it of the formations of his mind
and not of his body
which
were shadows
empty
fleeting
and having no consistence in them through that
sorrow that possessed him.
Job 17:8 8 Upright men are
astonished at this
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
YLT
8Astonished are the upright
at this
And the innocent against the profane Stirreth himself up.
Upright men shall be astonished at this
.... Such as
were upright in heart
and in their walk conversation
sincere and honourable
in their profession of religion
these would be amazed at the afflictions of
Job
and the unkindness of his friends; it is hereby suggested
that it would
be then
and in ages to come
a matter of surprise to truly gracious persons
when they should hear of such sore afflictions laid upon so good a man
and he
told what censures
calumnies
and reproaches
were cast upon him by his
friends; this would be so astonishing
that they would not know how to believe
it
and still more at a loss how to account for it
that such things should be
permitted in Providence
there being reason to believe the truth of them:
and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite; that is
such
who though they are not free from sin
yet live holy and harmless lives
and conversations among men
so that they are not chargeable with any gross
iniquity
or what is scandalous and unbecoming their character; these shall
rise up with indignation against such persons as pretend to a great deal of
sanctify and devotion
and yet have no charity or love to an afflicted saint
but censure and reproach him
and add affliction to his affliction. Thus Job
retorts the charge of hypocrisy his friends brought against him upon them; for
he seems tacitly to design them
and delivers these words as a kind of solace
to himself; that though he was thus used by them at that time
yet good men in
future time would have different apprehensions of him
and rise up and
vindicate his name and character.
Job 17:9 9 Yet the righteous will
hold to his way
And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.
YLT
9And the righteous layeth
hold [on] his way
And the clean of hands addeth strength
And -- dumb are they
all.
The righteous also shall hold on his way
.... He that
is righteous
not in appearance but really
not in a legal but in an evangelic
sense; who is justified by the righteousness of Job's living Redeemer
who
lives by faith on his righteousness
and in consequence of that in holiness of
life and conversation; such an one being in Christ the way of righteousness and
salvation
and walking in the paths of faith
holiness
and truth
and in all
the tracks of religious worship
private and public
he will persevere therein
and will not on any account depart out of the right way into which he has been
led and directed. This is opposed to a going back
as some do
and to a turning
to the right hand or the left
as others
and to a standing still
being stumbled
offended
and discouraged; and it supposes a progress
a going forward in the
way
so as not to be moved out of it by their own
or the afflictions of
others
by the reproaches and persecutions of men
the temptations of Satan
the snares
riches
honours
and pleasures of the world
or through darkness
desertion
and unbelief; they may indeed have many slips and falls
and be
almost
but not altogether
out of the way
and never finally or to perdition;
which is owing not to their conduct and care
might and strength
but to the
power of God
and the supplies of his grace
to Christ and his strength
and to
the Spirit and his influence
guidance
and direction:
and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger; or "add
strength"F21יסיף אמץ
"addet fortitudinem"
Pagninus
Montanus. ; increase in it. This
character is opposed to one of an immoral life and conversation
and describes
one that is not guilty of any notorious crime
that does not live in any known
sin
but in the general course of his life is upright and sincere
holy
harmless
and inoffensive; such a man as he is already a partaker of spiritual
grace and strength
and so
as he wants more
it is given him; his spiritual
strength is renewed
he goes from one degree of it to another
and even while
walking in the way of God he finds an increase of it; yea
that itself is
strength unto him; as his day is his strength is
to assist him in religious
services
to enable him to resist his enemies
and endure afflictions
and continue
in the good ways of God.
Job 17:10 10 “But please
come back
again
all of you
[a] For I
shall not find one wise man among you.
YLT
10Return
and come in
I pray
you
And I find not among you a wise man.
But as for you all
do ye return
and come now
.... This is
an address to his three friends
all and everyone of them
who he perceived
were nettled with his reply
and were either departing
or preparing for a
rejoinder; and being conscious of his innocence
and satisfied of the goodness
of his cause
and having nothing to fear from them
boldly challenges them to
go on with the dispute; for though they were three to one
he was a match for
them all; or else he calls upon them to turn and repent of what they had said
to him
to relinquish the bad notions and ill opinion they had of him
and to
retract their hard speeches and unjust censures
and return to a friendly and
amicable conversation; or however
that they would come and sit down quietly
and patiently hear what he had further to say to them for their information and
instruction
which they stood in great need of:
for I cannot find one wise man among you; that took his
case right
was capable of judging of it
and speaking pertinently to it
and
of administering comfort to him in it; they were physicians
but not skilful
ones; comforters
but miserable ones; had not the tongue of the learned
to
speak a word in season; disputants
but wranglers
and knew not where the pinch
of the controversy lay; and their arguments were weak and worthless
and their
judgment and sense of things not deserving any regard
see 1 Corinthians 6:5.
Job 17:11 11 My days are past
My
purposes are broken off
Even the thoughts of my heart.
YLT
11My days have passed by
My
devices have been broken off
The possessions of my heart!
My days are past
.... Or "passed away"
or
"passed over"F23עברו
"transierunt"
Pagninus
Montanus
&c. ; not that they passed
over the time fixed and appointed by God
for there is no passing the bound
settled by him
Job 14:5; but
either the common term of man's life was passed with Job
or he speaks of
things in his own apprehension; he imagined his death was so near
that he had
not a day longer to live; his days
as he before says
were extinct
were at an
end
he should never enjoy another day; and therefore it was folly to flatter
him with a promise of long life
or encourage him to expect it; which he may
mention as a proof of there being not a wise man among them
since they all
suggested this in case of repentance; or his meaning is
that his good days
or
days of goodness
as Jarchi interprets it
were past; his days of prosperity
were at an end
and evil days were come upon him
in which he had no pleasure;
nor had he any reason to believe it would be otherwise with him:
my purposes are broken off; Job doubtless had formed
in his mind great designs of good things
natural
civil; and religious
concerning the enlargement of his temporal estate
the settlement of his children
in the world
making provision for the poor
supporting and enlarging the
interest of true religion
the reformation of his Heathenish neighbours
and
the spread of divine truths among them; but now they were all frustrated
he
was not in a capacity of carrying them into execution
and was obliged to drop
them
and think no more of them
nor was there with him any prospect of ever
renewing them; they were "rooted up"F24נתקו
"evulsae sunt"
Pagninus
Montanus
Piscator; "radicitus evulsae
sunt"
Michaelis.
or plucked up
as some render the word
so that there
was no likelihood of their ever rising up again
and coming to any effect:
even the thoughts
of my heart; or "the possessions"F25מורשי
"possessiones"
Montanus
Vatablus
Piscator
Cocceius
Schmidt;
"haereditariae possessiones"
Schultens; so Drusius & Michaelis.
of it
as the thoughts are; they are the things of a man
which especially
belong to him; they are the inheritance of his mind
what none have a right
unto
and a claim upon
but himself
nor can any know but himself
and to whom
he discovers them: now the thread of these is broken off at death
they then
cease; not that the mind or soul of man ceases to be
or ceases to be a
thinking being
it still thinks; but only its thoughts are not employed about
the same things in a future state
or in the state after death
as in this
see
Psalm 146:4.
Job 17:12 12 They change the night into
day; ‘The light is near
’ they say
in the face of darkness.
YLT
12Night for day they appoint
Light [is] near because of darkness.
They change the night into day
.... Meaning either his
friends
by what they had said unto him
or the thoughts of his heart
which
comes to the same sense; these being in the night season employed about what
had been said to him in the day
insomuch that he could get no sleep
the night
was as broad day unto him; or they put the day before the night
contrary to
the order of nature
as NoldiusF26Ebr. Part. Concord. No. 1931.
observes
whereas the night is before the day
Genesis 1:5; his
friends promising him long days
and an age clearer than noon day
as bright as
the morning
Job 11:17; when the
night of death was coming on
and he was hastening to the dark and silent
grave:
the light is short because of darkness; the morning
light
or light of the day
when that comes continues but for a short time
because of the darkness of the evening
which quickly follows; or because of
the darkness of fiction
which fills it up
and makes it uncomfortable; or the
light of prosperity
could it be enjoyed
is but short
because of the darkness
of adversity; or "the light is near"F1קרוב
"propinquam"
Pagninus
Montanus; so Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
&c.
as in the original text; though Jarchi interprets the word
"short" as we do; Noldius renders it
"the light is rather
nearer than darkness"F2Ib. p. 642. ; after the night has been
spent without sleep
the morning light is nearer than darkness; that may soon
be expected
and so an end to sleep and rest.
Job 17:13 13 If I wait for the
grave as my house
If I make my bed in the darkness
YLT
13If I wait -- Sheol [is] my
house
In darkness I have spread out my couch.
If I wait
the grave is mine house
.... Not that
Job put an "if" upon
or made a doubt of waiting upon God in private
or public; or of waiting for him
his gracious appearances to him
answers of
prayer
performance of promises
and deliverance out of trouble; and especially
of waiting his appointed time till his change came
and hoping and expecting
eternal life and happiness; all which he determined to do
and did
see Job 13:15; but he
says this with respect to the advice of his friends
which should it be taken
the issue of would be no other than what he here suggests; they had intimated
that if he repented and reformed
he might hope for and expect a peaceable
tabernacle
and a prosperous habitation
a line house
and affluent
circumstances
Job 5:24. Now
says
he
should I listen to this
and endeavour to cherish some hope and expectation
of small things
and put myself in a waiting posture for them
alas! how soon
would it be over
for what other house can I rationally expect but the grave?
and this is what I have upon; I think of no other house than that
which is
man's long home
the house appointed for all living; there I shall dwell
and
make my abode until the morning of the resurrection
and I look for no other;
and if I should
I am well assured! should be disappointed:
I have made my bed in the darkness: in the dark grave
where
the light of the body is extinct
and where the light of the sun comes not; in
houses there are various apartments
some for work and business
as is the
shop; others for eating and drinking
as the dining room; and others for sleep
and rest
as the bedchamber; now in the house of the grave there is no mention
of any but the latter; for there is no work and device in the grave
nor eating
and drinking there; but it is a bed where the weary saint lies down and rests
upon from all his toil and labour
until he awakes at the resurrection: now Job
had settled the matter with himself
he had laid it out in his own mind
and
taken a kind of pleasure in the prospect of it; that he had got a house to move
into
when he was dislodged from the earthly house of his tabernacle
and where
he had made himself
in his own thought
an easy bed
on which he should lay
his weary limbs
and take his sleep and rest
until the heavens be no more.
Job 17:14 14 If I say to corruption
‘You are my father
’ And to the worm
‘You are my mother and my
sister
’
YLT
14To corruption I have
called: -- `Thou [art] my father.' `My mother' and `my sister' -- to the worm.
I have said to corruption
thou art my father
.... Not to
the corruptible seed
of which he was begotten; nor to the corruption or
purulent matter of his boils and ulcers
and the worms his flesh was now
clothed with
Job 7:5; but to
that corruption his body would turn to in the grave
lying long enough to see
it
which Christ's body did not
Psalm 16:10; that
is
"to the pit of corruption"F3לשחת
"foveam"
Pagninus
Montanus
Tigurine version
Drusius
&c.
as
it may be rendered
meaning the grave
so called because in it dead bodies
corrupt and putrefy: in houses are families consisting of various persons
of
different relations
who dwell together in friendship and harmony
very
lovingly and familiarly
as father and mother
brother and sister; so in the
grave
the dwelling house of men
there are inhabitants that dwell together
as
if they were familiar friends and acquaintance; and with these
Job claims
kindred
such as corruption
rottenness
dust and worms
and these he speaks
unto
not only very familiarly
but very respectfully; the note of Bar Tzemach
is
"I
honour the grave as a son a father
that it may receive me quickly;'
yea
he speaks as not ashamed of the relation
but is fond of it; "I
called" or "cried"F4קראתי
"vocavi"
Montanus; "clamavi"
Mercerus. that is
aloud
with great vehemency and affection:
to the worm
thou art my mother and my sister; these are the
rather mentioned
because the relation is near
and they are very loving and
tender
and abide in the house
see Proverbs 7:4; he
calls these his mother and sister
as the above Jewish commentator observes
because the might lie in their bosom; by all this Job would represent how
familiar death and the grave were to him
and how little he dreaded them; yea
how desirable they were to him
since he should be at home
and among his
relations and friends.
Job 17:15 15 Where then is my
hope? As for my hope
who can see it?
YLT
15And where [is] now my hope?
Yea
my hope
who doth behold it?
And where is now my hope?.... Not the grace of
hope
which was in his heart; and though it might sometimes be low in exercise
it could not be lost; it is an anchor
sure and steadfast
and is one of the
graces that always abides
and never disappoints and makes ashamed; nor the
object of hope
eternal glory and happiness in another world
that is laid up
in heaven
and for which he was looking and waiting by faith; but his hope of
outward happiness
and of being restored to his former state of prosperity
or
a better
which his friends encouraged him to; this had no place in him
nor did
he see any reason to cherish it; all ground and foundation of it was removed
as he apprehended; there was nothing on which he could build such an hope as
that
see Job 6:11;
as for my hope
who shall see it? that is
which his
friends would have him hope for
a line house
a large estate
a numerous
family
honour and respect among men
long life
and an abundance of outward
peace and happiness; this he was firmly persuaded he should never see
being
just going into the grave
nor his friends that suggested these things to him
nor anybody else; though indeed what he himself truly hoped for might be
rightly thus described
being things not seen by the eye of the body
nor by
carnal sense and reason
but are the invisible glories and realities of another
world
for "hope that is seen is not hope"
&c. Romans 8:24; but
Job does not design these
but the former.
Job 17:16 16 Will
they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the
dust?”
YLT
16[To] the parts of Sheol ye
go down
If together on the dust we may rest.
They shall go down to the bars of the pit
.... He
himself
and his friends
and the hopes they would have him entertain; these
should all go down together to the grave
and there lie barred and locked up;
these hopes
so as never to rise anymore
and the bodies of himself
and his
friends
till loosed by him who has the keys of hell and death: or "the
bars shall go down to the grave"; the members of his body
as Jarchi
which are the bars of it
as some in Bar Tzemach; the strength and support of
it
as particularly the bones
these shall go down to the grave
and there turn
to rottenness and dust; and therefore
as if he should say
as he elsewhere
does
"what is my strength
that I should hope?" Job 6:11;
when our rest together is in the dust; which is
man's original
and to which he returns
and in which the dead lie and sleep
until the resurrection; and where they are at rest from all adversity and
affliction of body
mind
and estate; from all the troubles and vexations
occasioned by wicked men
and from all disputes
wranglings
contentions
and
animosities among friends
which would be the case of Job
and his friends
when their heads were laid in the dust
and which he supposed would quickly be;
and therefore it was in vain for them to feed him with hopes of outward
happiness
and for him to entertain them; it best came them both to think of
death and the grave as near at hand
where their controversies would be buried
and they would be good friends
and lie quietly together
and take their rest
until they should awake and rise to everlasting life.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)