FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation Job 17:6
KJVHe hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
Read it in context
Job Prepares for Death
Start reading at Job 17:1 (Job 17:1 to Job 17:16).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
- 17:1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
- 17:2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
- 17:3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
- 17:4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
- 17:5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
- 17:6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
- 17:7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
- 17:8 Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
- 17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
- 17:10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
- 17:11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
- 17:12 They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
- 17:13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
- 17:14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.
- 17:15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
- 17:16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 16:1–17:16): Job replies to his friends and appeals concerning his suffering. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Job Prepares for Death. Read Job 17:1 through Job 17:16 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Job Prepares for Death (Job 17:1 to Job 17:16). Start reading at Job 17:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 17:1, Job 17:16, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 17
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation The lament and first exchange
Job 3:1–14:22FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.