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Job 17

In Job 17, Job continues his lament, reflecting on his suffering and the perceived hopelessness of his situation. He speaks of his physical and emotional decline, feeling misunderstood by his friends and forsaken by those around him. Job also expresses his longing for vindication, knowing that his integrity remains intact despite his affliction.

Job 17:1-5 (NKJV)
1 “My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.
2 Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?
3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me?
4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who speaks flattery to his friends, Even the eyes of his children will fail.

Job feels completely devastated, believing his spirit is broken and that he is near death. He is surrounded by mockers who add to his suffering, making his affliction even harder to bear. He pleads with God to vindicate him, knowing no one else will step up on his behalf. Job criticizes those who flatter their friends, seeing them as lacking true understanding and integrity, and foresees that their flattery will lead to failure, even affecting their children.

Job 17:6 (NKJV)
6 “But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men spit.

Job laments that God has allowed him to become a public disgrace. He feels like a cautionary tale or object of scorn, as people treat him with contempt, even going so far as to spit in his face, highlighting the deep humiliation he endures.

Job 17:7 (NKJV)
7 My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow, And all my members are like shadows.

Job describes how sorrow has physically affected him, causing his eyesight to fail and his body to waste away. His suffering has taken such a toll that he feels like a mere shadow of his former self, physically and emotionally drained.

Job 17:8-9 (NKJV)
8 Upright men are astonished at this, And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
9 Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

Job believes that righteous people would be shocked by his suffering, and they would rally against the hypocrisy of those who claim to know God’s ways but misjudge him. Despite his afflictions, Job asserts that the righteous will remain steadfast and will grow stronger in their integrity, holding firm to their principles.

Job 17:10-12 (NKJV)
10 “But please, come back again, all of you, For I shall not find one wise man among you.
11 My days are past, My purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day; ‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.

Job challenges his friends to return, but he holds no hope of finding wisdom among them. He feels that his life’s plans are over, his heart’s desires shattered by his suffering. His friends, in their false optimism, try to turn night into day, offering hope in the midst of his deep despair, but to Job, this hope feels empty and unrealistic.

Job 17:13-16 (NKJV)
13 If I wait for the grave as my house, If I make my bed in the darkness,
14 If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
15 Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?
16 Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust?”

Job concludes this chapter with a stark picture of hopelessness. He contemplates death as his only refuge, where corruption and worms become his family. He questions where his hope lies, as it seems that none can find it or even see it. His final thought is whether any hope can descend with him to the grave, and whether there can be any rest for him in death. His outlook is bleak, feeling that all hope has vanished, and death is the only thing left for him.

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