Job 17:13-16 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:1-16

Job to God: 3. The requiem of a dying man. I. ANTICIPATING HIS IMMEDIATE DISSOLUTION . With three pathetic sighs the patriarch bemoans his dying condition. 1 . The total collapse of his vital powers. Indicated by the shortness and offensiveness of his breath, announcing the approach of suffocation and decay. "My breath is corrupt." And to this at last must all come. The most vigorous physical health, as well as the feeblest, contains within it germs of putridity. Essentially,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:1-16

The just holds on his way. "The pencil of the Holy Ghost hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon," says Lord Bacon. "Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is not without comfort and hopes. We see in needleworks and embroideries it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground; judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:13

If I wait, the grave is mine house ; rather, surely I look for the grave ( Sheol ) as my house ; i.e. I expect no return of prosperity, no renewal of life in a sumptuous mansion, no recovery of the state and dignity from which I have fallen—I look only for Sheol as my future abode and resting-place -there, in Sheol, I have made my bed in the darkness ; i.e. I regard myself as already there, lying on my narrow bed in the darkness, at rest after my afflictions. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:13-16

The darkened hope. Sad indeed is the hope which is attained only in the grave, which has no clear vision beyond. Unillumined, uncheered, it has no brightness, no comfort. All that Job seems at present to hope for is the silence, the darkness, the rest, of the grave. There certainly does not dawn upon him file clear light of the future; at least the assurance of it is not declared in his words. It is the grave, the grave, and the grave only. Contemplate the condition of such as have this hope... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:14

I have said to corruption, Thou art my father ; i.e. I do not murmur; I accept my lot; I am ready to lie down with corruption, and embrace it, and call it "my father," and henceforth remain with it. The idea that the soul is still with the body in the grave, more or less closely attached to it, and sensible of its condition and changes, was widely prevalent in the ancient world. Where bodies were simply buried, the horrible imagination of a close association with corruption naturally... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:15

And where is now my hope? (comp. Job 14:13-15 ). At first sight it might seem that to cue in Sheol there could be no hope. But Job is too conscious of his own ignorance to dogmatize on such a subject. What does he know of Sheol? How can he be sure that it is "God's last word to men"? There may be hope even to "the spirits which are in prison." Job's question is, therefore, not to be taken as one of absolute incredulity, but as one of perplexed doubt. Is there hope for me anywhere? If so,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:15

The lost hope. Not only are Job's purposes broken off. His hope is lost. At all events, it seems to be melting away, so that all chance of seeing its accomplishment appears to have gone. I. A VAIN HOPE MUST BE LOST . The reality will not depend on s man's sanguine temperament, but upon its own causes. It is possible for a person to persuade himself into a condition of blissful confidence concerning his future, but the self-persuasion will not alter facts; and if he is drifting... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:16

They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust . There is great difficulty in determining the subject to the verb "go down," which is the third person plural feminine , whereas the only plural substantive at all near—the word translated "bars"—is masculine. Some suppose Job's hopes to be meant, "hope" in the preceding verse having the force of any number of "hopes" (so the R.V.) Others disregard the grammatical difficulty of the plural feminine verb,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 17:13

If I wait - Or more accurately, “truly I expect that the grave will be my home.” The word rendered “if” (אם 'ı̂m) is often used in such a sense. The meaning is, “I look certainly to the grave as my home. I have made up my mind to it, and have no other expectation.”The grave - Hebrew שׁאול she'ôl. It may mean here either the grave, or the region of departed spirits, to which he expected soon to descend.Mine house - My home; my permanent abode.I have made my bed - I am certain of making my bed... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 17:14

I have said - Margin, cried, or called. The sense is, “I say,” or “I thus address the grave.”To corruption - The word used here (שׁחת shachath) means properly a pit, or pit-fall, Psalms 7:15; Psalms 9:15; a cistern, or a ditch, Job 9:31; or the sepulchre, or grave, Psalms 30:9; Job 33:18, Job 33:30. The Septuagint renders it here by θανάτον thanaton - death. Jerome (Vulgate), putredini dixi. According to Gesenius (Lex), the word never has the sense of corruption. Schultens, however,... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:13-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 17:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 17:13

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 17:14

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