# Job 17 📖: Job's Hope Is Gone [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Job Overview]] | [[Job 16]] | [[Job 18]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) [[#Verse 01.]] My spirit is broken, my days have faded out, the grave awaits me. [[#Verse 02.]] Surely mockery is with me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility. [[#Verse 03.]] Set my pledge beside you. Who else will put up security for me? [[#Verse 04.]] Because you have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not exalt them. [[#Verse 05.]] If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, the eyes of his children will fail. [[#Verse 06.]] He has made me a byword to people, I am the one in whose face they spit. [[#Verse 07.]] My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow. [[#Verse 08.]] Upright men are appalled at this; the innocent man is troubled with the godless. [[#Verse 09.]] But the righteous man holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger. ## Anticipation of Death [[#Verse 10.]] “But turn, all of you, and come now! I will not find a wise man among you. [[#Verse 11.]] My days have passed, my plans are shattered, even the desires of my heart. [[#Verse 12.]] These men change night into day; they say, ‘The light is near in the face of darkness.’ [[#Verse 13.]] If I hope for the grave to be my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, [[#Verse 14.]] if I cry out to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ [[#Verse 15.]] where then is my hope? And my hope, who sees it? [[#Verse 16.]] Will it go down to the barred gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. To "put up security" or strike hands (17:3) was a binding legal pledge (Proverbs 6:1; 17:18). 2. Job says he has become a byword among people, someone others spit on (17:6). 3. Job's eye has grown dim from grief (17:7). 4. Job says the upright are appalled at his condition (17:8). 5. Job calls the grave his father and the worm his mother and sister (17:14), describing death as his new family. 6. The "bars of Sheol" (17:16) picture the grave as a city with gates. 7. Job's friends told him night would turn to day, but Job says darkness is near (17:12). 8. Chapter 17 is a continuation of Job's speech that began in chapter 16. 9. Job's statement about the righteous growing stronger (17:9) shines out in the middle of his despair. 10. Job asks God directly to set a pledge beside Him, meaning God Himself must vouch for Job. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the guarantor who puts up security for us. Job asked who would give a pledge for him (17:3), and Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Job says his spirit is broken and his days are extinguished (17:1). How can the church care well for those at the end of their strength? 2. Job says the righteous will hold to their way (17:9). What helps you keep going when hope feels small? 3. Job asks, "Where then is my hope?" (17:15). How would you answer him in light of the gospel? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: Job's spirit is broken and the grave is ready for him. - 📖 verse 3: Job asks God to give a pledge for him, since no one else will. - 📖 verse 9: The righteous hold to their way, and those with clean hands grow stronger. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Hebrews 07#Verse 22.|Hebrews 7:22]] - Jesus, the guarantee of a better covenant. - 🔗 [[Romans 05#Verse 03.|Romans 5:3-5]] - Hope does not disappoint. - 🔗 [[Psalm 42#Verse 05.|Psalm 42:5]] - Why are you downcast, my soul? Hope in God. - 🔗 [[Lamentations 03#Verse 21.|Lamentations 3:21-24]] - His mercies are new every morning. - 🔗 [[1 Peter 01#Verse 03.|1 Peter 1:3]] - A living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Job 17 - SOAP|God’s Justice Wins Out]] ## 📂 Internal Notes