\INTRODUCTION Job 17:1–16\ 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…

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, ; 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…

Are there not mockers with me? &c.] 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…

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” [[16]], thy heart and mind to me and my case, to my petition and request, and grant it: put me in a surety with thee;…

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.

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…

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…

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 ; and all my members are as a shadow; his flesh was consumed…

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…

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…

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,…

My days are past Or “passed away”, or “passed over” [[21]]; not that they passed over the time fixed and appointed by God, for there is no passing the bound settled by him, ; but either the common term of man’s life was passed with Job, or he speaks of things in his own apprehension; he imagined…

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…

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…

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, ; but to that corruption his body would turn to in the grave, lying long enough to see…

And where is now my hope? &c.] 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,…

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…