Job 16:17
in Job 16yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Although there is no violence in my hands, And my prayer is pure.
KJV
Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.
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This verse in Job 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseVer. 17. I have suffered this without the wickedness of mine hand, whilst I made pure prayers to God. He suffered without the wickedness of His hand; Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, and yet endured the pain of the Cross for our redemption. Who only above all others 'made pure prayers to God,' in that even in the very anguish of His Passion He prayed in behalf of His persecutors, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
This site's exposition
I have sewn sackcloth over my skin
on Job 16:15-17
In "I have sewn sackcloth over my skin" mourning is stitched on. "I have buried my horn in the dust" grinds his strength and dignity into the ground. Clarke notes that sackcloth sewn to the skin pictures a grief too settled to lay aside as ordinary mourning was.
This site's exposition
my prayer is pure
Job answers the charge of 15:4 that he had cast off the fear of God, as Wesley observes. The claim faces both men and God. Henry adds that prayer cannot be pure while injustice stains the hands, so the two claims stand together.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
From what he has said before about the gravity of his adversity and the greatness of his humiliation, one could surmise that he had recognized in effect the gravity of his sins, and was humbling himself in repentance thinking that he had been afflicted for …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Not - And all this is not come upon me for any injurious dealing, but for other reasons known to God only. Pure - I do not cast off God's fear and service, chap. xv, 4. I do still pray and worship God, and my prayer is accompanied with a sincere heart.
Not for any injustice in my hands,....
"No," says he, "I never did any wrong to any man, but always despised the gain of oppression." (2.) Towards God: Also my prayer is pure; but prayer cannot be pure as long as there is injustice in our hands, Isa. i.
Those who are free in passing such censures must expect to have them retorted; it is easy, it is endless: but cui bono?--what good does it do? It will stir up men's passions, but will never convince their judgments, nor set truth in a clear light.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Not for any injustice - I must assert, even with my last breath, that the charges of my friends against me are groundless. I am afflicted unto death, but not on account of my iniquities. Also my prayer is pure - I am no hypocrite, God knoweth.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Not for any injustice ... - Still claiming that he does not deserve his sorrows, and that these calamities had not come upon him on account of any enormous sins, as his friends believed. My prayer is pure - My devotion; my worship of God is not hypocritical - as my friends maintain.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֭ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָמָ֣ס | chamas | violence | H2555 → | |
| בְּכַפָּ֑י | bekhapai | [is] in hands my | H3709 → | 192 times |
| וּֽתְפִלָּתִ֥י | utefilati | and prayer my | H8605 → | |
| זַכָּֽה׃ | zakah | [is] pure | H2134 → | 11 times |
עַ֭לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
חָמָ֣סviolence
chamasH2555 →
בְּכַפָּ֑י[is] in hands my
bekhapaiH3709 →192 times
וּֽתְפִלָּתִ֥יand prayer my
utefilatiH8605 →
זַכָּֽה׃[is] pure
zakahH2134 →11 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
- 1 Chronicles 29:17
I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are…
- Proverbs 21:27
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
- Jeremiah 6:20
What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
- Proverbs 28:9
Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.
- Proverbs 15:29
Through
Job 15:34For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
it leads to
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.