Job 17:10
in Job 17But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But as for you all, come on now again; And I shall not find a wise man among you.
KJV
But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
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This verse in Job 17
Commentary
9 notes on this verseVer. 10. But as for you all, do ye turn and come now. Which same words of exhortation he properly frames to the Elect, whom he calls to the eternal world; who are bidden in two ways, viz. that they should 'turn,' and that they should 'come;' 'turn' by faith, 'come' by practice. Or indeed that they 'turn' by abandoning evil deeds, and 'come' by doing good ones; as it is written, Depart from evil, and do good: but that is wonderful which is added, And may I not find one wise man among you.
This site's exposition
But come back and try again, all of you
on Job 17:10-11
Job dismisses the friends' arguments as spent and gives his verdict plainly: "I will not find a wise man among you". With "my plans are broken off" he turns to his own ruined plans. Clarke reads the pairing as Job closing one argument before opening another.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
It is necessary that a judge have clarity of knowledge. How would I judge well concerning an unknown matter? Hence when the friends of Job argued against him that he was not just, saying: A just God does not punish the just, and yet He …
After Job presented the arguments by which he refuted the opinion of Eliphaz, he collects here what he has said and orders it to demonstrate his thesis. First, he gets their attention saying, "Therefore" since what I have said is true, "all of you," you …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But as for you all, do ye return, and come now,....
9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Job's discourse is here somewhat broken and interrupted, and he passes suddenly from one thing to another, as is usual with men in trouble; but we may reduce what is here said to three heads:-- I.
It is therefore our wisdom to comfort ourselves, and others, in distress, with that which will not fail, the promise of God, his love and grace, and a well-grounded hope of eternal life. That it would he much more his folly to heed them; for, 1. All his measures were already broken and he was full of confusion,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
But as for you all - Ye are too proud, and too full of self-importance, to profit by what ye see. Return - enter into yourselves, consider your ways, go again to school, get back to your own houses, and endeavor to acquire humility and knowledge; for there is not one wise man among you.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But as for you all, do you return - This may mean, either, “return to the debate;” or, “return from your unjust and uncharitable opinion concerning me.” The former seems to accord best with the scope of the passage. Tindal renders it, “Get you hence.” Dr. Good, “Get ye hence, and begone, I pray.” Wemyss, “Repeat your discourses as often as you may, I do not find a wise man among you.” It is doubtful, however, whether the Hebrew will bear this construction. For I cannot find one wise man among you - Perhaps the idea here is, “I have not yet found one wise man among you, and you are invited, therefore, to renew the argument. Hitherto you have said nothing that indicates wisdom. Try again, and see if you can say anything now that shall deserve attention.” If this is the meaning, it shows that Job was willing to hear all that they had to say, and to give them credit for wisdom, if they ever evinced any.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
My days etc. Behold, the days of my prosperity, to which I became accustomed, have passed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְֽאוּלָ֗ם | veulam | and but | H199 → | 19 times |
| כֻּלָּ֣ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| תָּ֭שֻׁבוּ | tashuvu | you will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וּבֹ֣אוּ | uvou | and come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| נָ֑א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶמְצָ֖א | ʾemtza' | I will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| בָכֶ֣ם | vakhem | among you | ||
| חָכָֽם׃ | chakham | a wise [person] | H2450 → | 138 times |
וְֽאוּלָ֗םand but
veulamH199 →19 times
כֻּלָּ֣םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
תָּ֭שֻׁבוּyou will return
tashuvuH7725 →1056 times
וּבֹ֣אוּand come
uvouH935 →2568 times
נָ֑אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֶמְצָ֖אI will find
ʾemtza'H4672 →455 times
בָכֶ֣םamong you
vakhem
חָכָֽם׃a wise [person]
chakhamH2450 →138 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
Malachi 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
it leads to
- Matthew 25:46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Psalms 58:10–11
The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Genesis 18:25
Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the…
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Malachi 3:14–15
You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- Matthew 25:46
Through
Job 42:7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as…
it leads to
- Job 11:5–6
But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,
- Job 32:2–3
This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,
- Job 11:5–6
Through
Job 15:9What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
it leads to
- Job 13:2
What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
- Job 13:2
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.