Job 17:11
in Job 17My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
KJV
My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
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This verse in Job 17
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Only do not vainly speak of the restoration of health to me; for "my days are past." broken off--as the threads of the web cut off from the loom (Isa 38:12). thoughts--literally, "possessions," that is, all the feelings and fair hopes which my heart once nourished.
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.
This site's exposition
my plans are broken off
Wesley hears Job answer the friends' hope of better days: his days are passed, so their promises are vain. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see the plans broken off like threads cut from a loom. Clarke marks a relapse into gloom after verse 9.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
In this he really intends to show their stupidity when they promised the consolation of temporal prosperity to him. (5:15, 8:6, 11:17) He first proposes against their promises that the time of his life has already in great part elapsed, and he therefore says, "my …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XIII · Written before 604.
proposed
Ver. 11. My days are past away, my thoughts are scattered, racking my heart. [ALLEGORICAL / MORAL INTERPRETATION] The Holy Church of the Elect sees that the spaces of her life pass in periods of day and night, in that it is hers in adversity to have 'a night,' and in prosperity, 'a day.' For there riseth as it were light unto her from the tranquillity of peace, and night from the grief of persecution.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, The period of our days will be the period of all our contrivances and hopes for this world; but, if with full purpose of heart we cleave to the Lord, death will not break off that purpose. Job, being thus put upon new counsels, was under a constant uneasiness (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
My days - The days of my life. I am a dying man, and therefore the hopes you give me of the bettering of my condition, are vain. Purposes - Which I had in my prosperous days, concerning myself and children.
My days are past,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
My days are past - Job seems to relapse here into his former state of gloom. These transitions are very frequent in this poem; and they strongly mark the struggle of piety and resignation with continued affliction, violent temptation, and gloomy providences. The thoughts of my heart - All my purposes are interrupted; and all my schemes and plans, in relation to myself and family, are torn asunder, destroyed, and dissipated.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
My days are past - “I am about to die.” Job relapses again into sadness - as he often does. A sense of his miserable condition comes over him like a cloud, and he feels that he must die. My purposes are broken off - All my plans fail, and my schemes of life come to an end.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
My days etc. Behold, the days of my prosperity, to which I became accustomed, have passed.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
They turn night into day These mockers turn night into day for me, for I cannot sleep at night because of the trouble of the mockings.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָמַ֣י | yamai | days my | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עָ֭בְרוּ | ʾaveru | they have passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| זִמֹּתַ֣י | zimotai | plans my | H2154 → | |
| נִתְּק֑וּ | niteku | they have been torn apart | H5423 → | |
| מ֖וֹרָשֵׁ֣י | morashei | [the] wishes of | H4180 → | |
| לְבָבִֽי׃ | levavi | heart my | H3824 → | 252 times |
יָמַ֣יdays my
yamaiH3117 →2304 times
עָ֭בְרוּthey have passed
ʾaveruH5674 →556 times
זִמֹּתַ֣יplans my
zimotaiH2154 →
נִתְּק֑וּthey have been torn apart
nitekuH5423 →
מ֖וֹרָשֵׁ֣י[the] wishes of
morasheiH4180 →
לְבָבִֽי׃heart my
levaviH3824 →252 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 16:9A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:21
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:23
The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
- Proverbs 16:1
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.
- Proverbs 20:24
A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?
- Jeremiah 10:23
I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
- Proverbs 19:21
Through
Lamentations 3:37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
it leads to
- Psalms 33:9–11
For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.
- Isaiah 46:10
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Psalms 33:9–11
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.