Job 17:2
in Job 17Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.
KJV
Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
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This verse in Job 17
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAre there not mockers with me? - This has been variously translated. The Vulgate: “I have not sinned, and yet my eye dwells upon afflictions.” Septuagint: “I conjure you, laboring under afflictions, what evil have I done? Yet strangers have robbed me of my substance.” Mr. Good: “But are not revilers before me?
This site's exposition
My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished
on Job 17:1-2
The chapter opens with three declarations of a man counting himself dead, ending with "the grave awaits me". Gill reads the opening as the words of a man near his last gasp. The two verses set the key: a man speaking from the edge of the grave.
This site's exposition
Surely mockers surround me
Wesley notes that Job returns here to the scoffing friends of 16:20 before his plea for a pledge. Barnes explains that the Hebrew verb means to lodge for the night, so the eyes rest on the mockers and their rebellion. His eyes find no rest.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"My spirit is broken" in bitterness and pain, because my ulcers torture me, or, on the other hand, because of my friends, who are ready to burst out against their friend.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then he shows their consolation to be vain in another way. For they consoled him saying sin was the cause of such adversities coming on him, and that if he repented then he would return to prosperity. But he rejects this saying, "I have not …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They are so with me, abusing me to my face, pretending friendship in their visit, but intending mischief. I cannot get clear of them; they are continually tearing me, and they will not be wrought upon, either by reason or pity, to let fall the prosecution." (2.) They abused him too with their fair promises, for in them they did but banter him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Note, The unkindness of those that trample upon their friends in affliction, that banter and abuse them then, is enough to try, if not to tire, the patience even of Job himself. (1.) It was a sign that God had hidden their heart from understanding (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Are not - Do not my friends, instead of comforting, mock me? Thus he returns to what he had said, chap. xvi, 20, and intimates the justice of his following appeal.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Are there not mockers with me?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
UMBREIT, more emphatically, "had I only not to endure mockery, in the midst of their contentions I (mine eye) would remain quiet." eye continue--Hebrew, "tarry all night"; a figure taken from sleep at night, to express undisturbed rest; opposed to (Job 16:20), when the eye of Job is represented as pouring out tears to God without rest.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And doth not mine eye continue in their provocation? - Margin “lodge.” This is the meaning of the Hebrew word used here - נלן tālan. It properly denotes to pass the night or to lodge in a place, as distinguished from a permanent residence. The idea here seems to be, that his eye “rested” on their provocations. It remained fixed on them. It was not a mere glance, a passing notice, but was such a view as resulted from a careful observation. It was not such a view as a traveler would obtain by passing hastily by, but it was such as one would obtain who had encamped for a time, and had an opportunity of looking around him with care, and seeing things as they were. Thus explained, there is much poetic beauty in the passage. The Vulgate, however, renders it, “I have not sinned, and mine eye remains in bitterness.” The Septuagint, “I supplicate in distress - κάμνων kamnōn - yet what have I done? Strangers came, and stole my substance: who is the man?” The simple meaning is, that Job had a calm view of their wickedness, and that he could not be deceived.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if>? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֲ֭תֻלִים | hatulim | mockeries | H2049 → | |
| עִמָּדִ֑י | ʾimadi | [are] with me | H5978 → | 42 times |
| וּ֝בְהַמְּרוֹתָ֗ם | uvehamerotam | and on rebelling they | H4784 → | |
| תָּלַ֥ן | talan | may it dwell | H3885 → | 84 times |
| עֵינִֽי׃ | ʾeini | eye my | H5869 → | 887 times |
אִם־<if>?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הֲ֭תֻלִיםmockeries
hatulimH2049 →
עִמָּדִ֑י[are] with me
ʾimadiH5978 →42 times
וּ֝בְהַמְּרוֹתָ֗םand on rebelling they
uvehamerotamH4784 →
תָּלַ֥ןmay it dwell
talanH3885 →84 times
עֵינִֽי׃eye my
ʾeiniH5869 →887 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
Job 16:20My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.
it leads to
- Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
- Psalms 142:2
I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.
- Job 12:4–5
I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
- Job 16:4
I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.
- Hebrews 5:7
Through
Job 12:4I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
it leads to
- Job 30:1
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
- Job 21:3
Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Job 17:6
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
- Job 30:1
About Job
This page draws on 11 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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 17:1-2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.