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Job 17:3

in Job 17

Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?

KJV

Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

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This verse in Job 17

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Ver. 3. Set me free, and put me beside thee, and let the hand of anyone fight against me. For He did not sin either in thought or deed: He was made to 'abide in bitterness' by His Passion, He was 'set free' by the Resurrection, He was 'put beside' the Father by His Ascension; in that having gone up into heaven He sitteth on the right hand of God.

This site's exposition

Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand

Job asks, "Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand", the figure of a surety who guarantees another man's debt with his goods or person. Clarke and Delitzsch read this as the mediator language of chapter 9, with God asked to be Job's guarantor against the friends' charge.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

For Job understood that he alone could free him who placed him in the power of the evil one. (16:12) Truly he was not praying to be freed from adversity like those who would procure earthly prosperity after the adversity, but he prayed to be …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Our English annotations give this reading of the verse: " Appoint, I pray thee, my surety with thee, namely, Christ who is with thee in heaven, and has undertaken to be my surety let him plead my cause, and stand up for me; and who is he then that will strike upon my hand? " that is, "Who dares then contend with me?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Surety - These words contain, an humble desire to God that he would be his surety, or appoint him a surety who should maintain his righteous cause against his opposers. Strike hands - Be surety to me; whereof that was the usual gesture.
Lay down now,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

A presage of the "surety" (Heb 7:22), or "one Mediator between God and man" (see on Job 16:21). strike hands--"who else (save God Himself) could strike hands with me?" that is, be my security (Ps 119:122). The Hebrew strikes the hand of him for whom he goes security (Pr 6:1).
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Lay down now - Deposit a pledge; stake your conduct against mine, and your life and soul on the issue; let the cause come before God, let him try it; and see whether any of you shall be justified by him, while I am condemned.
Lay down now - This is evidently an address to God - a repetition of the wish which he had so often expressed, that he might be permitted to bring his cause directly before him; see Job 13:3. The whole passage here is obscure, because we are in a great measure ignorant of the ancient practices in courts of law, and of the ancient forms of trial.

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • שִֽׂימָה־make !

    simah-H7760 →584 times

  • נָּ֭אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • עָרְבֵ֣נִיstand surety for me

    ʾareveniH6148 →

  • עִמָּ֑ךְwith yourself

    ʾimakhH5973 →1050 times

  • מִֽיwho?

    miH4310 →423 times

  • ה֝֗וּאthat

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • לְיָדִ֥יto hand my

    leyadiH3027 →1618 times

  • יִתָּקֵֽעַ׃will he strike himself

    yitakea'H8628 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 38:14I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”6 worksProverbs 6:1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,5 worksHebrews 7:22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.4 worksProverbs 11:15He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.4 worksGenesis 43:9I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.3 worksGenesis 44:32Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’3 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 119:122Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.3 worksJob 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.3 worksProverbs 22:26Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.2 worksJob 9:33Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.2 worksProverbs 20:16Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.1 worksProverbs 6:11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.1 worksProverbs 17:18A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 38:14

    I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 59:11

      We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

    • Psalms 69:3

      I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

    • Job 30:29

      I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

    • Psalms 123:1–4

      I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

    • Nahum 2:7

      It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.

  • Through

    Hebrews 7:22

    Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 11:25

      In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

    • Hebrews 8:6–12

      Now, however, Jesus has received a much more excellent ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is better and is founded on better promises.

    • Hebrews 12:24

      to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job: the study guide →Read Job 17 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; 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.

Read on in Job 17 →