Глава 17

The second half of Job's response to Eliphaz's speech. 1–9. A request addressed to God that He testify to the innocence of Job, and an incentive to do so. 10–16. The inappropriateness of friends' advice to hope for a better future. Job 17:1–9. Art. 1 is a repetition of the thought of Job 16.22, and 2–9 contain a more detailed expansion of the thought of Job 16.19–21. Job 17:1. My breathing weakened; my days are fading; the coffins are before me. Job's life is coming to an end, going out like a lamp. Job 17:2. If it were not for their ridicule, then even among their disputes my eye would remain calm. The proximity of death, however, does not frighten the sufferer. He would have died peacefully if not for the ridicule of his friends. Job 17:3. Intercede, vouch for me before Yourself! otherwise who will vouch for me? The omniscient Lord can give Job the opportunity to die peacefully by clarifying his innocence (Job 16.19). He alone is able to vouch for the rightness of the sufferer. “Place a pledge, be a surety for me before You; who else will be found to strike my hand?” (exact translation of this verse). “Strike the hand” as a sign of obligation and “put down a deposit” are synonymous expressions (Proverbs 6.1, 11.15, 17.16). Job 17:1–9. The motives expressed in Art. 3. requests for intercession. Job 17:4. For You have closed their hearts from understanding, and therefore You will not allow them to triumph. Job 17:5. He who condemns his friends to prey, the eyes of his children grow dry. Only God and no one but Him can testify and vouch for Job’s innocence. Friends are incapable of this. With their theory of earthly rewards, they are not able to rise to the thought of the possibility of suffering for an innocent person. This is beyond their understanding. But God, who deprived them of wisdom (Matthew 11.25), will not allow their false view of Job’s sinfulness to triumph, just as he does not allow the triumph of one who dooms his neighbor to misfortune (Job 11.20; Ps 7.16; Ps 56.7; Proverbs 26.27; Eccl. 10.8); - “the eyes of his children are fading” - the traitor will be punished by the misfortunes of his descendants (cf. Is 20.5). “They are exhausted” – see Job 11.20. Job 17:6. He made me a byword for the people and a laughing stock for them. Other people are also unable to vouch for Job’s innocence. In their eyes, Job is a sinner and, as such, a “parable,” that is, an object of reproach, ridicule (Job 16.10–11; 2 Chr. 7.20; Ezek 14.8; Ps. 68.12), and “a laughing stock,” according to Heb. “vetofet lephanim”, “a person” who is spit on (“tofet” from “tuff” - spit) in the face, that is, reviled, is the highest insult (Num. 12.14; Deut. 25.9; Isa. 50.6). Job 17:7. My eye is darkened with grief, and all my members are like a shadow. As a result of such attitudes toward Job from friends and all people, his eyes lost their shine and were clouded with sadness (Ps. 6.8, 30.10), which weakens even bodily strength: “my members are like a shadow” (cf. Ps. 30.11). Job 17:8. The righteous will be amazed at this, and the innocent will be indignant at the hypocrite. Job 17:9. But the righteous will hold fast to his way, and the pure with hands will be strengthened more and more. The suffering of the righteous, causing in the pious feelings of amazement and indignation against the wicked who take advantage of happiness (v. 8; cf. Ps 37.1, 72.3), strengthens faith in God in him (v. 9). Rejected by everyone (vv. 4–6; cf. Job 12.5), realizing that only God can be his protector (vv. 3), he cleaves to Him even more (cf. Ps 55.2–7, 62.8–9, 93.16–19, 22). Thus, the accusation brought by Eliphaz (Job 15.4) of lack of fear of God falls, and the words of the devil that under the influence of disasters Job will blaspheme God are not justified. When “his heart was boiling, he was ignorant” (Ps 72.21–22; cf. Job 6.26), and now, having calmed down, he puts his trust in God (Ps 72.28). Job 17:10. Listen, all of you, and come; I will not find a wise man among you. The speeches of Job's friends boil down to evidence of his guilt and promises of benefits under the condition of repentance. Not showing wisdom in reasonings of the first kind (v. 4), they do not show it in judgments of the second. Job 17:11. My days are gone; my thoughts - the property of my heart - are broken. Job 17:12. And they want to turn night into day, to bring light closer to the face of darkness. Job’s life, his cherished thoughts: “My days will be as many as sand” (Job 29.18), turned out to be unrealistic (v. 1), and meanwhile they claim that the night of sorrow will turn into a happy day! (Job 5.24–26, 11.17). Job 17:13. Even if I began to wait, then the underworld is my home; in darkness I will make my bed; Job 17:14. I will say to the coffin: you are my father, to the worm: you are my mother and my sister. “If I expect anything, it is only to have the underworld as my home.” Sheol is the future that Job can count on. The grave and the worms that fill it - this is with whom Job will soon be in closest communication: “I will say to the grave, you are my father, to the worm: you are my mother and my sister.” Job 17:15. Where is my hope after this? and who will see what I expect? Job 17:16. She will descend to the underworld and will rest with me in the dust. There is no hope for life and its joy and is not expected. She disappears in the same way (“she will go down to the pit” - v. 16), like Job himself. Instead of the peace promised by his friends on earth (Job 5.24, 11.18), Job faces peace in Sheol. Instead of “and he will rest with me in the dust,” literally from the Hebrew it should be translated: “there, at least in the dust, I will find peace.” You might be interested in: