Job 16:17

17 {although} violence [is] not on my hands, and my prayer [is] pure.

Job 16:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 16:17

Not for [any] injustice in my hands
Came all those afflictions and calamities upon him, which occasioned so much sorrow, weeping, mourning, and humiliation; he does not say there was no sin in him, not any in his heart, nor in his life, nor any iniquity done by him, he had acknowledged these things before, ( Job 7:20 ) ( Job 9:20 Job 9:30 Job 9:31 ) ; but that there was nothing in his hands gotten in an unjust manner; he had taken away no man's property, nor injured him in the least in a private way; nor had he perverted justice as a public magistrate, by taking bribes or accepting persons, and could challenge any to prove he had, as Samuel did, ( 1 Samuel 12:3 ) ;

also my prayer [is] pure:
he prayed, which disproves the calumny of Eliphaz, ( Job 15:4 ) ; and his prayer was pure too; not that it was free from failings and infirmities, which attend the best, but from hypocrisy and deceit; it came not out of feigned lips, but was put up in sincerity and truth; it sprang from an heart purified by the grace of God, and sprinkled from an evil conscience; it was put up in the faith of Christ, and as a pure offering through him; Job lifted up pure and holy hands, and with these a pure and holy heart, and for pure and holy things; so that it was not for want of doing justice to men, nor for want of devotion towards God, that be was thus afflicted by him; compare with this what is said of his antitype, ( Isaiah 53:9 ) .

Job 16:17 In-Context

15 "I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and I have inserted {my pride} in the dust.
16 My face is red because of weeping, and deep shadows [are] on my eyelids,
17 {although} violence [is] not on my hands, and my prayer [is] pure.
18 "O earth, you should not cover my blood, and let there be no place for my cry for help.
19 So now look, my witness [is] in the heavens, and he [who] vouches for me [is] in the heights.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "upon," or "because"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.