Job 17:5

5 He denounces friends for reward, so his children's eyes will fail.

Job 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Job 17:5

He that speaketh flattery to [his] friends
As Job's friends did to him when they promised great outward prosperity, and a restoration to his former state, and to a greater affluence upon his repentance and reformation; or when they spoke deceitfully for God, pretending great regard to the honour of his justice and holiness, and therefore insisted on it that he must be a wicked man and an hypocrite, that was afflicted by him, as Job was:

even the eyes of his children shall fail;
so hateful are some sins to God, and particularly deceitful tongues, and flattering lips, that he will punish them in their posterity; the eyes of their children shall fail for want of sustenance, and while they are looking in vain for salvation and deliverance out of trouble, see ( Exodus 20:4 ) .

Job 17:5 In-Context

3 Please lay down a pledge for me with yourself; who [is] he [who] will give security for my hand?

4 Indeed, you have closed their mind from understanding; therefore, you will not let [them] triumph.

5 He denounces friends for reward, so his children's eyes will fail.

6 "And he has made me a proverb for [the] peoples, {and I am one before whom people spit}.

7 And my eye has grown dim from grief, and the limbs of my body [are] all like a shadow.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "and"