Job 16:17

17 Yet my hands have never done anything cruel, 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 rough cloth over my skin to show my sadness and have buried my face in the dust.
16 My face is red from crying; I have dark circles around my eyes.
17 Yet my hands have never done anything cruel, and my prayer is pure.
18 "Earth, please do not cover up my blood. Don't let my cry ever stop being heard!
19 Even now I have one who speaks for me in heaven; the one who is on my side is high above.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.