Job 17:5

5 They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.

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 “You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.

4 You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.

5 They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.

6 “God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.

7 My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.