English Standard Version
Job 17:6
6"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.
Job 17:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
- New International Version (NIV)“God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men spit.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.
Context of Job 17:6
4Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph. 5He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property— the eyes of his children will fail. "He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit. 7My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. 8The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
Read all of Job 17Job 17:6 word by word
וְֽ֭הִצִּגַנִי לִמְשֹׁ֣ל עַמִּ֑ים וְתֹ֖פֶת לְפָנִ֣ים אֶֽהְיֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 17:6
- Job 30:9"And now I have become their song; I am a byword to them.
- 1 Kings 9:7then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Psalms 44:14You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
- Genesis 31:27Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre?
- Isaiah 5:12They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands.
Commentaries on Job 17:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6He hath made me also a by-word - My afflictions and calamities have become a subject of general conversation, so that my poverty and affliction are proverbial. As poor as Job, As afflicted as Job, are proverbs that have even reached our times and are still in use. Aforetime I was as a tabret - This is not the translation of the Hebrew אהיה לפנים ותפת vethopheth lephanim eheyeh . Instead of לפנים lephanim, I would read לפניהם liphneghem, and then the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6He hath also - That is, God has done this. Also a by-word - A proverb (משׁל mâshâl ); a term of reproach, ridicule, or scorn. lie has exposed me to derision. And aforetime - Margin “before them.” The margin is the correct translation of the Hebrew, פנים pânı̂ym It means, in their presence, or in their view. I was as a tabret - This is an unhappy translation. The true meaning is,” I am become their “abhorrence,” or am to them an object of contempt.”…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Spitting in someone's face was more insulting than a slap because it made the person ceremonially unclean (16:10; Numbers 12:14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. He--God. The poet reverentially suppresses the name of God when speaking of calamities inflicted. by-word--(De 28:37; Psa 69:11). My awful punishment makes my name execrated everywhere, as if I must have been superlatively bad to have earned it. aforetime ... tabret--as David was honored (1Sa 18:6). Rather from a different Hebrew root, "I am treated to my face as an object of disgust," literally, "an object to be spit upon in the face" (Nu 12:14). So…Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries