New English Translation
Job 17:6
6He has made me a byword to people, I am the one in whose face they 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men 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.
Context of Job 17:6
4Because you have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not exalt them. 5If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, the eyes of his children will fail. He has made me a byword to people, I am the one in whose face they spit. 7My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow. 8Upright men are appalled at this; the innocent man is troubled with 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 taunt song; I have become a byword among them.
- 1 Kings 9:7then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among all the nations.
- Psalms 44:14You made us an object of ridicule among the nations; foreigners treat us with contempt.
- Genesis 31:27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps?
- Isaiah 5:12They have stringed instruments, tambourines, flutes, and wine at their parties. So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing, they do not perceive what he is bringing about.
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries