New King James Version
Job 17:6
6“But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face 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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom 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
4For You have hidden their heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them. 5He who speaks flattery to his friends, Even the eyes of his children will fail. “But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men spit. 7My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow, And all my members are like shadows. 8Upright men are astonished at this, And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
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 am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.
- 1 Kings 9:7then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Psalms 44:14You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
- Genesis 31:27Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp?
- Isaiah 5:12The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the Lord, Nor consider the operation 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries