Job 17:6

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

4You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph. 5They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger. “God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face. 7My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self. 8The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly.

Job 17:6 word by word

וְֽ֭הִצִּגַנִי לִמְשֹׁ֣ל עַמִּ֑ים וְתֹ֖פֶת לְפָנִ֣ים אֶֽהְיֶֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• He hath madeיָצַגyâtsag · to setH3322
• me also a bywordמְשֹׁלmeshôl · bywordH4914
• of the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• and aforetimeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• I was as a tabretתֹּ֫פֶתtôpheth · spitH8611

Cross-references for Job 17:6

• Job 30:9“And now they mock me with vulgar songs! They taunt me!
• 1 Kings 9:7then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations.
• Psalms 44:14You have made us the butt of their jokes; they shake their heads at us in scorn.
• Genesis 31:27Why did you slip away secretly? Why did you deceive me? And why didn’t you say you wanted to leave? I would have given you a farewell feast, with singing and music, accompanied by tambourines and harps.
• Isaiah 5:12They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties— lyre and harp, tambourine and flute— but they never think about the Lord or notice what he is doing.

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

• Extinct
• Hold
• Tabret
• Byword
• Make, Maker

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