Job 17:4

Job 17:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
• New International Version (NIV)You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For You have hidden their heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.

Context of Job 17:4

2Surely there are mockers with me, and mine eye abideth in their provocation. 3Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; who is there that will strike hands with me? For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them. 5He that denounceth his friends for a prey, even the eyes of his children shall fail. 6He hath made me also a byword of the people; and I am become an open abhorring.

Job 17:4 word by word

כִּֽי־לִ֭בָּם צָפַ֣נְתָּ מִּשָּׂ֑כֶל עַל־כֵּ֝֗ן לֹ֣א תְרֹמֵֽם׃Read the interlinear

• hidצָפַןtsâphan · to treasureH6845
• heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
• understandingלֵבlêb · heartH3820
• notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• exaltרוּםrûm · to exaltH7311

Cross-references for Job 17:4

• 2 Samuel 15:31And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
• 2 Samuel 17:14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
• 2 Chronicles 25:16And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Have we made thee of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
• Isaiah 19:14The LORD hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her: and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
• Matthew 11:25At that season Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes:
• Matthew 13:11And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
• Romans 11:8according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day.
• 1 Corinthians 1:20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

Commentaries on Job 17:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4For thou hast hid their heart - This address is to God; and here he is represented as doing that which in the course of his providence he only permits to be done. Shalt thou not exalt them - This was exactly fulfilled: not one of Job's friends was exalted; on the contrary, God condemned the whole; and they were not received into the Divine favor till Job sacrificed, and made intercession for them.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For thou hast hid their heart from understanding - That is, the heart of his professed friends. Job says that they were blind and perverse, and indisposed to render him justice; and he therefore pleads that he may carry his cause directly before God. He attributes their want of understanding to the agency of God in accordance with the doctrine which prevailed in early times, and which is so often expressed in the Scriptures, that God is the source of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand (literally please keep my pledge with yourself): A pledge (Hebrew ‘erabon) can be a deposit that guarantees payment (Genesis 38:17–20; Exodus 22:26–27; Deuteronomy 24:10–14; see Proverbs 20:16; 27:13). So, this might suggest God forgiving sin (making atonement). It might also refer to Job’s wish for an advocate to support his cause (see study note on Job 16:19–21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. their heart--The intellect of his friends. shalt ... exalt--Rather imperative, "exalt them not"; allow them not to conquer [Umbreit], (Is 6:9, 10).Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Extinct
• Hold
• Exalt
• Job, Book of

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