Job 17 1

Job 17:1 kjv

My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

Job 17:1 nkjv

"My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.

Job 17:1 niv

My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.

Job 17:1 esv

"My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.

Job 17:1 nlt

"My spirit is crushed,
and my life is nearly snuffed out.
The grave is ready to receive me.

Job 17 verses

Job 17 1 Meaning

Job 17:1 captures Job's profound state of despair, where he declares his spirit utterly crushed, his days concluded, and his death imminent and certain. He perceives himself as being at the very precipice of the grave, with all vitality and hope extinguished. It is a stark pronouncement of physical and spiritual demise, a direct response to his unrelenting suffering and the inadequate comfort from his friends.

Job 17 1 Context

Job 17:1 marks the beginning of Job's third response to Bildad (Job 16-17), in which Job increasingly expresses his despair and feels completely isolated. In the preceding chapters, Job has repeatedly lamented his condition, asserted his innocence, and questioned God's ways, while his friends maintain their rigid retribution theology—that Job's suffering must be a consequence of his sin. Job's spirit is crushed not only by his immense physical pain but also by the abandonment he feels from God and the lack of understanding and compassion from his supposed friends, whom he mockingly calls "miserable comforters."

This verse sets the tone for chapter 17, where Job continues to pour out his heart, lamenting his lost hope, predicting his imminent death, and challenging his friends’ faulty reasoning. He views himself as utterly ruined, abandoned, and irrevocably marked for the grave, feeling that only the tomb can offer him peace from his relentless agony. He contrasts his perceived righteousness with his dire suffering, emphasizing the injustice of his situation from his human perspective.

Job 17 1 Word analysis

• My spirit (Hebrew: rûḥî, רוּחִי): Ruach fundamentally means "breath," "wind," or "spirit." Here, the possessive "my" emphasizes Job's innermost being, his vital energy, his very essence of life, resolve, and hope. It denotes his psychological and spiritual core.
• is broken (Hebrew: ḥubbālâ, חֻבָּלָה): From the verb ḥabāl (חָבַל), meaning "to bind," "to spoil," "to ruin," or "to destroy." The Pual (passive-intensive) form signifies that his spirit has been thoroughly, utterly ruined, corrupted, or destroyed. It speaks of a profound, devastating internal collapse, a sense of having been violently and irreversibly wrecked.
• my days (Hebrew: yāmāy, יָמָי): A straightforward term for his lifespan or the time allotted to him to live. The possessive "my" reinforces the personal nature of this declaration, reflecting his immediate, individual experience of nearing the end.
• are extinct (Hebrew: nikbû, נִכְבּוּ): From the verb kābâ (כָּבָה), which means "to be quenched" or "to be extinguished," like a lamp or a fire. The Niphal (passive) perfect tense indicates a completed action—his days are already, definitively put out. It is a powerful metaphor for the absolute cessation of his life and the utter vanishing of any hope for recovery or continuation.
• the grave (Hebrew: qəḇāriym, קְבָרִים): From qeber (קֶבֶר), meaning "grave," "sepulchre," or "tomb." The use of the plural (qevarim) is a general term for the realm of death and burial, not necessarily multiple specific graves. It intensifies the sense of universality and finality, underscoring that his inevitable end is not just a grave, but the ultimate collective destiny for all mortals—the world of the deceased.
• awaits me (Hebrew: lî, לִי): Literally "to me" or "for me." This preposition emphasizes the direction and destiny. The grave is not just a general reality; it is specifically "for me," a fixed and certain destination appointed for Job. This phrase underscores the immediacy, personal certainty, and inescapability of death as he perceives it.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "My spirit is broken": This phrase communicates Job’s utter internal collapse. It’s not just physical pain, but a deep spiritual and psychological despair, signifying that his will to live, his inner strength, and all hope have been completely shattered. He is devoid of life-giving breath.
• "my days are extinct": This describes the physical and temporal cessation of his existence. The metaphor of a fire being quenched or a lamp's light going out vividly portrays his conviction that his life-force is consumed, his remaining time on earth has reached its absolute end, and there is no more flickering light of life left within him.
• "the grave awaits me": This declares the ultimate certainty and imminence of his death. The grave is not a distant possibility but a definite, personal appointment. This reveals Job's conviction that all paths lead to the tomb and that his immediate future holds only burial, reinforcing his sense of irreversible demise.

Job 17 1 Bonus section

• This opening verse of Job 17 stands as a pinnacle of despair within the wisdom literature, serving as a powerful expression of profound human suffering and the desperate cry of one who feels abandoned by both God and humanity.
• The use of passive verbs (is broken, are extinct) reflects Job’s perceived victimhood; he doesn't choose this state, but it happens to him, implying external forces (God, affliction, unhelpful friends) have brought him to this point of collapse.
• While reflecting intense hopelessness from Job's limited human perspective, this verse ultimately serves to magnify God's ultimate vindication of Job later in the narrative, illustrating the depths from which God rescues His faithful.

Job 17 1 Commentary

Job 17:1 is a poignant and stark opening to Job's continued lament, demonstrating the raw anguish of a man pushed beyond human endurance. It reveals a spirit that is not just weary or troubled, but completely devastated, akin to a building crumbling to ruins or a vital organ ceasing function. The extinguishing of his "days" emphasizes the brevity and abrupt end of his life as he perceives it, much like a lamp wick burning out prematurely. This imagery underscores his feeling of helplessness and powerlessness in the face of his overwhelming suffering. His declaration that "the grave awaits me" is not merely a statement of belief in mortality but a resignation to a perceived immediate and inevitable end. It encapsulates the deep sense of futility and finality that envelops him.

This verse serves multiple functions: it highlights the severity of Job's physical torment and spiritual distress, expresses his absolute loss of hope in life, and acts as a bitter accusation against the friends who offer no true comfort or understanding. In Job's mind, only death offers escape from his unbearable plight. Paradoxically, even amidst such profound despair and anticipation of the grave, the book of Job will later show glimpses of his profound faith in a living Redeemer, hinting that even when a human spirit is broken and days are extinct, a deeper, eternal hope can persist.