Job 17:4 kjv
For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
Job 17:4 nkjv
For You have hidden their heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them.
Job 17:4 niv
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
Job 17:4 esv
Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph.
Job 17:4 nlt
You have closed their minds to understanding,
but do not let them triumph.
Job 17 4 Cross References
| Verse | Text (Shortened) | Reference (Short Note) |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 4:21 | "I will harden his heart so that he will not let..." | God hardening Pharaoh's heart. |
| Isa 6:10 | "Make the heart of this people dull... lest they understand..." | God's commission for prophetic blindness. |
| John 12:40 | "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart... that they would not understand..." | Isaiah 6:10 applied to unbelieving Jews. |
| Rom 11:7-8 | "What Israel sought... God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to not see..." | God's sovereign hardening of some. |
| 2 Cor 3:14 | "...their minds were hardened... until this very day..." | Spiritual blindness to the old covenant. |
| Eph 4:18 | "...darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God..." | Gentilic spiritual ignorance. |
| Jer 5:21 | "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people... who have eyes, but do not see..." | Lack of perception despite faculties. |
| Prov 2:6 | "For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding." | God as the source of understanding. |
| Jas 1:5 | "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God..." | God gives wisdom to those who ask. |
| Ps 75:6-7 | "...for exaltation comes neither from the east... but God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another." | God controls human exaltation/triumph. |
| Ps 113:7-8 | "He raises the poor from the dust... to seat them with princes..." | God elevates the humble. |
| Matt 23:12 | "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." | Principle of humility and exaltation. |
| Luke 1:52 | "He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble." | Mary's song, divine humbling. |
| 1 Pet 5:6 | "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." | God exalting the humble. |
| Job 9:28 | "...I still stand condemned, for you would count me guilty." | Job's feeling of God's injustice. |
| Job 10:2 | "I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; let me know why You contend with me.’" | Job demands answers from God. |
| Job 16:2 | "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all." | Job's condemnation of his friends. |
| Job 16:7 | "But now He has worn me out; You have made desolate all my company." | Job feeling forsaken by God and friends. |
| Job 19:2 | "How long will you torment my soul and crush me with words?" | Job's ongoing suffering from friends. |
| Isa 45:7 | "I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity..." | God's comprehensive sovereignty. |
Job 17 verses
Job 17 4 Meaning
Job 17:4 expresses Job's deep frustration and bitter conviction that God Himself has intentionally prevented his friends from understanding his situation. Job believes God has sealed their minds to discerning truth, and consequently, God will not allow them to achieve vindication or triumph in their arguments against him. It highlights Job's sense of divine action behind his friends' inability to grasp his innocence and suffering.
Job 17 4 Context
Job chapter 17 is a continuation of Job's deeply anguished lament. Job's spirit is crushed, his breath is failing, and he feels abandoned by both God and his human companions. He views his friends' unyielding condemnation as further evidence of God's judgment against him, despite his persistent claim of innocence. In this verse, Job attributes their stubborn inability to understand his plight directly to God's hand, asserting that God has supernaturally hardened their hearts. This bitter accusation serves to highlight Job's overwhelming sense of injustice and isolation. The broader context of the Book of Job challenges the simplistic retribution theology prevalent at the time, where suffering was universally equated with sin. Job, an innocent sufferer, forces a confrontation with this doctrine, portraying his friends as proponents of this inadequate view, blinded to a more complex reality by what he perceives as divine intervention.
Job 17 4 Word analysis
- For (כִּי, kī): A particle indicating causation or explanation. Here, it introduces Job's reason for asserting that his friends will not be exalted – because God has already acted upon their understanding.
- You (אַתָּה, ʾattâ): Second person masculine singular pronoun, referring directly to God. This places the responsibility squarely on divine agency in Job's view, indicating a direct act of God.
- have closed (סָתַם, sāṯam): A verb meaning "to shut up, to stop up, to close, to seal." This implies a deliberate and intentional act of God in sealing off their understanding. It suggests that knowledge or insight, which would otherwise be available, has been withheld or obstructed by divine action.
- their heart (לֵבָב, lēḇāḇ): "Heart" in Hebrew thought signifies not merely emotion, but the seat of intellect, will, discernment, conscience, and inner being. So, "closed their heart" means God has made their minds impenetrable to spiritual truth or proper discernment regarding Job's situation.
- to understanding (מִהֲשֶׂכֶל, mīhaśkēl): From the root שָׂכַל (sāḵal), meaning "to be wise, to have insight, to discern, to understand." The preposition "min" (mi) here indicates cessation from or prevention of understanding. God has stopped their access to wisdom or clear perception concerning Job's innocence.
- therefore (עַל־כֵּן, ʿal-kēn): A conjunction indicating consequence or result. Because God has performed this action of sealing their minds, a specific outcome will follow.
- You will not let them prevail / exalt (וְלֹא תְרֹמֵם, wəlōʾ ṯərōmēṃ): From the verb רוּם (rūm), meaning "to be high, to be exalted, to be lifted up." In this context, it refers to gaining prominence, triumphing in argument, or being vindicated in their position. Job asserts that God will not grant them success or public affirmation in their false accusations.
- "For You have closed their heart to understanding": This phrase highlights God's sovereignty over human understanding. Job's perception is that God has directly intervened to prevent his friends from grasping his true situation, rendering them spiritually insensitive and intellectually blind to his innocence. This is not a passive hardening, but an active sealing of their inner discernment.
- "and therefore You will not let them prevail": This links the spiritual blindness directly to its consequence. Because their hearts are sealed to understanding, their arguments and stance against Job will not receive divine validation or lead to their vindication. They will ultimately be shown to be wrong, because the truth that would lead to their prevailing is inaccessible to them.
Job 17 4 Bonus section
This verse carries a powerful dramatic irony within the Book of Job. While Job attributes his friends' lack of understanding to God's direct action of "closing their heart," the broader narrative often suggests their inability to comprehend comes from their entrenched adherence to conventional wisdom, pride in their own knowledge, and perhaps a self-righteous inability to empathize with suffering that falls outside their strict theological framework. Job's complaint, however, foregrounds the profound mystery of divine sovereignty over human understanding and the spiritual consequences of such a state. It hints at a larger divine purpose unfolding, where the limited human perspectives, whether self-imposed or divinely ordained, contribute to a greater spiritual education for Job and, ultimately, for the reader.
Job 17 4 Commentary
Job 17:4 represents a poignant and accusatory expression of Job's profound despair and his perception of divine action against him, extending even to the lack of compassion from his friends. Job interprets their relentless, simplistic condemnation as not merely human failing, but a result of God's deliberate obstruction of their ability to understand his suffering and innocence. He views their hardened perspective as a divine imposition, suggesting that God, in His mysterious sovereignty, has intentionally blinded them to the truth. Consequently, Job is convinced that God will withhold vindication from them, ensuring that their arguments, based on flawed understanding, will ultimately fail. This verse encapsulates Job's deep frustration with the unyielding, unhelpful theology of his friends and his increasing boldness in directly challenging God's perplexing ways, even attributing spiritual blindness to God's mysterious hand.