What is the meaning of Job 17:3? Give me, I pray • Job speaks directly to the Lord, not to his friends. This is intimate conversation, echoing his earlier cries in Job 13:3 and Job 16:20. • The phrase “I pray” shows both humility and urgency—Job is not demanding on his own terms; he is beseeching the only One who can truly hear (Psalm 86:6). • He believes God listens to personal petition even in suffering, which agrees with Psalm 34:15 and Philippians 4:6 that invite the afflicted to pour out their requests. the pledge You demand • In ancient courts a “pledge” or “surety” was a security deposit guaranteeing a fair outcome (Genesis 38:17–18; Exodus 22:26). Job asks God to set the terms and then hold them himself. • The friends have already twisted the idea of pledges—Eliphaz accused Job of seizing collateral unjustly (Job 22:6). Job reverses that picture: he wants God, not man, to handle any collateral. • By asking for God’s own pledge, Job is saying, “You alone can secure justice.” This anticipates Hebrews 7:22, where Jesus becomes “the guarantee of a better covenant.” • It also foreshadows the gospel reality that the Lord himself provides what He requires (Romans 8:32). Who else will be my guarantor? • Job looks around and finds no advocate on earth; friends have failed him (Job 16:2). • He had earlier lamented the lack of an umpire between him and God (Job 9:33), yet he now senses that God must be that very guarantor—“My witness is in heaven” (Job 16:19). • This cry mirrors the confidence later expressed: “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). • In New Testament light, Christ perfectly answers this question as the sole mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) and guarantor (Hebrews 7:22), standing in for sinners before the Father. summary Job 17:3 captures a suffering man’s bold, faith‐filled plea. He asks God to listen, to set His own pledge, and to stand as guarantor because no human can. The verse points forward to the ultimate guarantor, Jesus Christ, who provides the pledge God demands and forever secures vindication for those who trust Him. |
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