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Geneva Bible
Job 17:6
Bible Study Resources
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- InternationalParallel Translations
He has made me an object of scorn to the people;I have become a man people spit at.
"But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.
He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.
"God has made my name a curse word; people spit in my face.
He has made me a byword to people, I am the one in whose face they spit.
"But He has made me a byword and mockery among the people, And I have become one in whose face people spit.
"But He has made me a proverb among the people, And I am one at whom people spit.
"But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.
"But He has made me a byword of the people,And I am one at whom men spit.
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
You, God, are the reason I am insulted and spit on.
"He has made me a byword among the peoples, a creature in whose face they spit.
And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
God has made my name a bad word to everyone. People spit in my face.
He has granted power to the nations; I shall be derided before them.
And now people use this proverb against me; they come and spit in my face.
"And he has made me a proverb for the peoples, and I am one before whom people spit.
He has also set me as a byword of the peoples, and I am a spitting to the faces.
He hath made me as it were a byworde of the comon people, I am his gestinge stocke amoge the.
But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face.
He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport.
He hath made me also a byword of the people; and I am become one in whose face they spit.
He hath made me also a by-word of the people, and afore time I was as a tabret.
He hath made me a byworde of the people, where as afore I was their ioy.
But thou has made me a byword amount the nations, and I am become a scorn to them.
He hath made me also a byword of the people; and I am become an open abhorring.
He hath set as in to a prouerbe of the comyn puple, and his saumple bifor hem.
But he has made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face.
He hath made me also a by-word of the people; and in former time I was as a tabret.
"But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men spit.
"God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.
"But He has made me an object of shame to the people. Men spit on me.
"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom people spit.
But he hath set me, as the byword of peoples, And, one to be spit on in the face, do I become.
He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am an example before them.
"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.
And he set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And a wonder before them I am.
"God, you've made me the talk of the town— people spit in my face; I can hardly see from crying so much; I'm nothing but skin and bones. Decent people can't believe what they're seeing; the good-hearted wake up and insist I've given up on God.
"But He has made me a byword of the people, And I am one at whom men spit.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a byword: Job 30:9, 1 Kings 9:7, Psalms 44:14
aforetime: or, before them
as a tabret: Genesis 31:27, Isaiah 5:12
Reciprocal: Job 12:4 - one mocked
Cross-References
Beholde, I make my couenant with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations,
Also I will make thee exceeding fruitfull, and will make nations of thee: yea, Kings shall proceede of thee.
And I will blesse her, & will also giue thee a sonne of her, yea, I will blesse her, and she shall be the mother of nations: Kings also of people shall come of her.
Then Abraham fell vpon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a childe be borne vnto him, that is an hundreth yeere olde? and shall Sarah that is ninetie yeere olde beare?
And as concerning Ishmael, I haue heard thee: loe, I haue blessed him, and will make him fruitfull, and will multiplie him exceedingly: twelue princes shall he beget, and I will make a great nation of him.
Againe God said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. growe, and multiplie. a nation and a multitude of nations shall spring of thee, and Kings shall come out of thy loynes.
There haue bene mightie kings also ouer Ierusalem, which haue ruled ouer all beyonde the Riuer, and tolle, tribute, and custome was giuen vnto them.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
He hath made me also a byword of the people,.... Either Eliphaz, or God; for whatsoever befell him, whether more immediately by the hand of God, or by any instrument, the ascribes it to him, as being suffered in Providence to befall him; as when he became a byword or proverb to the people in common, to whom an example might be set by one or more of Job's friends. The name of Job is to this day a byword or proverb among men, both for his poverty and his patience; if a man is described as very poor, he is said to be as poor as Job; or if very patient under his afflictions, he is said to be as patient as Job; but as neither of these are to the disgrace of Job, something else seems rather intended here, even something to his reproach; as when a man was represented as a very wicked man, or an hypocrite, it used to be said, such an one is as wicked a creature, and as arrant an hypocrite, as Job:
and aforetime I was as a tabret; the delight of the people, who, when he appeared in the public streets, came out and went before him, singing, and dancing, and beating on tabrets, and such like musical instruments, to express their joy upon the sight of him; but now it was otherwise with him, and he whom they could not sufficiently extol and commend, now knew not well what to say bad enough of him; such a change in the sentiments and conduct of men must needs be very chagrining: or "aforetime I was as a lord", as Ben Gersom, from the use of the word in Daniel 3:2; as he supposes; he was like a lord or nobleman, or as one in some high office, and now as the offscouring of all things; or it denotes what he was "before them", the people, in their sight at present, and should be: the word used is "Tophet", which Aben Ezra takes to be the name of a place, and as it seems of that place where children were offered to Moloch, and which place was in being, and such practices used by the Canaanites in the times of Job; and this place, which was also called the valley of Hinnom, being afterwards used for hell, led the Targum to paraphrase the words thus, "and hell from within shall I be"; and so Sephorno, in appearance hell to all that see me; and in general it may signify that he was, or should be, avoided, as any unclean place, very ungrateful and disagreeable, as that place was; or as anything abominable, and to be loathed and rejected, and this way go several interpreters s; though some think respect is had to the punishment of tympanization, in which sufferers were beaten upon in several parts of their bodies, as if men were beating upon a tabret or drum, which gave great pain and torment, see Hebrews 11:35; and with such like cruelty and indignity Job suggests he was or should be used; and therefore begs for a surety, for one to interpose and plead on his behalf; let the carriage of men to him be what it will, that is here referred to; compare with this Psalms 69:11.
s Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
He 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.” Vulgate, “I am an exampie (“exemplum”) to them.” Septuagint, “I am become a laughter (γέλως gelōs) to them.” The Chaldee renders it, “Thou hast placed me for a proverb to the people, and I shall be Gehenna (גיהנם gayhı̂nnôm) to them.” The Hebrew word תפת tôpheth - or “Tophet,” is the name which is often given in the Scriptures to the valley of Hinnom - the place where children were sacrificed to Moloch; see the notes at Matthew 5:22. But there is no evidence or probability that the word was so used in the time of Job. It is never used in the Scriptures in the sense of a “tabret,” that is a tabor or small drum; though the word תף toph is thus used; see the notes at Isaiah 5:12. The word used here is derived, probably, from the obsolete verb תיף typ - “to spit out;” and then to spit out with contempt. The verb is so used in Chaldee. “Castell.” The meaning of the word probably still lives in the Arabic, The Arabic word means to spit out with contempt; and the various forms of the nouns derived from the verb are applied to anything detested, or detestable; to the parings of the nails; to an abandoned woman; to a dog, etc. See “Castell” on this word. I have no doubt that is the sense here, and that we have here a word whose true signification is to be sought in the Arabic; and that Job means to say that he was treated as the most loathsome and execrable object.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 17:6. He 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 ותפת לפנים אהיה vethopheth lephanim eheyeh. Instead of לפנים lephanim, I would read לפניהם liphneghem, and then the clause might be translated thus: I shall be as a furnace, or consuming fire (Topheth) before them. They shall have little reason to mock when they see the end of the Lord's dealings with me; my example will be a consuming fire to them, and my false friends will be confounded. COVERDALE translates thus: He hath made me as it were a byworde of the comon people. I am his gestinge stocke amonge them.
