Job 17 · a question people ask
"Where then is my hope?" (17:15). Has Job given up hope?
In this chapter Job asks and doesn't answer. He says, "My days are past" (17:11), and speaks of Sheol as his house (17:13). Then he asks, "where then is my hope? As for my hope, who will see it?" (17:15), and "Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol" (17:16). In the same chapter he says, "Yet the righteous will hold to his way" (17:9), and he asks for a pledge (17:3). He is saying what he expects, the grave (17:1), and asking where hope is; the chapter doesn't record him asking to die. Two chapters later he says, "He has plucked my hope up like a tree" (19:10), and "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives" (19:25). These are Job's words; the book doesn't comment on them here, and these notes give no verdict.
The verses
““My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct and the grave is ready for me.”
““Now give a pledge. Be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?”
“Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.”
“My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.”