Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Parallel translations
- WEB Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation.
- KJV Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
- NKJV Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?
- NASB “Mockers are certainly with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.
- NLT I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job is surrounded by mockers and cannot escape their provocation. Even in dying he endures scorn.
Overview
Job laments that those around him mock rather than mourn, and his eyes must continually behold their contempt. The added insult of derision deepens his isolation. This experience of the righteous reviled in his suffering finds its ultimate parallel in Christ, mocked even as he hung dying (Matthew 27:39-44), the innocent surrounded by scoffers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Sam 1:6–7Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously.
- Job 16:20My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.
- Job 12:4I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
- Matt 27:39–44And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads
- Ps 25:13His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.
- Ps 35:14–16I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
- Job 13:9Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?
- Ps 91:1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Job 21:3Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 17:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.