“Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?
- KJV Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
- BSB Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
- NASB ¶“Make a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?
- NLT “You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for 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 asks God himself to put up a pledge for him, since no one else will stand surety. He looks to God to guarantee his cause.
Overview
In a remarkable plea, Job asks God to become his guarantor, for no human will strike hands in pledge on his behalf. Feeling friendless, he appeals to God against God, trusting the Lord to secure his vindication. This cry for a divine surety is met in the gospel, where Christ becomes the surety of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22) for his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 11:15He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.
- Heb 7:22By so much, Jesus has become the collateral of a better covenant.
- Isa 38:14I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.”
- Gen 43:9I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,
- Ps 119:122Ensure your servant’s well-being. Don’t let the proud oppress me.
- Gen 44:32For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’
- Job 9:33There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.
- Prov 22:26Don’t you be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.
- Prov 6:11so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.
- Prov 17:18A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.
- Prov 20:16Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 17:3 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.