If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who denounces his friends for plunder, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
- KJV He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
- NKJV He who speaks flattery to his friends, Even the eyes of his children will fail.
- NASB “He who informs against friends for a share of the spoils, The eyes of his children also will perish.
- NLT They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.
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 warns that one who betrays friends for gain brings ruin even on his own children. Treachery carries lasting consequences.
Overview
Job invokes a proverb that the man who informs on or flatters his friends for profit will see his own children suffer for it. The likely point is that his comforters, by their false accusations, fall under such a warning. It reflects the biblical principle that betrayal and false witness bring judgment, while faithfulness is honored by God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 12:2–3They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Prov 20:19He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
- Prov 29:5A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
- Exod 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- 1 Kgs 11:12Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
- Job 32:21–22I will be partial to no one, nor will I flatter any man.
- Deut 28:65Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Job 11:20But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
- 1 Th 2:5As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!
- Lam 4:17All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 17:5 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.