He who denounces his friends for plunder, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
Parallel translations
- KJV He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
- BSB If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will 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 12:2–3Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
- Prov 20:19He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.
- Prov 29:5A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
- Exod 20:5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
- 1 Kgs 11:12Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand.
- Job 32:21–22Please don’t let me respect any man’s person, neither will I give flattering titles to any man.
- Deut 28:65Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul.
- Job 11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit.”
- 1 Th 2:5For neither were we at any time found using words of flattery, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness (God is witness),
- Lam 4:17Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
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 17:5 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.