The Meaning of Job 17:3 Explained

Job 17:3

KJV: Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

YLT: Place, I pray Thee, my pledge with Thee; Who is he that striketh hand with me?

Darby: Lay down now a pledge, be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me?

ASV: Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Lay down  now, put me in a surety  with thee; who [is] he [that] will strike  hands  with me? 

What does Job 17:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 17:1-16 - "the Bars Of Sheol"
Job's continued complaint of his friends, Job 17:1-9
He avows that he could bear his awful calamities if only he were delivered from their mockery; and asks that God would arbitrate between him and them. God is the supreme Judge, and Job asks Him to become his surety against the recriminations of those who so shamefully misjudged him. There is no other course for hunted souls than appeal from man to God in the person of Jesus. At the close of this paragraph he insists that amid a whirlwind of trouble the righteous must hold on his way and keep his hands clean. If any should read these words whose path has dipped down into the valley of the shadow, let them hold on their way. Go on doing the will of God, so far as you know it, and it will bring you out under His heaven of love.
Job's gloomy anticipations of the future, Job 17:10-16
For him there was a grave of darkness and gloom. Men had not as yet been begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The soul must descend to the bars of Sheol, Job 17:16, r.v. What a contrast to our Christian hope! There is no need for us to claim the pit for father and the worm for sister! In the Father's house are many mansions. The sufferings of the present are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed! Our kin are not in the dust. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 17

1  Job appeals from men to God
6  The unmerciful dealing of men with the afflicted may astonish,
9  but not discourage the righteous
11  His hope is not in life, but in death

What do the individual words in Job 17:3 mean?

Put down now a pledge for me with Yourself who [is] he hands with me [who] will shake
שִֽׂימָה־ נָּ֭א עָרְבֵ֣נִי עִמָּ֑ךְ מִֽי ה֝֗וּא לְיָדִ֥י יִתָּקֵֽעַ

שִֽׂימָה־  Put  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
נָּ֭א  now 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
עָרְבֵ֣נִי  a  pledge  for  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: עָרַב 
Sense: to pledge, exchange, mortgage, engage, occupy, undertake for, give pledges, be or become surety, take on pledge, give in pledge.
עִמָּ֑ךְ  with  Yourself 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
Root: עִם  
Sense: with.
מִֽי  who  [is] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
לְיָדִ֥י  hands  with  me 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
יִתָּקֵֽעַ  [who]  will  shake 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: תֹּוקְעִים 
Sense: to blow, clap, strike, sound, thrust, give a blow, blast.