Miserable Comforters (1 of 2)

In context

The second round of speeches begins. Eliphaz tells Job that his own mouth condemns him (Job 15:6), and he and Bildad both describe the end of the wicked in frightening pictures of darkness, traps and fire (Job 15:20–35; 18:5–21). Bildad’s wicked man has “neither son nor grandson” (Job 18:19); he is speaking to a father whose ten children have died (Job 1:18–19).

Job calls them “miserable comforters” and says that if they were in his place, he would strengthen them instead (Job 16:2–5). He describes God as an enemy who has torn him, yet he also says, “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven. He who vouches for me is on high” (Job 16:19). In Job 17:3 he asks God himself to be his guarantor. To “strike hands” was to pledge yourself for someone else’s debt (Proverbs 6:1).

Sackcloth (Job 16:15) was rough cloth worn in mourning. Sheol, the WEB’s note says, “is the place of the dead” (Job 17:13–16).