Verse Lens · Context pointer
Job 17:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Job 17:6 advances the thought unit with the words “He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.” Job states “He hath made me also a byword of the people” as one poetic claim in Job Sees the Grave Near but Still Seeks a Pledge.
Read It With
- Job 17:1–17:9
Read Job 17:6 with 17:1–17:9. Read alone, “He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job describes broken breath, mockers, burial readiness, and social disgrace, yet asks God to provide the pledge no human will give.
Why It Needs Context
Job 17:6 depends on 17:1–17:9; isolating “He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret” would detach a poetic premise, image, response, or transition from Job and “Job Sees the Grave Near but Still Seeks a Pledge.”
Read Job 17:1–9 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 17:1–17:9 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Sees the Grave Near but Still Seeks a Pledge.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 1. 1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
Verse 2. 2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
Verse 3. 3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
Verse 4. 4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
Verse 5. 5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
Verse 6. 6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
Verse 7. 7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
Verse 8. 8 Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
Verse 9. 9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 17:1–17:9 — Job Sees the Grave Near but Still Seeks a PledgeSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 17:1–17:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 17:1–17:9
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗