Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 29:17 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 17. 17And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 29:17 closes the thought unit with the words “And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.” Job develops the next stated step through “And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth” as part of Job Recalls Public Honor and Advocacy for the Vulnerable.
The gate knew him as a public advocate
This verse is one part of that explanation in Job 29:7–29:17. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Job 29:7–29:17
Read Job 29:17 with 29:7–29:17. Read alone, “And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job remembers taking his seat at the gate, receiving respect, rescuing poor and orphaned people, helping widows, and breaking the wicked person's jaws to recover prey.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Job continues from Job 29:1–29:6: Job begins his final defense by longing for former days of divine watching, light, intimate counsel, children, and abundance. Job 29:7–29:17 now develops the next distinct movement: Job remembers taking his seat at the gate, receiving respect, rescuing poor and orphaned people, helping widows, and breaking the wicked person's jaws to recover prey. Within that relationship, Job 29:17 closes the thought unit through “And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.”
Read Job 29:7–17 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 29:7–29:17 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Recalls Public Honor and Advocacy for the Vulnerable.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 7. 7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
Verse 8. 8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
Verse 9. 9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Verse 10. 10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
Verse 11. 11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
Verse 12. 12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
Verse 13. 13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Verse 14. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Verse 15. 15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
Verse 16. 16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Verse 17. 17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
What Remains True
Job remembers taking his seat at the gate, receiving respect, rescuing poor and orphaned people, helping widows, and breaking the wicked person's jaws to recover prey. Enduring righteousness requires evidence, fair hearing, accountable power, and concrete protection for people whose dignity, labor, safety, or livelihood is at stake. Job 29:17 carries that bounded truth through “And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.”
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Job 29:7–29:17 — Job Recalls Public Honor and Advocacy for the VulnerableSources used for this Verse Lens
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 29:7–29:17, 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 29:7–29:17
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 29:7–29:17.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 29:7–29:17
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗