Bible Strands
Job 17:3
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks directly to God while surrounded by mockers and under the weight of divine accusation. He demands a binding guarantee to prove his integrity at a moment when his friends and God appear to oppose him.
The words — עָרְבֵנִי (ʿarvenî) translates literally to "stand surety for me," and עִמָּךְ (ʿimmāk) means "with yourself." Job borrows commercial legal language to request that God personally vouch for his righteousness.
The thread — The motif of a binding pledge runs through Proverbs 11:15, which warns against putting up security for strangers, and Hebrews 7:22, which identifies Jesus as the guarantee of a better covenant. Job’s desperate request for a divine surety establishes a legal framework that Scripture later fulfills through Christ.
Why it lands — The text forces a reader to confront the impossibility of manufacturing proof when standing before divine judgment. It requires acknowledging that vindication depends entirely on God’s voluntary pledge, not on human evidence or argument.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
Cross-references
- Proverbs 11:15 He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.
- Isaiah 38:14 I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
- Hebrews 7:22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
- Genesis 43:9 I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
- Genesis 44:32 Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’
- Psalms 119:122 Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
- Job 9:33 Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
- Proverbs 22:26 Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.
- Proverbs 6:11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
- Proverbs 17:18 A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.