Bible Strands
Job 17:5
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his friends and God’s counselors while enduring prolonged suffering, immediately after noting that God has closed their minds to understanding.
The words — The Hebrew יַגִּיד (yaggid) means “he tells” or “denounces,” paired with לְחֵלֶק (leḥeleq), literally “for a share” or price, describing the act of betraying companions for financial gain.
The thread — This pattern of mercenary speech and broken trust runs through Psalms 12:2 on flattering lips, Proverbs 20:19 on revealing secrets, and Proverbs 29:5 on flattery that traps the neighbor.
Why it lands — The verse plainly states that trading loyalty for profit leaves a man’s children destitute, demanding readers weigh the cost of compromised relationships against immediate gain.
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
He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
Cross-references
- Psalms 12:2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Proverbs 20:19 He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
- Proverbs 29:5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
- Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- 1 Kings 11:12 Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
- Job 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
- Job 32:21 I will be partial to no one, nor will I flatter any man.
- Lamentations 4:17 All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:5 As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!