Job 17:14 | KingComments | STEP | Contrary to the misrepresentation the friends give about a life in the light that Job could share ( ), Job speaks of what really awaits him ( ). He sees Sheol as his home and the darkness as the atmosphere where he spreads his bed to finally rest. He calls the pit “my father” ( ). He calls the worm, the maggot, who feed on dead bodies, “my mother and my sister”. He also sees them as blood relatives. Job sees himself in a family relationship with death and the pit and the maggots that are there; otherwise he has nothing left. His view of Sheol and the darkness and the close connection with it completely shut him off to anything else. There is nothing on which he could pin his hopes ( ). His plans and desires ( ), all his perspectives, will “go down with me to Sheol” ( ). Then his body and his plans will have returned to the dust ( ).

‏ Job 17:14

The Dark View of Sheol

Contrary to the misrepresentation the friends give about a life in the light that Job could share (Job 17:12), Job speaks of what really awaits him (Job 17:13). He sees Sheol as his home and the darkness as the atmosphere where he spreads his bed to finally rest. He calls the pit “my father” (Job 17:14). He calls the worm, the maggot, who feed on dead bodies, “my mother and my sister”. He also sees them as blood relatives. Job sees himself in a family relationship with death and the pit and the maggots that are there; otherwise he has nothing left.

His view of Sheol and the darkness and the close connection with it completely shut him off to anything else. There is nothing on which he could pin his hopes (Job 17:15). His plans and desires (Job 17:11), all his perspectives, will “go down with me to Sheol” (Job 17:16). Then his body and his plans will have returned to the dust (Gen 3:19).