Job 17:5 - Exposition

He that speaketh flattery to his friends ; rather, he that denounceth his friends for a prey. Job means to accuse his "comforters" of so acting. By their persistent belief in his grievous wickedness they give him up, as it were, for a prey to calamity, which they pronounce him to have deserved on account of his secret sins. Even the eyes of his children shall fail . Whoever so acts shall be punished, not only in his own person, but also in the persons of his descendants (comp. Exodus 20:5 ).