Job 17:6 - Exposition

He hath made me also a byword of the people . God, by the unprecedented character of his afflictions, has made Job a byword among the surrounding nations—a byword, that is, for an afflicted person. Job, by the manner in which he bore his afflictions, made himself a byword for patience and endurance among God's people throughout all ages (see James 5:11 ). And aforetime I was as a tabret ; rather, I am become an abomination before them ; or, as our Revisers translate, I am become an open abhorring (comp. Job 30:10 ).