Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 17:5

"He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail." — Job 17:5 (ASV)

He that speaketh flattery to his friends. —The three words rendered this way are, due to their extreme brevity, very obscure. Literally, they read: for a portion he will tell friends. But what is the meaning of this?

Some translate it as, “He denounces his friends as prey”—that is, such is the conduct of Job’s friends toward Job. Others understand it as, “He would say, friends should take their part”—that is, anyone who would undertake to be a guarantor for me would naturally expect my friends to share the responsibility; but so far from this, the eyes of his sons would search for it in vain; they would never see it.