John Gill Commentary Job 17:14

"If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister;" — Job 17:14 (ASV)

I have said to corruption, you are my father
Not to the corruptible seed, of which he was begotten; nor to the corruption or purulent matter of his boils and ulcers, and the worms his flesh was now clothed with, (Job 7:5) ; but to that corruption his body would turn to in the grave, lying long enough to see it, which Christ's body did not, (Psalms 16:10) ; that is, "to the pit of corruption" ^F3 , as it may be rendered, meaning the grave, so called because in it dead bodies corrupt and putrefy:

in houses are families consisting of various persons, of different relations, who dwell together in friendship and harmony, very lovingly and familiarly, as father and mother, brother and sister; so in the grave, the dwelling house of men, there are inhabitants that dwell together, as if they were familiar friends and acquaintance; and with these, Job claims kindred, such as corruption, rottenness, dust and worms, and these he speaks unto, not only very familiarly, but very respectfully; the note of Bar Tzemach is, ``I honour the grave as a son a father, that it may receive me quickly;'' yea, he speaks as not ashamed of the relation, but is fond of it; "I called" or "cried" ^F4 that is, aloud, with great vehemency and affection:

to the worm, you are my mother and my sister ;
these are the rather mentioned, because the relation is near, and they are very loving and tender, and abide in the house, see (Proverbs 7:4) ; he calls these his mother and sister, as the above Jewish commentator observes, because the might lie in their bosom; by all this Job would represent how familiar death and the grave were to him, and how little he dreaded them; yea, how desirable they were to him, since he should be at home, and among his relations and friends.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F3: (txvl) "foveam", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Drusius
• F4: (ytarq) "vocavi", Montanus; "clamavi", Mercerus.