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Job 22

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Eliphaz’s Third Speech79

22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

22:2“Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?

Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?1

22:3Is it of any special benefit2 to the Almighty

that you should be righteous,

or is it any gain to him

that you make your ways blameless?3

22:4Is it because of your piety4 that he rebukes you

and goes to judgment with you?5

22:5Is not your wickedness great6

and is there no end to your iniquity?

22:6“For you took pledges7 from your brothers

for no reason,

and you stripped the clothing from the naked.8

22:7You gave the weary9 no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

22:8Although you were a powerful man,10 owning land,11

an honored man12 living on it,13

22:9you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms14 of the orphans you crushed.15

22:10That is why snares surround you,

and why sudden fear terrifies you,

22:11why it is so dark you cannot see,16

and why a flood17 of water covers you.

22:12“Is not God on high in heaven?18

And see19 the lofty stars,20 how high they are!

22:13But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness?21

22:14Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,22

as he goes back and forth

in the vault23 of heaven.’24

22:15Will you keep to the old path25

that evil men have walked—

22:16men26 who were carried off27 before their time,28

when the flood29 was poured out30

on their foundations?31

22:17They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’32

22:18But it was he33 who filled their houses

with good things—

yet the counsel of the wicked34

was far from me.35

22:19The righteous see their destruction36 and rejoice;

the innocent mock them scornfully,37 saying,

22:20‘Surely our enemies38 are destroyed,

and fire consumes their wealth.’

22:21“Reconcile yourself39 with God,40

and be at peace41 with him;

in this way your prosperity will be good.

22:22Accept instruction42 from his mouth

and store up his words43 in your heart.

22:23If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;44

if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

22:24and throw45 your gold46 in the dust—

your gold47 of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines—

22:25then the Almighty himself will be your gold,48

and the choicest49 silver for you.

22:26Surely then you will delight yourself50 in the Almighty,

and will lift up your face toward God.

22:27You will pray to him and he will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows to him.51

22:28Whatever you decide52 on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

22:29When people are brought low53 and you say

‘Lift them up!’54

then he will save the downcast;55

22:30he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,56

who will escape57 through the cleanness of your hands.”

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Footnotes

  1. 79 The third and final cycle of speeches now begins with Eliphaz’ final speech. Eliphaz will here underscore the argument that man’s ills are brought about by sin; he will then deduce from Job’s sufferings the sins he must have committed and the sinful attitude he has about God. The speech has four parts: Job’s suffering is proof of his sin (2–5), Job’s sufferings demonstrate the kinds of sin Job committed (6–11), Job’s attitude about God (12–20), and the final appeal and promise to Job (21–30).
  2. 1 Some do not take this to be parallel to the first colon, taking this line as a statement, but the parallel expressions here suggest the question is repeated.
  3. 2 The word חֵפֶץ (khefets) in this passage has the nuance of “special benefit; favor.” It does not just express the desire for something or the interest in it, but the profit one derives from it.
  4. 3 The verb תַתֵּם (tattem) is the Hiphil imperfect of תָּמַם (tamam, “be complete, finished”), following the Aramaic form of the geminate verb with a doubling of the first letter.
  5. 4 The word “your fear” or “your piety” refers to Job’s reverence—it is his fear of God (thus a subjective genitive). When “fear” is used of religion, it includes faith and adoration on the positive side, fear and obedience on the negative.
  6. 5 Of course the point is that God does not charge Job because he is righteous; the point is he must be unrighteous.
  7. 6 The adjective רַבָּה () normally has the idea of “great” in quantity (“abundant,” ESV) rather than “great” in quality.
  8. 7 The verb חָבַל (khaval) means “to take pledges.” In this verse Eliphaz says that Job not only took as pledge things the poor need, like clothing, but he did it for no reason.
  9. 8 The “naked” here refers to people who are poorly clothed. Otherwise, a reading like the would be necessary: “you stripped the clothes … [leaving them] naked.” So either he made them naked by stripping their garments off, or they were already in rags.
  10. 9 The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst—that would make a good parallel to the second part.
  11. 10 The idiom is “a man of arm” (= “powerful”; see Ps 10:15). This is in comparison to the next line, “man of face” (= “dignity; high rank”; see Isa 3:5).
  12. 11 Heb “and a man of arm, to whom [was] land.” The line is in contrast to the preceding one, and so the vav here introduces a concessive clause.
  13. 12 The expression is unusual: “the one lifted up of face.” This is the “honored one,” the one to whom the dignity will be given.
  14. 13 Many commentators simply delete the verse or move it elsewhere. Most take it as a general reference to Job, perhaps in apposition to the preceding verse.
  15. 14 The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.
  16. 15 The verb in the text is Pual: יְדֻכָּא (yédukka’, “was [were] crushed”). §121.b would explain “arms” as the complement of a passive imperfect. But if that is too difficult, then a change to Piel imperfect, second person, will solve the difficulty. In its favor is the parallelism, the use of the second person all throughout the section, and the reading in all the versions. The versions may have simply assumed the easier reading, however.
  17. 16 Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the follow the in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.
  18. 17 The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.
  19. 18 This reading preserves the text as it is. The nouns “high” and “heavens” would then be taken as adverbial accusatives of place (see §118.g).
  20. 19 The parallel passage in Isa 40:26–27, as well as the context here, shows that the imperative is to be retained here. The has “he sees.”
  21. 20 Heb “head of the stars.”
  22. 21 Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).
  23. 22 Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”
  24. 23 The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.
  25. 24 The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven—this is what Eliphaz says Job means.
  26. 25 The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.
  27. 26 The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”
  28. 27 The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”
  29. 28 The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.
  30. 29 The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).
  31. 30 The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Pual means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).
  32. 31 This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.
  33. 32 The form in the text is “to them.” The and the versions have “to us.”
  34. 33 The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.
  35. 35 The has “from him,” and this is followed by several commentators. But the is to be retained, for Eliphaz is recalling the words of Job. Verses 17 and 18 are deleted by a number of commentators as a gloss because they have many similarities to 21:14–16. But Eliphaz is recalling what Job said, in order to say that the prosperity to which Job alluded was only the prelude to a disaster he denied (H. H. Rowley, Job [], 156).
  36. 36 The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).
  37. 37 In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.
  38. 38 The word translated “our enemies” is found only here. The word means “hostility,” but used here as a collective for those who are hostile—“enemies.” Some commentators follow the and read “possessions,” explaining its meaning and derivation in different ways. Gordis simply takes the word in the text and affirms that this is the meaning. On the other hand, to get this, E. Dhorme (Job, 336) repoints קִימָנוּ (qimanu) of the to יְקוּמַם (yéqumam), arguing that יְקוּם (yéqum) means “what exists [or has substance]” (although that is used of animals). He translates: “have not their possessions been destroyed.”
  39. 39 The verb סָכַן (sakhan) meant “to be useful; to be profitable” in v. 2. Now, in the Hiphil it means “to be accustomed to” or “to have experience with.” Joined by the preposition “with” it means “to be reconciled with him.” W. B. Bishai cites Arabic and Ugaritic words to support a meaning “acquiesce” (“Notes on hskn in Job 22:21,” 20 [1961]: 258–59).
  40. 40 Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  41. 41 The two imperatives in this verse imply a relationship of succession and not consequence.
  42. 42 The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.
  43. 43 M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” 47 [1966]: 108–9).
  44. 44 The has “you will be built up” (תִּבָּנֶה, tibbaneh). But the has “humble yourself” (reading תְּעַנֶּה [té’anneh] apparently). Many commentators read this; Dahood has “you will be healed.”
  45. 45 The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the to read וְשָׁתָּ (véshatta, “and you will esteem.…”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth. Heb “place.”
  46. 46 The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bétsur, “in the rock”).
  47. 47 The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.
  48. 48 The form for “gold” here is plural, which could be a plural of extension. The and Latin versions have “The Almighty will be your helper against your enemies.”
  49. 49 E. Dhorme (Job, 339) connects this word with an Arabic root meaning “to be elevated, steep.” From that he gets “heaps of silver.”
  50. 50 This is the same verb as in Ps 37:4. G. R. Driver suggests the word comes from another root that means “abandon oneself to, depend on” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” 3 [1955]: 84).
  51. 51 The words “to him” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
  52. 52 The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.
  53. 53 There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.
  54. 54 The word גֵּוָה (gevah) means “loftiness; pride.” Here it simply says “up,” or “pride.” The rest is paraphrased. Of the many suggestions, the following provide a sampling: “It is because of pride” (ESV), “he abases pride” (H. H. Rowley); “[he abases] the lofty and the proud” (Beer); “[he abases] the word of pride” [Duhm]; “[he abases] the haughtiness of pride” [Fohrer and others]; “[he abases] the one who speaks proudly” [Weiser]; “[he abases] the one who boasts in pride” [Kissane]; and “God [abases] pride” [Budde, Gray].
  55. 55 Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”
  56. 56 The Hebrew has אִי־נָקִי (’i naqi), which could be taken as “island of the innocent” (so Ibn-Ezra), or “him that is not innocent” (so Rashi). But some have changed אִי (’i) to אִישׁ (’ish, “the innocent man”). Others differ: A. Guillaume links אִי (’i) to Arabic ‘ayya “whosoever,” and so leaves the text alone. M. Dahood secures the same idea from Ugaritic, but reads it אֵי (’e).
  57. 57 The has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

Cross references

  1. 34 See Job 10:3.

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press