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Job 22

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Eliphaz's Final Accusation Against Job 1–5

1
Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2
Can a man be profitable unto God? Surely he that is wise is profitable unto himself. ​
3
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? Or is it gainto him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
4
Is it for thy fear of him that he reproveth thee, That he entereth with thee into judgment?
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Is not thy wickedness great? Neither is there any end to thine iniquities. ​

False Charges of Oppression 6–11

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For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought, And stripped the naked of their clothing. ​
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Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
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But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; And the honorable man, he dwelt in it.
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Thou hast sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken. ​
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Therefore snares are round about thee, And sudden fear troubleth thee,
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Or darkness, so that thou canst not see, And abundance of waters cover thee.

God's Omniscience and the Fate of the Wicked 12–20

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Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! ​
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And thou sayest, What doth God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
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Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he seeth not; And he walketh on the vault of heaven. ​
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Wilt thou keep the old way Which wicked men have trodden?
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Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundation was poured out as a stream, ​
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Who said unto God, Depart from us; And, What can the Almighty do for us?
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Yet he filled their houses with good things: But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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The righteous see it, and are glad; And the innocent laugh them to scorn,
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Saying, Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off, And the remnant of them the fire hath consumed.

Eliphaz's Call to Repentance and Restoration 21–30

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Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: Thereby good shall come unto thee. ​
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Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, And lay up his words in thy heart.
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If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents. ​
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And lay thou thy treasure in the dust, Andthe gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks; ​
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And the Almighty will be thy treasure, And precious silver unto thee.
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For then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, And shalt lift up thy face unto God. ​
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Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee; And thou shalt pay thy vows.
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Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; And light shall shine upon thy ways.
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When they casttheedown, thou shalt say, There is lifting up; And the humble person he will save. ​
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He will deliverevenhim that is not innocent: Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 22

Verse 2

Can a man be profitable unto God — Sakan is to be of use or benefit, the verb that returns in v.21 as 'acquaint'. The principle is stated truly in Ps 16:2, 'my goodness extendeth not to thee'. Eliphaz then applies it to Job, and in 34:9 the same verb is used for the complaint that 'It profiteth a man nothing'.

Verse 5

Is not thy wickedness great? — Eliphaz had said at 4:7, 'who ever perished, being innocent?', and here names a charge. 'Infinite' is qets, an end, so the claim is that Job's iniquities have no end. The LORD had said of Job, 'there is none like him in the earth' (1:8), and tells Eliphaz, 'ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right' (42:7).

Verse 6

taken a pledge from thy brother for nought — The verb for taking a pledge, chabal, is that of the law: 'If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down' (Exod 22:26). 'For nought' (chinnam) is without cause. Job answers at 31:19–20.

Verse 9

Thou hast sent widows away empty — 'Empty' is reyqam, empty-handed, and the 'arms' (zeroa) of the fatherless are their strength. The law said, 'Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child' (Exod 22:22). Job's reply is 'I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless' (29:12) and 31:16–21.

Verse 12

Is not God in the height of heaven? — Gobah, height, is set against the 'height of the stars'. The premise is true: 'Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!' (Ps 113:5–6). Eliphaz uses it in v.13 for the charge that Job thinks God cannot see.

Verse 14

the circuit of heaven — Chug is a circle, the word of Isa 40:22, 'he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth'. 'Thick clouds' (ab) are the covering Eliphaz says Job imagines. Another psalmist says darkness hides nothing from him: 'even the night shall be light about me' (Ps 139:11).

Verse 16

cut down out of time — Eliphaz's word is nahar, a river or stream, not mabbul, the word of Gen 7:17, so the verse need not name the Flood. It fits the pattern Christ gives: 'the flood came, and destroyed them all' (Luke 17:27). Eliphaz had said at 15:32 that such a man is taken 'before his time'.

Verse 21

Acquaint now thyself with him — Sakan again, the verb of v.2: a man is of no use to God, but he can become familiar with him. 'Be at peace' is shalam, to be whole or friendly. 'Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me' (Isa 27:5). 'Good' (tov) is what comes to him.

Verse 23

If thou return to the Almighty — 'Almighty' is Shaddai, the name by which God appeared to the patriarchs: 'by the name of God Almighty' (Exod 6:3). 'Built up' is banah, to build a house. 'Put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles' echoes Zophar's counsel at 11:14.

Verse 24

the gold of Ophir — 'Gold' here is betser, gold as dug out. Ophir was the gold-land from which Solomon's ships brought 'four hundred and twenty talents' (1 Kgs 9:28). The 'stones of the brooks' (nachal) are the gravel of a stream bed. Job says that wisdom 'cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir' (28:16).

Verse 26

delight in the Almighty — Anag is to take pleasure, as in 'Delight thyself also in the LORD' (Ps 37:4). Job uses the same verb in 27:10, 'Will he delight himself in the Almighty?', of the hypocrite. To 'lift up thy face' is to look up without shame, the promise Zophar also made at 11:15.

Verse 29

There is lifting up — 'Cast down' is shaphel, to be brought low, and 'lifting up' is gevah. 'Humble person' is literally one of lowered eyes (shach with ayin). 'For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks' (Ps 18:27); 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble' (Jas 4:6).

Verse 30

the island of the innocent — The Hebrew iy is 'island' in the KJV, and the same word elsewhere is a negative, which gives 'him that is not innocent'. The verse is fulfilled at 42:8 in a form Eliphaz did not expect: the LORD tells Eliphaz and his friends to go to Job, 'my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept'.