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Texts -- Job 15:2-35 (NET)

Context
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge , or fill his belly with the east wind ? 15:3 Does he argue with useless talk , with words that have no value in them? 15:4 But you even break off piety , and hinder meditation before God . 15:5 Your sin inspires your mouth ; you choose the language of the crafty . 15:6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I ; your own lips testify against you. 15:7 “Were you the first man ever born ? Were you brought forth before the hills ? 15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council ? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? 15:9 What do you know that we don’t know ? What do you understand that we don’t understand? 15:10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men far older than your father . 15:11 Are God’s consolations too trivial for you; or a word spoken in gentleness to you? 15:12 Why has your heart carried you away , and why do your eyes flash , 15:13 when you turn your rage against God and allow such words to escape from your mouth ? 15:14 What is man that he should be pure , or one born of woman , that he should be righteous ? 15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones , if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes , 15:16 how much less man , who is abominable and corrupt , who drinks in evil like water ! 15:17 “I will explain to you; listen to me, and what I have seen , I will declare , 15:18 what wise men declare , hiding nothing , from the tradition of their ancestors , 15:19 to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them. 15:20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment , throughout the number of the years that are stored up for the tyrant . 15:21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears ; in a time of peace marauders attack him. 15:22 He does not expect to escape from darkness ; he is marked for the sword ; 15:23 he wanders about– food for vultures ; he knows that the day of darkness is at hand . 15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him like a king ready to launch an attack , 15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God , and vaunts himself against the Almighty , 15:26 defiantly charging against him with a thick , strong shield ! 15:27 Because he covered his face with fat , and made his hips bulge with fat , 15:28 he lived in ruined towns and in houses where no one lives , where they are ready to crumble into heaps . 15:29 He will not grow rich , and his wealth will not endure , nor will his possessions spread over the land . 15:30 He will not escape the darkness ; a flame will wither his shoots and he will depart by the breath of God’s mouth . 15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless , deceiving himself; for worthlessness will be his reward . 15:32 Before his time he will be paid in full , and his branches will not flourish . 15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall , and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms . 15:34 For the company of the godless is barren , and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes . 15:35 They conceive trouble and bring forth evil ; their belly prepares deception .”

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Chapter 4 shows the spread of sin from Adam's family to the larger society that his descendants produced. Not only did sin affect everyone, but people became progressively more wicked as time passed. Verses 1-16 show that the...
  • Moses cited five cases in this section, as was true in the preceding one (vv. 12-17).21:18-19 The Torah made no distinction in the penalty an aggressor paid because of his intent (vv. 18-28). The inferior Hammurabi Code did b...
  • What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
  • I. Prologue chs. 1-2A. Job's character 1:1-5B. Job's calamities 1:6-2:101. The first test 1:6-222. The second test 2:1-10C. Job's comforters 2:11-13II. The dialogue concerning the basis of the divine-human relationship 3:1-42...
  • The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main body (3:1-42:6) in poetry. The prologue and epilogue form a frame around the main emphasis of the revelation, the poetic section, and ...
  • The two soliloquies of Job (chs. 3 and 29-31) enclose three cycles of dialogue between Job and his three friends. Each cycle consists of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in that order interspersed with Job's reply to e...
  • Specifically Eliphaz accused Job of speaking irreverently (vv. 1-6) and of pretending to be wiser and purer than he was (vv. 7-16). For a second time one of his friends said Job was full of hot air (vv. 2-3; cf. 8:2). The eas...
  • Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
  • Job said his visitors had said nothing new to help him (v. 1). He picked up Eliphaz's word (translated "mischief"in 15:35) and used it to describe him and his companions as "sorry"comforters (v. 2). Eliphaz's words had not br...
  • Note some of the things both Eliphaz and Bildad pointed out concerning the wicked.Eliphaz The Wicked Bildad15:22-23, 30 experience darkness 18:5-6, 1815:30b, 32-33 are like unhealthy plants 18:1615:30, 34 are destroyed by fi...
  • Zophar reminded Job that everyone knew the wicked only prosper for a short time (cf. 15:29). The description of the wicked that Zophar proceeded to draw fit Job very well and must have wounded him deeply....
  • The brevity of this speech reflects the fact that Job's companions were running out of arguments. Job's responses were at least silencing them if not convincing them.Bildad seems to have abandoned the earlier theme of the wic...
  • Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job's three friends (vv. 6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason he said he had refrained from speaking until now. However he had become convinced that advancing age does not...
  • 53:1 A fool in the ancient Hebrew view of life was a person who did not acknowledge God's existence either intellectually or practically (cf. Rom. 1). He lived as though God does not exist. Such a viewpoint leads to unrestrai...
  • "This passage describes the appalling moral breakdown of Jewish society--which perfectly accords with what we know of the degeneracy of Manasseh's reign."670The prophet resumed his accusations against God's people (cf. 58:1-5...
  • The writer now focused on the issue of sacrifice."The argument moves a stage further as the author turns specifically to what Christ has done. The sacrifices of the old covenant were ineffectual. But in strong contrast Christ...
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