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Texts -- Job 22:1-30 (NET)

Context
Eliphaz’s Third Speech
22:1 Then 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 ? 22:3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty that you should be righteous , or is it any gain to him that you make your ways blameless ? 22:4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you and goes to judgment with you? 22:5 Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity ? 22:6 “For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason , and you stripped the clothing from the naked . 22:7 You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food . 22:8 Although you were a powerful man , owning land , an honored man living on it, 22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed , and the arms of the orphans you crushed . 22:10 That is why snares surround you, and why sudden fear terrifies you, 22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see , and why a flood of water covers you. 22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven ? And see the lofty stars , how high they are! 22:13 But you have said , ‘What does God know ? Does he judge through such deep darkness ? 22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven .’ 22:15 Will you keep to the old path that evil men have walked – 22:16 men who were carried off before their time , when the flood was poured out on their foundations ? 22:17 They were saying to God , ‘Turn away from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ 22:18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things– yet the counsel of the wicked was far from me. 22:19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice ; the innocent mock them scornfully, saying, 22:20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed , and fire consumes their wealth .’ 22:21 “Reconcile yourself with God, and be at peace with him; in this way your prosperity will be good . 22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart . 22:23 If you return to the Almighty , you will be built up ; if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent , 22:24 and throw your gold in the dust – your gold of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines – 22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold , and the choicest silver for you. 22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty , and will lift up your face toward God . 22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. 22:28 Whatever you decide on a matter , it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways . 22:29 When people are brought low and you say ‘Lift them up !’ then he will save the downcast ; 22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent , who will escape through the cleanness of your hands .”

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Temanite

    [ebd] a man of Teman, the designation of Eliphaz, one of Job's three friends (Job 2:11; 22:1).

  • JOB, BOOK OF

    [isbe] JOB, BOOK OF - || I. INTRODUCTORY 1. Place in the Canon 2. Rank and Readers II. THE LITERARY FRAMEWORK 1. Setting of Time, Place and Scene 2. Characters and Personality 3. Form and Style III. THE COURSE OF THE STORY A) To Jo...

  • Fellowship

    [ebd] (1.) With God, consisting in the knowledge of his will (Job 22:21; John 17:3); agreement with his designs (Amos 3:2); mutual affection (Rom. 8: 38, 39); enjoyment of his presence (Ps. 4:6); conformity to his image (1 John 2:...

  • FLINT

    [isbe] FLINT - flint (challamish (Dt 8:15; 32:13; Job 28:9; Ps 114:8), tsor (Ex 4:25; Ezek 3:9), tser (Isa 5:28), tsur (Job 22:24; Ps 89:43), tsurim (Josh 5:2 f); (= kechlex "pebble"), kochlax (1 Macc 10:73)): The word challamish s...

  • FEAR

    [isbe] FEAR - fer (yir'ah, yare'; phobos, phobeo): Terms, etc.: "Fear" is the translation of many words in the Old Testament; the chief are: yir'ah, "fear," "terror," "reverence," "awe," most often "the fear of God," "fear of Yahwe...

  • FATHERLESS

    [isbe] FATHERLESS - fa'-ther-les (yathom; orphanos): The fatherless are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, generally in association with the widow and the stranger, as typical instances of the unprotected and necessitous, w...

  • Eliphaz

    [nave] ELIPHAZ 1. Son of Esau, Gen. 36:4, 10-16; 1 Chr. 1:35. 2. Friend of Job, Job 2:11; 4; 5; 22; 42:7-9.

  • EYE

    [isbe] EYE - i (`ayin; ophthalmos): (1) The physical organ of sight, "the lamp of the body" (Mt 6:22), one of the chief channels of information for man. A cruel custom therefore sanctioned among heathen nations the putting out of t...

  • END

    [isbe] END - (qets, 'ephec, kalah; telos, sunteleo): The end of anything is its termination, hence, also, final object or purpose. It is the translation of several Hebrew and Greek words, chiefly in the Old Testament of qets (prope...

  • EMPTY; EMPTIER

    [isbe] EMPTY; EMPTIER - emp'-ti, emp'-ti-er (kenos): "Empty," adjective meaning void, etc., as the translation of req, riq, reqam, etc., occurs in the literal sense of "with nothing" (Gen 31:42; Job 22:9); in 2 Sam 1:22, it is equi...

  • DELIGHT

    [isbe] DELIGHT - de-lit' (verb, chaphets, ratsah, sha`a`; sunedomai): "To delight" is most frequently expressed by chaphets, which means originally "to bend" (compare Job 40:17, "He moveth his tail"), hence, "to incline to," "take ...

  • DEBT; DEBTOR

    [isbe] DEBT; DEBTOR - det, det'-er: It is difficult nowadays to think of debt without associating with it the idea of interest, and even usury. Certain it is that this idea is associated with the Old Testament idea of the word, at ...

  • CLOUD

    [ebd] The Hebrew so rendered means "a covering," because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Ex. 16:10; 33:9; Num. 11:25; 12:5; Jo...
    [isbe] CLOUD - kloud (`anan, `abh; nephele, nephos): I. Clouds in Palestine. In the Bible few references are found of particular clouds or of clouds in connection with the phenomena of the weather conditions. The weather in Palesti...

  • CIRCUIT

    [ebd] the apparent diurnal revolution of the sun round the earth (Ps. 19:6), and the changes of the wind (Eccl. 1:6). In Job 22:14, "in the circuit of heaven" (R.V. marg., "on the vault of heaven") means the "arch of heaven," whic...
    [isbe] CIRCUIT - sur'-kit, "a going around": Used to represent several Hebrew words in several senses, e.g. the sun's orbit (tequphah), Ps 19:6; the vault of the heavens (chugh), Job 22:14 the King James Version; the circuit of the...

  • BUILDER

    [isbe] BUILDER - bild'-er (banah; oikodomeo, technites): "To build," "builder," ete, are in the Old Testament commonly the translation of banah, "to build," occurring very frequently; see BUILD, BUILDING. The literal significance l...

  • BUILD; BUILDING

    [isbe] BUILD; BUILDING - bild, bild'-ing (banah, binyah, once (Ezek 41:13); oikodomeo). 1. Building Conditions: The building conditions existing at the time of the Hebrew conquest were rude and untutored, and, with the exception of...

  • ASTRONOMY, III

    [isbe] ASTRONOMY, III - III. Physiography. 1. The Circle of the Earth: It has generally been assumed that the Hebrews considered the earth to be a vast circular plain, arched over by a solid vault--"the firmament"--above which were...

  • ASTRONOMY, I

    [isbe] ASTRONOMY, I - as-tron'-omi: I. THE HEAVENLY BODIES 1. The Ordinances of Heaven 2. The Sun (1) The Names for the Sun (2) The "City of the Sun" (3) The Greater Light-Giver (4) The Purpose of the Sun (5) The Sun as a Type 3. T...

  • ARM

    [isbe] ARM - arm (zeroa`, 'ezroa`, dera`; brachion; chotsen, katheph): The usual form is zeroa` from the root zara`, "to spread." The arm may be "stretched out." 'Ezroa` is this form with prosthetic 'aleph (Job 31:22; Jer 32:21), a...

  • ABOUND; ABUNDANCE; ABUNDANT; ABUNDANTLY

    [isbe] ABOUND; ABUNDANCE; ABUNDANT; ABUNDANTLY - a-bound', a-bun'-dans, a-bun'-dant, a-bun'-dant-li: These words represent in the English Versions of the Bible a considerable variety of different words in the Hebrew and Greek origi...

Questions

  • I've heard and read the same statement a number of times, but have never troubled myself to look up each passage. I'm not surprised that looking up "heaven" and "hell" in a concordance would give you contradictory results. T...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • God blessed Solomon with an effective navy that brought added wealth from the South and the East. Ophir (v. 28) evidently was in southwest Arabia (10:11; Job 22:24; 28:16).The writer documented in this section further evidenc...
  • 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...
  • Verse 2 should end "Him"(i.e., God) rather than "himself"(i.e., the wise man).These verses reveal Eliphaz's very deficient concept of God. To him God did not delight in fellowship with man or in blessing man. His only reason ...
  • Verse 8 probably reflects what Eliphaz thought Job's attitude was. Eliphaz implied that Job arrogantly believed the strong, respected man of the world, not the godly man, is the one who controls others and dominates those aro...
  • Eliphaz proceeded next to judge Job's motives. He assumed Job had concluded that because God was far away in heaven he would get away with sin on earth. However, Job had affirmed God's omniscience (21:22). Perhaps Eliphaz had...
  • This appeal sounds almost tender. However, Eliphaz had been very condemning in what he had just accused Job of doing and thinking. Job did not need to repent, as Eliphaz suggested (v. 23). He was not suffering because he had ...
  • Wherever Job looked, he could not find God. Two paraphrases of verse 10 are these. Because (the first word in the verse in Hebrew) He knows my ways, God is evading me. "He knows I am innocent and therefore is refusing to appe...
  • 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...
  • Elihu made two responses to what he inferred was Job's attitude. First, he claimed that God is under no obligation to react to people's actions be they good or bad. He is free to respond or not respond as He chooses. God is a...
  • The preceding section answered the question that the people of Isaiah's day had about God's desire to deliver them. Yes, He wantedto deliver them. This section answered their question about whether He could save them. Yes, He...
  • Not all the sins that Amos identified appear in verses 6-8; two more appear in verse 12. Amos named seven sins of Israel all together rather than just one, as in the previous oracles, though he continued to use the "for three...
  • This pericope parallels 9:30-37. Both sections deal with true greatness, and both follow predictions of Jesus' passion. This second incident shows the disciples' lack of spiritual perception and their selfishness even more th...
  • 13:1 Luke linked this incident chronologically with the preceding one. Apparently messengers from Jerusalem had just arrived with news about Pilate's act. This is the usual force of the Greek verb apaggello, translated "repor...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.'--Job 22:21.In the sense in which the speaker meant them, these words are not true. They mean little more than It pays to be religious.' What ...
  • For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and ...
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