CHAPTER XXII _Eliphaz reproves Job for his attempts to clear his character_ _and establish his innocence_, 1-4. _Charges him with innumerable transgressions; with oppressions_ _towards his brethren, cruelty to the poor, hard-heartedness_ _to the needy, and uncharitableness towards the widow and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:2. _CAN A MAN BE PROFITABLE UNTO GOD_] God does not afflict thee because thou hast deprived him of any excellency. A man may be profitable to a man, but no man can profit his Maker. He has no interest in thy conduct; he does not punish thee because thou hast offended and deprived him of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:3. _IS IT ANY PLEASURE TO THE ALMIGHTY_] Infinite in his perfections, he can neither gain nor _lose_ by the wickedness or righteousness of men.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:4. _FOR FEAR OF THEE?_] Is it because he is afraid that thou wilt do him some _injury_, that he has stripped thee of thy power and wealth?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:5. IS _NOT THY WICKEDNESS GREAT?_] Thy sins are not only _many_, but they are _great_; and of thy continuance in them _there_ _is no end_, אין קץ ein kets.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:6. _THOU HAST TAKEN A PLEDGE_] Thou hast been vexatious in all thy doings, and hast exacted where nothing was due, so that through thee the poor have been unable to procure their necessary clothing.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:7. _THOU HAST NOT GIVEN WATER_] It was esteemed a great virtue in the East to furnish thirsty travellers with water; especially in the deserts, where scarcely a _stream_ was to be found, and where _wells_ were very rare. Some of the Indian devotees are accustomed to stand with a _girbah... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:8. _BUT_ AS FOR _THE MIGHTY MAN, HE HAD THE EARTH_] איש זרוע _ish zeroa, the man of arm_. Finger, hand, and arm, are all emblems of strength and power. The _man of arm_ is not only the _strong man_, but the _man_ of _power_ and _influence_, the man of _rapine_ and _plunder_. _THE HONOU... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:9. _THE ARMS OF THE FATHERLESS_] Whatever _strength_ or _power_ or property they had, of that thou hast deprived them. Thou hast been hard-hearted and cruel, and hast enriched thyself with the spoils of the poor and the defenceless.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:10. _THEREFORE SNARES_] As thou hast dealt with others, so has God, in his retributive providence, dealt with thee. As thou hast spoiled, so art thou spoiled. Thou art taken in a net from which thou canst not escape. There is an allusion here to the hunting of the elephant: he is driven... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:11. _OR DARKNESS_, THAT _THOU CANST NOT SEE_] The sense of this passage, in the connection that the particle _or_ gives it with the preceding verse, is not easy to be ascertained. To me it seems very probable that a letter has been lost from the first word; and that או _o_ which we tran... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:12. Is _NOT GOD IN THE HEIGHT OF HEAVEN?_] It appears, from this and the following verses, that Eliphaz was attributing infidel and blasphemous speeches or sentiments to Job. As if he had said: "Thou allowest that there is a God, but thou sayest that he is infinitely exalted above the h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:14. _HE WALKETH IN THE CIRCUIT OF HEAVEN_] He confines himself to those infinitely exalted regions and cares nothing for the inhabitants of the earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:15. _HAST THOU MARKED THE OLD WAY_] This is supposed to be another accusation; as i! he had said, "Thou hollowest the same way that the wicked of old have walked in." Here is an evident allusion to the FLOOD, as is particularly noted in the next verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:16. _WHOSE FOUNDATION WAS OVERFLOWN WITH A FLOOD_] The unrighteous in the days of Noah, who appear to have had an abundance of all temporal good, (Job 22:18,) and who surpassed the deeds of all the former wicked, said in effect to God, _Depart_ _from us_. And when Noah preached unto the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:18. _BUT THE COUNSEL OF THE WICKED IS FAR FROM ME._] Sarcastically quoting Job's words, Job 21:14; Job 21:16. Job, having in the preceding chapter described the wicked, who said unto the Almighty, "Depart from us," c., adds, _But the counsel of the_ _wicked is far from me_. Eliphaz here... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:19. _THE RIGHTEOUS SEE_ IT, _AND ARE GLAD_] They see God's judgments on the incorrigibly wicked, and know that the Judge of all the earth does right; hence they rejoice in all the dispensations of his providence.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:20. _WHEREAS OUR SUBSTANCE IS NOT CUT DOWN_] We, who fear the Lord, still continue in health and peace; whereas they who have departed from him are destroyed even to their very remnant. Mr. _Good_ thinks that קימנו _kimanu_, which we translate _our_ _substance_, is the same as the Ara... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:21. _ACQUAINT NOW THYSELF WITH HIM_] Perhaps the verb _hasken_ should be translated here, _treasure up_, or _lay up_. _Lay_ _up_ or procure an _interest now with him, and be at peace_. Get the Divine favour, and then thou wilt be at peace with God, and have happiness in thy own soul.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:22. _RECEIVE, I PRAY THEE, THE LAW FROM HIS MOUTH_] Some, who wish to place Job _before_ the law given by Moses, say that this means the _Noahic precepts_; others, that the _law of nature_ is intended! Stuff and vanity! The allusion is plainly to the _law_ given by God to the children o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:23. _THOU SHALT BE BUILT UP_] God will restore thee to thy wonted state of prosperity; and thou shalt again have a _household_, not only of _servants_, but of _children_ also. So much may be Implied in the words, _Thou shalt be BUILT UP_. See my sermon on Job 22:21-18.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:24. _THEN SHALT THOU LAY UP GOLD AS DUST_] The original is not fairly rendered in this translation, ושית על עפר בצר _veshith_ _al aphar batser_, which _Montanus_ renders: _Et pone super pulverem_ _munitionem_, "And fix a tower upon the dust;" ובצור נחלים אופיר _ubetsur nechalim Ophir, e... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:25. _THOU SHALT HAVE PLENTY OF SILVER._] Here again the versions and critics vary. The critics may disagree; but the doctrine of Eliphaz is sufficiently plain: "To those whom God loves best he gives the most earthly good. The rich and the great are his high favorites: the poor and the d... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:26. _FOR THEN SHALT THOU HAVE THY DELIGHT_] Thou shalt know, from thy temporal prosperity, that God favours thee; and for his bounty thou shalt be grateful. How different is this doctrine from that of St. Paul and St. John! "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:27. _THOU SHALT MAKE THY PRAYER UNTO HIM_] תעתיר _tatir, thou_ _shalt open_ or _unbosom thyself_. And when the _heart_ prays, God hears; and the person, being blessed, vows fidelity, prays on, is supported, and enabled to pay his vows.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:28. _THOU SHALT ALSO DECREE A THING_] Whatsoever thou purposest in his strength, thou shalt be enabled to accomplish.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:29. _WHEN_ MEN _ARE CAST DOWN_] There is a great difficulty in this verse; the sense, however, is tolerably evident, and the following is nearly a literal version: _When they shall humble_ _themselves, thou shalt say, Be exalted_, or, there _is exaltation:_ _for the down-cast of eye he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 22:30. _HE SHALL DELIVER THE ISLAND OF THE INNOCENT_] The word אי _ai_, which we translate _island_, is most probably the Arabic particle [Arabic] _whosoever, whatsoever, any, whosoever he may be_, as [Arabic] _ai rajuli, whatsoever man he may be_. And it is most probable that both words... [ Continue Reading ]