1 Then answered H6030 Eliphaz H464 the Temanite, H8489 and said, H559
2 Should a wise man H2450 utter H6030 vain H7307 knowledge, H1847 and fill H4390 his belly H990 with the east wind? H6921
3 Should he reason H3198 with unprofitable H5532 talk? H1697 or with speeches H4405 wherewith he can do no good? H3276
4 Yea, thou castest off H6565 fear, H3374 and restrainest H1639 prayer H7881 before H6440 God. H410
5 For thy mouth H6310 uttereth H502 thine iniquity, H5771 and thou choosest H977 the tongue H3956 of the crafty. H6175
6 Thine own mouth H6310 condemneth H7561 thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips H8193 testify H6030 against thee.
7 Art thou the first H7223 H7223 man H120 that was born? H3205 or wast thou made H2342 before H6440 the hills? H1389
8 Hast thou heard H8085 the secret H5475 of God? H433 and dost thou restrain H1639 wisdom H2451 to thyself?
9 What knowest H3045 thou, that we know H3045 not? what understandest H995 thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded H7867 and very aged H3453 men, much H3524 elder H3117 than thy father. H1
11 Are the consolations H8575 of God H410 small H4592 with thee? is there any secret H328 thing H1697 with thee?
12 Why doth thine heart H3820 carry thee away? H3947 and what do thy eyes H5869 wink at, H7335
13 That thou turnest H7725 thy spirit H7307 against God, H410 and lettest such words H4405 go out H3318 of thy mouth? H6310
14 What is man, H582 that he should be clean? H2135 and he which is born H3205 of a woman, H802 that he should be righteous? H6663
15 Behold, he putteth no trust H539 in his saints; H6918 yea, the heavens H8064 are not clean H2141 in his sight. H5869
16 How much more abominable H8581 and filthy H444 is man, H376 which drinketh H8354 iniquity H5766 H5766 like water? H4325
17 I will shew H2331 thee, hear H8085 me; and that which I have seen H2372 I will declare; H5608
18 Which wise H2450 men have told H5046 from their fathers, H1 and have not hid H3582 it:
19 Unto whom alone the earth H776 was given, H5414 and no stranger H2114 passed H5674 among H8432 them.
20 The wicked H7563 man travaileth H2342 with pain all his days, H3117 and the number H4557 of years H8141 is hidden H6845 to the oppressor. H6184
21 A dreadful H6343 sound H6963 is in his ears: H241 in prosperity H7965 the destroyer H7703 shall come H935 upon him.
22 He believeth H539 not that he shall return H7725 out of darkness, H2822 and he is waited H6822 for of the sword. H2719
23 He wandereth abroad H5074 for bread, H3899 saying, Where is it? he knoweth H3045 that the day H3117 of darkness H2822 is ready H3559 at his hand. H3027
24 Trouble H6862 and anguish H4691 shall make him afraid; H1204 they shall prevail H8630 against him, as a king H4428 ready H6264 to the battle. H3593
25 For he stretcheth out H5186 his hand H3027 against God, H410 and strengtheneth H1396 himself against the Almighty. H7706
26 He runneth H7323 upon him, even on his neck, H6677 upon the thick H5672 bosses H1354 of his bucklers: H4043
27 Because he covereth H3680 his face H6440 with his fatness, H2459 and maketh H6213 collops of fat H6371 on his flanks. H3689
28 And he dwelleth H7931 in desolate H3582 cities, H5892 and in houses H1004 which no man inhabiteth, H3427 which are ready H6257 to become heaps. H1530
29 He shall not be rich, H6238 neither shall his substance H2428 continue, H6965 neither shall he prolong H5186 the perfection H4512 thereof upon the earth. H776
30 He shall not depart H5493 out of darkness; H2822 the flame H7957 shall dry up H3001 his branches, H3127 and by the breath H7307 of his mouth H6310 shall he go away. H5493
31 Let not him that is deceived H8582 trust H539 in vanity: H7723 for vanity H7723 shall be his recompence. H8545
32 It shall be accomplished H4390 before H3808 his time, H3117 and his branch H3712 shall not be green. H7488
33 He shall shake off H2554 his unripe grape H1154 as the vine, H1612 and shall cast off H7993 his flower H5328 as the olive. H2132
34 For the congregation H5712 of hypocrites H2611 shall be desolate, H1565 and fire H784 shall consume H398 the tabernacles H168 of bribery. H7810
35 They conceive H2029 mischief, H5999 and bring forth H3205 vanity, H205 and their belly H990 prepareth H3559 deceit. H4820
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 15
Commentary on Job 15 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 15
SECOND SERIES.
Job 15:1-35. Second Speech of Eliphaz.
2. a wise man—which Job claims to be.
vain knowledge—Hebrew, "windy knowledge"; literally, "of wind" (Job 8:2). In Ec 1:14, Hebrew, "to catch wind," expresses to strive for what is vain.
east wind—stronger than the previous "wind," for in that region the east wind is the most destructive of winds (Isa 27:8). Thus here,—empty violence.
belly—the inward parts, the breast (Pr 18:8).
4. fear—reverence for God (Job 4:6; Ps 2:11).
prayer—meditation, in Ps 104:34; so devotion. If thy views were right, reasons Eliphaz, that God disregards the afflictions of the righteous and makes the wicked to prosper, all devotion would be at an end.
5. The sophistry of thine own speeches proves thy guilt.
6. No pious man would utter such sentiments.
7. That is, Art thou wisdom personified? Wisdom existed before the hills; that is, the eternal Son of God (Pr 8:25; Ps 90:2). Wast thou in existence before Adam? The farther back one existed, the nearer he was to the Eternal Wisdom.
8. secret—rather, "Wast thou a listener in the secret council of God?" The Hebrew means properly the cushions of a divan on which counsellors in the East usually sit. God's servants are admitted to God's secrets (Ps 25:14; Ge 18:17; Joh 15:15).
restrain—Rather, didst thou take away, or borrow, thence (namely, from the divine secret council) thy wisdom? Eliphaz in this (Job 15:8, 9) retorts Job's words upon himself (Job 12:2, 3; 13:2).
9. in us—or, "with us," Hebraism for "we are aware of."
10. On our side, thinking with us are the aged. Job had admitted that wisdom is with them (Job 12:12). Eliphaz seems to have been himself older than Job; perhaps the other two were also (Job 32:6). Job, in Job 30:1, does not refer to his three friends; it therefore forms no objection. The Arabs are proud of fulness of years.
11. consolations—namely, the revelation which Eliphaz had stated as a consolatory reproof to Job, and which he repeats in Job 15:14.
secret—Hast thou some secret wisdom and source of consolation, which makes thee disregard those suggested by me? (Job 15:8). Rather, from a different Hebrew root, Is the word of kindness or gentleness addressed by me treated by thee as valueless? [Umbreit].
12. wink—that is, why do thy eyes evince pride? (Pr 6:13; Ps 35:19).
13. That is, frettest against God and lettest fall rash words.
14. Eliphaz repeats the revelation (Job 4:17) in substance, but using Job's own words (see on Job 14:1, on "born of a woman") to strike him with his own weapons.
15. Repeated from Job 4:18; "servants" there are "saints" here; namely, holy angels.
heavens—literally, or else answering to "angels" (see on Job 4:18, and Job 25:5).
16. filthy—in Arabic "sour" (Ps 14:3; 53:3), corrupted from his original purity.
drinketh—(Pr 19:28).
17. In direct contradiction of Job's position (Job 12:6, &c.), that the lot of the wicked was the most prosperous here, Eliphaz appeals (1) to his own experience, (2) to the wisdom of the ancients.
18. Rather, "and which as handed down from their fathers, they have not concealed."
19. Eliphaz speaks like a genuine Arab when he boasts that his ancestors had ever possessed the land unmixed with foreigners [Umbreit]. His words are intended to oppose Job's (Job 9:24); "the earth" in their case was not "given into the hand of the wicked." He refers to the division of the earth by divine appointment (Ge 10:5; 25:32). Also he may insinuate that Job's sentiments had been corrupted from original purity by his vicinity to the Sabeans and Chaldeans [Rosenmuller].
20. travaileth—rather, "trembleth of himself," though there is no real danger [Umbreit].
and the number of his years, &c.—This gives the reason why the wicked man trembles continually; namely, because he knows not the moment when his life must end.
21. An evil conscience conceives alarm at every sudden sound, though it be in a time of peace ("prosperity"), when there is no real danger (Le 26:36; Pr 28:1; 2Ki 7:6).
22. darkness—namely, danger or calamity. Glancing at Job, who despaired of restoration: in contrast to good men when in darkness (Mic 7:8, 9).
waited for of—that is, He is destined for the sword [Gesenius]. Rather (in the night of danger), "he looks anxiously towards the sword," as if every sword was drawn against him [Umbreit].
23. Wandereth in anxious search for bread. Famine in Old Testament depicts sore need (Isa 5:13). Contrast the pious man's lot (Job 5:20-22).
knoweth—has the firm conviction. Contrast the same word applied to the pious (Job 5:24, 25).
ready at his hand—an Arabic phrase to denote a thing's complete readiness and full presence, as if in the hand.
24. prevail—break upon him suddenly and terribly, as a king, &c. (Pr 6:11).
25. stretcheth … hand—wielding the spear, as a bold rebel against God (Job 9:4; Isa 27:4).
26. on his neck—rather, "with outstretched neck," namely, that of the rebel [Umbreit] (Ps 75:5).
upon … bucklers—rather, "with—his (the rebel's, not God's) bucklers." The rebel and his fellows are depicted as joining shields together, to form a compact covering over their heads against the weapons hurled on them from a fortress [Umbreit and Gesenius].
27. The well-nourished body of the rebel is the sign of his prosperity.
collops—masses of fat. He pampers and fattens himself with sensual indulgences; hence his rebellion against God (De 32:15; 1Sa 2:29).
28. The class of wicked here described is that of robbers who plunder "cities," and seize on the houses of the banished citizens (Isa 13:20). Eliphaz chooses this class because Job had chosen the same (Job 12:6).
heaps—of ruins.
29. Rather, he shall not increase his riches; he has reached his highest point; his prosperity shall not continue.
perfection—rather, "His acquired wealth—what he possesses—shall not be extended," &c.
30. depart—that is, escape (Job 15:22, 23).
branches—namely, his offspring (Job 1:18, 19; Ps 37:35).
dry up—The "flame" is the sultry wind in the East by which plants most full of sap are suddenly shrivelled.
his mouth—that is, God's wrath (Isa 11:4).
31. Rather, "let him not trust in vanity or he will be deceived," &c.
vanity—that which is unsubstantial. Sin is its own punishment (Pr 1:31; Jer 2:19).
32. Literally, "it (the tree to which he is compared, Job 15:30, or else his life) shall not be filled up in its time"; that is, "he shall be ended before his time."
shall not be green—image from a withered tree; the childless extinction of the wicked.
33. Images of incompleteness. The loss of the unripe grapes is poetically made the vine tree's own act, in order to express more pointedly that the sinner's ruin is the fruit of his own conduct (Isa 3:11; Jer 6:19).
34. Rather, The binding together of the hypocrites (wicked) shall be fruitless [Umbreit].
tabernacles of bribery—namely, dwellings of unjust judges, often reprobated in the Old Testament (Isa 1:23). The "fire of God" that consumed Job's possessions (Job 1:16) Eliphaz insinuates may have been on account of Job's bribery as an Arab sheik or emir.
35. Bitter irony, illustrating the "unfruitfulness" (Job 15:34) of the wicked. Their conceptions and birthgivings consist solely in mischief, &c. (Isa 33:11).
prepareth—hatcheth.