Job 22:30

He shall deliver the island of the innocent,.... But where is there such an island, an island of innocent persons?

He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. Island - i:e., dwelling.

He, i.e. God, as , whose prerogative it is to give deliverances. Shall deliver, to wit, upon thy request, as the following clause showeth: God will hear thy prayers even for others, which is a great honour and comfort; and much more for thyself. The island of the innocent; not only thyself, when thou shalt become innocent and pure, but for thy sake he will deliver the whole island (or country, that word being oft used not only for such lands or countries as were separated from Canaan by the sea, as is commonly observed, but also for such as were upon the same continent with it, as appears from 97:1 ) in which thou dwellest. Or, the guilty, or him that is not innocent; for the word here rendered island is sometimes used for not, in Scripture, as . So the sense is, God will have so great a respect to thy innocency and purity, that for thy sake he will deliver those that belong to thee, or live with thee, or near thee, though in themselves they be sinful creatures, and ripe for destruction. See . It is delivered, to wit, the island; or, he, i.e. the guilty person. By the pureness of thine hands, i.e. by thy prayers proceeding from a pure heart and conscience. When thou shalt lift up pure hands to God in prayer, as it is expressed, ; whereby as he asserts the prevalency of the righteous man’ s prayers with God for mercy, both for himself and others; and by this argument he persuadeth Job to repentance; so withal he allegeth this as an argument or evidence that Job did not stretch out pure hands to God in prayer, as he pretended, because his prayers could not prevail for the preservation of himself or his children, and much less for others at a greater distance.

Job 22:30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.Ver. 30. He shall deliver the island of the innocent] Or, He shall deliver the not innocent; him that is not guiltless; and even such shall be delivered for the purity of thine hands. Thus God gave Zoar to Lot, and all the souls in the ship to Paul, and the guilty Israelites to Moses. See Jeremiah 5:1. Or, The innocent shall deliver the island; or, Liberabitur vita innocentis, the innocent shall be freed from affliction: so Brentius. And it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands] i.e. Of thy works, or by thy pure hands lifted up in prayer. Semen sanctum statumen terrae, the saints bear up the state, Isaiah 6:13, they uphold the pillars of the earth by their piety and prayers; and therefore when God is unchangeably resolved to ruin a people he silenceth his saints, as Jeremiah 7:16, or removeth them out of the world, as he did Methuselah the year before the flood. And as one sinner may destroy much good, Ecclesiastes 9:18; so one praying saint may save an island, a whole country; it is delivered by the pureness of thy hands. It may be the work sticks at thee; why then is not thy shoulder at the wheel when the cart is stalled?

(30) He shall deliver the island of the innocent is undoubtedly an error for He shall deliver him that is not innocent: that is, either God shall deliver, or the humble person, if that is the subject of the former clause; the humble-minded man would have saved them. “He would have delivered him that is not innocent; yea, even so shall he be delivered by the cleanness of thy hands,” as the ten righteous would have saved Sodom. It is remarkable that this, which is the last word of Eliphaz, has in it the significance of a prophecy, for it is exactly thus that the history of Job closes; and Eliphaz himself exemplified his own promise in being indebted to Job for the act of intercession by which he was pardoned, together with his friends; Job 42:8-9.

Verse 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 are Arabic, [Arabic] or [Arabic] any innocent, chaste, pure, or holy person; for the word has the same meaning both in Hebrew and Arabic. The text may therefore be translated, He shall deliver every innocent person: He, the innocent person, shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands; i.e., as thou lovest justice, so thou wilt do justice. Instead of כפיך cappeyca, thy hands, the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic have read כפיו cappaiv, his or their hands. Mr. Good thinks that אי ai signifies house, as [Arabic] and [Arabic] in Arabic signify to reside, to have a home, c. and therefore translates the passage thus: "The house of the innocent shall be delivered; and delivered by the pureness of thy hands." The reader may adopt which he pleases; but the word island must be given up, as it cannot make any consistent sense. THUS ends Eliphaz the Temanite, who began with a tissue of the bitterest charges, continued with the most cruel insinuations, and ended with common-place exhortations to repentance, and promises of secular blessings in consequence: and from his whole speech scarcely can one new or important maxim be derived. Blessed be God for Moses and the prophets! for Jesus, the evangelists and the apostles! Their trumpet gives no uncertain sound: but by that of Job's friends who can prepare himself for the battle?

30. the island of the innocent] Rather, him that is not innocent. Even others who are blameworthy shall be saved through Job’s intercession, because of the cleanness of his hands, for the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The curious translation “island of the innocent” arose from confounding ’I, an unusual form of the privative particle “not,” with ’I, an island. This form of the privative appears occasionally in proper names as, I-chabod, “not glory” (inglorious). For and it is, better, yea, he shall be. The charges of unrighteousness (Job 22:5-11) and ungodliness (Job 22:12-17), which Eliphaz allows himself to make against Job, furnish a singular illustration of the length to which good men will suffer their theoretical opinions in religion to carry them. His concluding words, however (Job 22:21-30), are conciliatory and humane, and not unworthy of the very aged and very devout speaker.

He shall deliver the island of the innocent - Margin, “the innocent shall deliver the island.” Never was there a more unhappy translation than this; and it is quite clear that our translators had no

30. The island of — àé ð÷é, not guiltless. This Hebrew word i (not) our translators altogether mistook. Here it has a negative sense, as in I-chabod, no-glory.