Job 22

TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION

The Third Dialogue

Eliphaz

1-2 Is there any man, even the wisest,

who could ever be of use to God?

3 Does your doing right benefit God,

or does your being good help him?

4 It is not because you fear God

that he reprimands you and brings you to trial.

5 No, it’s because you have sinned so much,

and because of all the evil you do.

6 To make your brother pay you the money he owed,

you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear.

7 You refused water to those who were tired,

and refused to feed those who were hungry.

8 You used your power and your position

to take over the whole land.

9 You not only refused to help widows,

but you also robbed and mistreated orphans.

10 So now there are pitfalls all around you,

and suddenly you are full of fear.

11 It has grown so dark you cannot see,

and a flood overwhelms you.

12 Doesn-’t God live in the highest heavens

and look down on the stars, even though they are high?

13 And yet you ask, What does God know?

He is covered by cloudshow can he judge us?

14 You think the thick clouds keep him from seeing,

as he walks on the boundary between earth and sky.

15 Is your mind made up to walk in the paths

that evil men have always followed?

16 Even before their time had come,

a flood washed them away.

17 These are the men who rejected God

and believed that he could do nothing to them.

18 And yet it was God who made them prosperous

I can-’t understand the thoughts of the wicked.

19 Good men are glad and innocent men laugh

when they see the wicked punished.

20 All that the wicked own is destroyed,

and fire burns up anything that is left.

21 Now, Job, make peace with God

and stop treating him like an enemy; if you do, then he will bless you.

22 Accept the teaching he gives;

keep his words in your heart.

23 Yes, you must humbly return to God,

and put an end to all the evil that is done in your house.

24 Throw away your gold;

dump your finest gold in the dry stream bed.

25 Let Almighty God be your gold

and let him be silver, piled high for you.

26 Then you will always trust in God

and find that he is the source of your joy.

27 When you pray, he will answer you,

and you will keep the vows you made.

28 You will succeed in all you do,

and light will shine on your path.

29 God brings down the proud

and saves the humble.

30 He will rescue you if you are innocent,

if what you do is right.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 22:1-30

The third cycle of speeches begins in this chapter. Give the three lines of thought.

What is the essential issue in this speech of Eliphaz?

How does Eliphaz distort the entire relationship between God and man?

Can God receive anything from man? i.e., that God does not already have?

What is the assumption made by Eliphaz in verse four?

There are two words used for sin in verse five. What are they and how are they used?

How could Eliphaz be so specific with his charges against Job?

The list of sins is somewhat standard. Explain. It is also serious.

Job is described as a land-grabber and a man of lifted face. What is meant?

Job is in a trap. What does this prove?

Explain in your own words the meaning of Job 22:11.

How is the transcendence of God used in Job 22:12? i.e., by Eliphaz.

Job’s theology is distorted by Eliphaz. How so?

There seems to be a contradiction of who says what in in Job 22:14. Who is speaking? What is the point?

Job is walking in a way that brought destruction(according to Eliphaz) destruction upon whom? Cf. Job 22:15-16.

Show how vs. Job 21:1 b is distorted by Eliphaz.

Would it ever be right for the righteous to rejoice over the destruction of the wicked?

What is the recommendation in Job 22:21?

The only occurrence of the word Torah is in Job 22:22. What is meant by its use here?

What is Eliphaz saying about gold in Job 22:24?

If Job will make God his gold what will happen?

What is meant by the expression delight thyself in the Almighty?

Job 22:1-5

III. FALLACIES, FOLLIES, AND LOGOTHERAPYTHIRD TIME’S A CHARM (Job 22:1, Job 26:14)

A.

ELIPHAZ ON THE FUNCTIONAL VALUE OF MAN (Job 22:1-30)

God, needing nothing, is not self-seeking in punishing Job; so the punishment must be the result of sin. (Job 22:1-5)

TEXT 22:1-5

**1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

2 Can a man be profitable onto God?

Surely he that is wise is profitable unto himself.

3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?

Or is it gain **to him, **that thou makest thy ways perfect?

4 Is it for thy fear **of him **that he reproveth thee,

That he entereth with thee into judgment?

5 Is not thy wickedness great?

Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.**

COMMENT 22:1-5

I can still hear his cries. It’s unbearable. It almost makes you believe in God.. Cries like that seem to call God back to life, much more surely than all the happiness in the world, and end-of-the-world silence, more frightening even than instant justice.

Monteilhet, Policiers Pour la forme

**Job 22:1**The third cycle of speeches now begins. From the very beginning Eliphaz has found Job obstinately perverse. The movement in the content of the speeches has thus far been along three lines of thought: (1) In earlier speeches the three friends have argued from their preconceived notions of God’s nature to the conclusion that Job has sinned and that his suffering can be alleviated only through his repentance. (2) The second cycle develops the thesis of the fate of the wicked and that the universe is governed by moral structures and (3) in the third series to turn with vehemence upon Job and charge him with grave sins. Their assumptions about God, evil, and suffering are once more in evidence; their conclusions follow from their presuppositions, not the evidence in Job’s life, as anyone else’S. Eliphaz returns to his earlier theme that repentance would lead to Job’s restoration. His speech contains four divisions: (1) Since God is disinterested, i.e., silent, Job’s suffering is proof of his sinsJob 22:2-5; (2) Eliphaz’s deduction concerning Job’s sinJob 22:6-11; (3) Eliphaz’s envisagement of Job’s assumption concerning God’s silenceJob 22:12-20; and (4) Eliphaz’s promise and appeal to JobJob 22:21-30.

The central issue in this speech is the distance between God and man because of sin.[242] If man suffers, it is a result of his personal sins. Eliphaz here abandons all efforts at gentleness. In his first speech (chps. 45) he set forth encouragement; in his second speech (chp. 15) he spoke of Job’s irreverence; and now he openly charges Job with hypocrisy and secret sins. The principle from which Eliphaz begins his reasoning is true, i.e., God is just (Romans 3:21 ff), but it is not the entire picture; God is also loving. By isolating God’s love and justice, Eliphaz distorts the entire relationship between God and man. Eliphaz still cannot understand how anyone can serve God for nothing. Somebody must gain from it. Is it man, or is it God?

[242] Note the history of this fundamental problem of the relationship between God’s immanence and transcendence: (1) There is no separation between God and man because there is no God, naturalistic atheism; (2) Kierkegaard’s total separation, God as wholly other; (3) After Hegel’s phenomenologically based pantheism the separation is only one of degree. From the Newtonian world Machine Model to 19 Organiamic ModelEvolutionary naturalism is its 19th dress; (4) Kierkegaard Buber-Otto-Barth in neo-orthodoxy; (5) God is totally immersed in realityDeath of God, Revolutionary political, Liberation Theologies of all types; and (6) Biblical alternatives.

**Job 22:2**God can derive no possible advantage from man, but a pious life style can benefit man. God would gain nothing by deviating from strict justice in dealing with human behavior (Elihu expresses the same theme in Job 35:7). God doth not need either man’s work or his giftsMilton. Job has previously used this argumentJob 7:20. Man cannot harm God; why then should God care what man does? He should just leave man alone.

**Job 22:3**Is it any advantage (note parallel word in the second line gain) or pleasure (Job 21:21) to God, if you are righteous? Can a gebher (strongest specimen of man) be useful to God? Can a professional wise man give instruction to the Almighty? As a theologian of transcendence, Eliphaz dismisses these ludicrous possibilitiesIsa 62:5; Luke 15:7; Luke 17:10.

**Job 22:4**Both Testaments witness to our unprofitableness and God’s gracious concern. Eliphaz has used the word yirah (fear, reverence, piety) before (Job 4:6) in the sense of piety. He is assuming that since God is disinterested, His relationship to man must be our advantage and not God’S. The A. V. translation fear is quite inappropriate in this discussion.

**Job 22:5**Job will later protest that he is innocent in Job 31:5 ff, which also contains his response to Eliphaz’s charges. Job’s accuser has no evidence; his accusations are derived from his presuppositions. The two words for sin in this verse are (1) wickednessresha, loose, ill-regulated; and (2) peshadeliberate and premeditated; and Job 34:37 speaks of adding pesha to hattahmiss attaining of goal (see Brown, Driver, Briggs). Eliphaz declares that if God’s discipline is not for your piety, then it must be for your sinful rebellion. If your suffering is limitless and God is just, then your sins must also be boundless.

Job 22:6-11

2. Specific sins charged against Job, and their consequences (Job 22:6-11)

TEXT 22:6-11

**6 For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought,

And stripped the naked of their clothing.

7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,

And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth;

And the honorable man, he dwelt in it.

9 Thou hast sent widows away empty,

And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

10 Therefore snares are round about thee,

And sudden fear troubleth thee,

11 Or darkness, so that thou canst not see,

And abundance of waters cover thee.**

COMMENT 22:6-11

**Job 22:6**Eliphaz begins analysis of specific sinsJob 22:6-11. Hebrew law required that if a poor man gave his undergarment in pledge for a given transaction, that the creditor must return it by sundown, so the debtor would have at least this covering to protect him against the chill of the nightExo 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:10-13; Amos 2:8; Ezekiel 18:12. Here Eliphaz charges that Job in his greed has stripped the poor debtors and reduced them to nakedness (strongly denied in Job 31:19-22). Where is the evidence for this charge? Does he bring some mistreated poor to witness against JobGal 6:1?

**Job 22:7**Eliphaz continues to confront Job with the violation of the standard list of social crimes which the wealthy and powerful could commit with impunity. The next accusation hurled against Job is that he has neglected basic hospitality to the poorIsa 58:7; Isaiah 58:10; Job’s response is Job 31:16 ff. The charge is more serious than mere neglect; he is charged with calloused indifference to even the minimal needs of the poorMat 25:35; Matthew 25:42. The adjective weary is used of the thirstyIsa 29:8; Jeremiah 31:25; and Proverbs 25:15. Then, as now, piety demands social expression. There can be no private piety.

**Job 22:8**Job is identified as a man of arm,[243] i.e., a person of wealth and rank. Here we read of an oblique reference to Job as a land-grabberIsa 5:8. He is also described as the favored man (lit. lifted of faceIsa 3:3), i.e., on the basis of his wealth.

[243] See M. Pope, JBL, 1966, p. 529, for analysis of R. Gordis-’ claim that the verse is a quotation. See R. Gordis, The Book of God and Man, The Use of Quotations in Job, chapter 13, pp. 169-189.

**Job 22:9**Supposedly, Job has sent widows away empty handed. He also crushed the arms of orphans. To exploit defenseless orphans or widows was a most heinous crimeDeu 27:19; Jeremiah 7:6; Jeremiah 22:3. Job responds to these charges in Job 29:12 ff and Job 31:16 ff.

**Job 22:10**What Bildad (Job 18:8-11; Job 19:6) has earlier predicted of the ungodly in general, Eliphaz here specifically applies to Job. In retribution for his sinful acts, God spreads snares or traps all around Job. Terrified with sudden dread, Job falls into the traps with paralyzing fright. The snares are proof of Job’s evil deeds, according to Eliphaz.

**Job 22:11**Job, do you not understand the true cause of your troubles?in contrast with Isaiah 58:10-11. The crushing misfortunes are metaphorically expressed by blinding darkness and destructive floods. The second line in this verse is verbatim found in Job 38:34 b. Water and darkness are figures for the perils of death and SheolPsa 69:2-3; Job 9:31 a.

Job 22:12-20

3. Warning that all evil men have been punished (Job 22:12-20)

TEXT 22:12-20

**12 Is not God in the height of heaven?

And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

13 And thou sayest, What doth God know?

Can he judge through the thick darkness?

14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he seeth not;

And he walketh on the vault of heaven.

15 Wilt thou keep the old way

Which wicked men have trodden?

16 Who were snatched away before their time.

Whose foundation was poured out as a stream.

17 Who said unto God, Depart from us;

And, What can the Almighty do for us?

18 Yet he filled their houses with good things:

But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 The righteous see it, and are glad;

And the innocent laugh them to scorn,

20 Saying, Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off,

And the remnant of them the fire hath consumed.**

COMMENT 22:12-20

**Job 22:12**God’s transcendence is understood here in the sense that He is so far off that He is unconcerned with man’s conditionPsa 10:4; Psalms 73:11; and Isaiah 29:15or as the Psalmist concludesPsa 14:2; Psalms 33:13 ff, He is so high that He observes every event that transpires in nature-history. Yet, Eliphaz argues in Job 22:13 that transcendence is understood by Job to mean indifference.[244] Job has actually used this theme to describe the practical atheism of the prosperous who go unpunished in spite of their impietyJob 21:14-15. Eliphaz deliberately distorts Job’s discourse in order to identify him with the ancient wickedJob 22:15 ff.

[244] On this matter, see M. Dahood, Orientalia, 1965, p. 171 and his Psalms, Vol. I, Psalms 10:4second note.

**Job 22:13**Eliphaz intentionally distorts Job’s theology as he asks, Does the vast distance create darkness so God cannot discern human deeds? The dark cloud partially hid God from human visibilityExo 20:18; 1 Kings 8:12; and Psalms 18:10. This verse contains the first overt distortion of Job’s position concerning God’s transcendenceJob 7:19; Job 10:6; Job 10:14; Job 14:3; Job 14:6.

**Job 22:14**God is only concerned with the circlePro 8:27; Isaiah 40:22of the heavens, not with the events on the earth, so declares Eliphaz, perhaps in response to Job’s question in Job 21:22. God is elsewhere depicted as riding upon the cloudsIsa 19:1and making the clouds his chariotsPsa 104:3. Vault or dome carries a connotation not presented in the creation narratives or here. God is not described as being outside an enclosed world.

**Job 22:15**Eliphaz next asserts that the attitudes espoused by Job have brought destruction on the ancient wicked. The old way[245]Jeremiah 6:16is best translated the dark path, or the way of darkness or ignorance (see Job 42:3ma-’lin -esahdarkening counsel; the noun occurs in Ecclesiastes 3:11, darkness or ignorance, Ecclesiastes 2:14 and Proverbs 2:3). The wicked walk the path of ignorance of God’s presence.

[245] Compare M. Dohood’s essay in Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 1962, p. 65.

**Job 22:16**The foundations of their existence collapsed from beneath them, swept away as by a floodMat 7:26. They were snatched away without warning.

**Job 22:17**Compare with Job 21:14-16. Eliphaz is commenting on remarks of some of the ancient wicked. He remembers what Job has claimed, in order to assert that his prosperity was only a prelude to his devastation.[246]

[246] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1965, p. 324; also Biblica, 1966, p. 409.

**Job 22:18**Eliphaz again distorts Job’s wordsJob 21:16in order to assert that the God he scorns was the source of his prosperity. Any forthcoming disaster was merited. The blessings which the wicked receive will become to them a curse. God’s ultimate overthrow of the wicked is proof of His just rule over the affairs of men.

**Job 22:19**Compare with Psalms 107:41 a and Psalms 69:33, almost verbatim. For imageries depicting the righteous rejoicing over the destruction of the wicked, see Psalms 52:6 ff; Psalms 69:32; and see Psalms 107:12 for rejoicing over the victories of the righteous.[247]

[247] See M. Bic, Le juste et l-‘impie dans le livre de Job, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, 15, 1966, 33-43; R. B. Y. Scott, Wise and Foolish, Righteous and Wicked, Vetus Testamentum, Supplement, 1972, 146-165; D. S. Shapiro, Wisdom and Knowledge of God in Biblical and Tamudic Thought, Tradition, 1971, 70-89.

**Job 22:20**Eliphaz argues from remoteness to impartialitysee Zophar’s use in Job 11:7-20. Our adversaries, i.e., the wicked and their possessions (not as A. Vremnant) are destroyed.

Job 22:21-30

4. Repent, and restoration will be certain. (Job 22:21-30)

TEXT 22:21-30

**21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace:

Thereby good shall come onto thee.

22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth,

And lay up his words in thy heart.

23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up,

If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.

24 And lay thou thy treasure in the dust,

And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks;

25 And the Almighty will be thy treasure,

And precious silver unto thee.

26 For then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty,

And shalt lift up thy face unto God.

27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee;

And thou shalt pay thy vows.

28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee;

And light shall shine upon thy ways.

29 When they cast thee down, thou shalt say, There is lifting up;

And the humble person he will save.

30 He will deliver even him that is not innocent:

Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.**

COMMENT 22:21-30

**Job 22:21**Eliphaz entreats Job to reconcile[248] or yield (agree with Godverb means be accustomed toNum 22:30; Psalms 139:3) himself to God, promising him great material felicity in rewardJob 5:17-27; Job 11:13-19. This results in Job’s submission to God; then he will be at peace.[249] Eliphaz still claims that the rewards of the righteous constitute its attraction.

[248] See W. B. Bishai, Journal Eastern Studies, 1961, pp. 258ff, for defense of acquiesce. Pope concurs and translates yield to; see also Blommerde’s remarks.

[249] S. N. Kramer, Harvard Theological Review, 19S6, pp. 59ff.

**Job 22:22**The only occurrence of the word Torah in Job is here. It means instruction or revelation and is one of the most precious words in the Old Testament. (Torah is not to be confused with the legalistic view of nomos, esp. see Romans and Galatians, which dominated Rabbinic Judaism in the time of Jesus and Paul.)[250] His words is parallel in line two and reflects a scribe taking dictation from God.[251]

[250] See Kittel nomos, article, Vol. IV; I. D. Strauss, Theology of Promise (New Testament Theology Syllabus); R. N. Longenecker, Paul, Apostle of Liberty (Baker reprint, 1976), esp. chapter 4, pp. 86-105; I. Munck, Paul and Salvation of Mankind (John Knox Press, E. T., 1959); H. Ridderbos, Pauline Theology (Eerdmans, 1976); and W. D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism (Harper Torch); and H. I. Schoeps, Paul (E. T., Westminster, 1961), esp. chapter 5, pp. 168ff.

[251] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1966, pp. 108ff.

**Job 22:23**If you become reconciled to God, you will be built up (reading te-‘aneh for tibbaneh). The passive form of the verb build (b ny) is used in Jeremiah 12:16; Malachi 3:15 of persons made prosperous, implying here healing or restoration.

**Job 22:24**Eliphaz is promising Job the restoration of his wealth if he will but return to God. God will make his gold as common as dirt. The word translated treasure in A. V. means ore, or that which is dug out of the earth. The text has only Ophir which symbolizes the highly prized gold from that locationGen 2:11 ff; Genesis 10:29. Gold and precious stones will be his in abundance.

**Job 22:25**Eliphaz exhorts Job to make God, not gold or silver, his treasure. Job vigorously responds to this charge in Job 31:24 ff, though Eliphaz means that God’s favor brings wealth. Dhorme is probably correct in claiming that your gold, which is the plural of the word in Job 22:24 a, is gold as it leaves the crucible, i.e., ingots of gold. The word rendered precious probably means heaps of, i.e., a large amount of silver (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs).[252]

[252] See this suggestion by W. F. Albright, JBL, 1944, p. 215, n. 47.

**Job 22:26**Eliphaz asserts that if Job will make God his treasure, then he will be able to lift up his head in confidence as in Job 10:15; Job 11:15; Job 27:10; Isa. 58:15; and delight yourself[253] in Psalms 37:4 in God alone. The metaphor of face to face implies the fact of reconciliation.

[253] G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, III, 1955, 84.

**Job 22:27**God’s silence will be broken, and His presence will be restored to JobGen 28:20 ff and Psalms 66:13 ff. If the prayer was answered, the one making the request would make a vow to sacrifice to GodIsa 58:8-9.

**Job 22:28**If Job would return to God, the light of constant success would shine on his way. Instead of darkness, he would walk in lightJob 19:8; Job 22:11. If Job will decree a thing and it will stand for you means that God will fulfill his purpose.

**Job 22:29**The righteous man (Heb. saddiq) has great influence with GodGen 18:21-33. Daniel, Noah, and Job were credited with great powers of influenceEze 14:14; Ezekiel 14:20; but is emphatically rejected by Ezekiel 14:12 ff; Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 31:29-30. Here we see an early form of the Rabbinic concept of Zekut Abot, which gradually develops into the Roman Catholic theology of the merits of the saints.[254]

[254] See R. Gordis, Journal Near Eastern Studies, 1945, pp. 54-55; and StrackBillerbeck, Kommentor Zum Neuen Testament, Vol. I, 1922, 429ff on Matthew 6:19 ff. The Rabbinic concept suggested that an ordinary Israelite could draw on the supererogatory merits of the patriarchs; R. Gordis, Corporate Personality in Job, Journal Near Eastern Studies, 1945, pp. 54ff; N. M. Sarna, A Crux Interpretum in Job XXII, 30,JNES, 1956, pp. 118ff.

**Job 22:30**The Hebrew -i naki can be rendered as island of the innocent or him that is not innocentas A. V. The first line then means that by the cleanness of Job’s hands, the wicked shall be deliveredJob 42:8; Genesis 18:27 ff; and 1 Samuel 12:23.[255] The vicarious life and prayer is unquestionably set forth, though many commentaries attempt to remove the vicarious element.[256]

[255] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1968, p. 363; also J. K. Zink, Uncleanness and Sin in Job 14:4 and Psalms 51:7, Vetus Testamentum, 1967, pp. 354-361.

[256] For how the negative in the first line and the rhetorical question in the second line, are explained, see C. Thexton, Expository Times, 1966-1967, pp. 342ff.