Job 15

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 Ecclesiastes 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 ( Isaiah 27:8 ). Thus here,--empty violence.
belly--the inward parts, the breast ( Proverbs 18:8 ).

4. fear--reverence for God ( Job 4:6 , Psalms 2:11 ).
prayer--meditation, in Psalms 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 ( Proverbs 8:25 , Psalms 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 ( Psalms 25:14 , Genesis 18:17 , John 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 Job 15:9 ) retorts Job's words upon himself ( Job 12:2 Job 12:3 , 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? ( Proverbs 6:13 , Psalms 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 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"

16. filthy--in Arabic "sour" ( Psalms 14:3 , 53:3 ), corrupted from his original purity.
drinketh--( Proverbs 19:28 ).