Job 15:17-35

What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life

17 "I will tell you, listen to me; And what I have seen I will also declare;
18 What wise men have told, And have not concealed from 1their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given, And no alien passed among them.
20 "The wicked man writhes 2in pain all his days, And numbered are the years 3stored up for the ruthless.
21 "Sounds of 4terror are in his ears; 5While at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 "He does not believe that he will 6return from darkness, And he is destined for 7the sword.
23 "He wanders about for food, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of 8darkness is at hand.
24 "Distress and anguish terrify him, They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God And conducts himself 9arrogantly against the Almighty.
26 "He rushes headlong at Him With his massive * shield.
27 "For he has 10covered his face with his fat And made his thighs heavy with flesh.
28 "He has 11lived in desolate cities, In houses no one would inhabit, Which are destined to become ruins.
29 "He 12will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure; And his grain will not bend down to the ground.
30 "He will 13not escape from darkness; The 14flame will wither his shoots, And by 15the breath of His mouth he will go away.
31 "Let him not 16trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness will be his reward.
32 "It will be accomplished 17before his time, And his palm 18branch will not be green.
33 "He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine, And will 19cast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 "For the company of 20the godless is barren, And fire consumes 21the tents of the corrupt.
35 "They 22conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, And their mind prepares deception."

Job 15:17-35 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 15

Job's three friends having in their turns attacked him, and he having given answer respectively to them, Eliphaz, who began the attack, first enters the debate with him again, and proceeds upon the same plan as before, and endeavours to defend his former sentiments, falling upon Job with greater vehemence and severity; he charges him with vanity, imprudence, and unprofitableness in his talk, and acting a part unbecoming his character as a wise man; yea, with impiety and a neglect of religion, or at least as a discourager of it by his words and doctrines, of which his mouth and lips were witnesses against him, Job 15:1-6; he charges him with arrogance and a high conceit of himself, as if he was the first man that was made, nay, as if he was the eternal wisdom of God, and had been in his council; and, to check his vanity, retorts his own words upon him, or however the sense of them, Job 15:7-10; and also with slighting the consolations of God; upon which he warmly expostulates with him, Job 15:11-13; and in order to convince him of his self-righteousness, which he thought he was full of, he argues from the angels, the heavens, and the general case of man, Job 15:14-16; and then he declares from his own knowledge, and from the relation of wise and ancient men in former times, who made it their observation, that wicked men are afflicted all their days, attended with terror and despair, and liable to various calamities, Job 15:17-24; the reasons of which are their insolence to God, and hostilities committed against him, which they are encouraged in by their prosperous circumstances, Job 15:25-27; notwithstanding all, their estates, riches, and wealth, will come to nothing, Job 15:28-30; and the chapter is closed with an exhortation to such, not to feed themselves up with vain hopes, or trust in uncertain riches, since their destruction would be sure, sudden, and terrible, Job 15:31-35.

Cross References 22

  • 1. Job 8:8; Job 20:4
  • 2. Job 15:24
  • 3. Job 24:1; Job 27:13
  • 4. Job 15:24; Job 18:11; Job 20:25; Job 24:17; Job 27:20
  • 5. Job 20:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:3
  • 6. Job 15:30
  • 7. Job 19:29; Job 27:14; Job 33:18; Job 36:12
  • 8. Job 15:22, 30
  • 9. Job 36:9
  • 10. Psalms 73:7; Psalms 119:70
  • 11. Job 3:14; Isaiah 5:8, 9
  • 12. Job 27:16, 17
  • 13. Job 5:14; Job 15:22
  • 14. Job 15:34; Job 20:26; Job 22:20; Job 31:12
  • 15. Job 4:9
  • 16. Job 35:13; Isaiah 59:4
  • 17. Job 22:16; Ecclesiastes 7:17
  • 18. Job 18:16
  • 19. Job 14:2
  • 20. Job 8:13
  • 21. Job 8:22
  • 22. Psalms 7:14; Isaiah 59:4

Footnotes 12

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