Iyov 22:5

5 Is not thy rah great? And thine avonot infinite?

Iyov 22:5 Meaning and Commentary

Job 22:5

Is not thy wickedness great?
&c.] It must be owned it is, it cannot be denied. Indeed, the wickedness of every man's heart is great, it being desperately wicked, full of sin, abounding with it; out of it comes forth everything that is bad, and the wickedness of actions is very great: some sins are indeed greater than others, as those against God, and the first table of the law, are greater than those against men, or the second table; some are like crimson and scarlet, are beams in the eye, while others are comparatively as motes; yet all are great, as committed against God, and as they are breaches of his law; and especially they appear so to sensible sinners, to whom sin is made exceeding sinful; and they see and own themselves to be the chief of sinners, and as such entreat for pardon on that account, see ( Psalms 25:11 ) ;

and thine iniquities infinite?
strictly speaking, nothing is infinite but God; sins may be said in some sense to be infinite, because committed against an infinite God, and cannot be satisfied for by a finite creature, or by finite sufferings, only through the infinite value of the blood of Christ; here it signifies, that his iniquities were "innumerable" F14, as some versions, they were not to be reckoned up, they were so many; or, more literally, there is "no end of thine iniquities" F15, there is no summing of them up; and it may denote his continuance in them; Eliphaz suggests as if Job lived in sin, and allowed himself in it, and was going on in a course of iniquity without end, which was very uncharitable; here he charges him in a general way, and next he descends to particulars.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (anariymhtoi) , Sept.
F15 (Kytwnwel Uq Nya) "non est finis iniquitatibus tuis", Pagninus, Montanus

Iyov 22:5 In-Context

3 Is it any pleasure to Shaddai, that thou art tzaddik? Or is it gain to Him, that thou makest thy ways blameless?
4 Is it for thy yireh [Elohim] that He reproves thee? Will He enter with thee into mishpat?
5 Is not thy rah great? And thine avonot infinite?
6 For thou hast exacted a pledge from thy brother for naught, and stripped the arummim (naked ones) of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given mayim to the weary to drink, and thou hast withheld lechem from the hungry.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.