Job 22:15

15 Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have trod?

Job 22:15 Meaning and Commentary

Job 22:15

Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
] The evil way that wicked men have walked in ever since man apostatized from God, the way of Cain and his descendants, who were of the wicked one, and lived wicked lives and conversations; "the way of the old world", as Mr. Broughton renders the phrase here, the imagination of the thoughts of whose hearts was evil, and that continually; who filled the earth with rapine and violence, and all flesh corrupted their way with all manner of impurity and wickedness, and indulged themselves in the gratification of their sensual lusts and pleasures; and were, as the Apostle Peter calls them, "the world of the ungodly"; and here, "men of wickedness", or "iniquity" F25; such who gave themselves up to it, and were immersed in it; these trod the paths of sin, and made it a beaten road; they frequented this way, they walked continually in it; their life was a series and course of iniquity, in which they obstinately persisted, and proceeded from evil to evil, to more and more ungodliness. Now Job is asked if he had "marked" this their way and course of life; the evil of their way should have been marked, in order to avoid it; it being an old way should not recommend it; and the end of it, which was sudden ruin and destruction, should be marked to deter from it: but it is suggested that Job kept in this way, and observed it himself, and walked in it; for the words may be rendered, "truly thou keepest the old way", or "the way of the world" F26; trod in the steps of wicked men, was a close follower of them, and companied with them; like manner is Job charged by Elihu, ( Job 34:7 Job 34:8 ) ; and this sense agrees with what goes before.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (Nwa ytm) "viri iniquitatis", Montanus, Mercerus; so Drusius, Michaelis.
F26 (rwmvt Mlwe xrah) "profecto viam seculi servas", Schultens.

Job 22:15 In-Context

13 Therefore you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.'
15 Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have trod?
16 They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away.
17 They said to God, 'Depart from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.