Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Has there ever been a righteous person?Job 15:14, Isaiah 64:6, and Romans 3:10 deny anyone is righteous — all our righteousness is as filthy rags, there is none righteous, no, not one.
Job 4:18(v15)Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.
Job 25:5(v15)Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars are not pure in his sight;
Ecclesiastes 7:20(v14)Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin.
Job 14:4(v14)Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
Proverbs 20:9(v14)Who can say, “I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?”
Show all 29 cross-references
Job 34:7(v16)What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water,
Proverbs 19:28(v16)A corrupt witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down iniquity.
Romans 7:18(v14)For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is…
Job 25:4-6(v14)How then can man be just with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean? Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars…
1 Kings 8:46(v14)If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they…
Psalms 14:3(v14)They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
1 John 1:8-10(v14)If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to…
2 Chronicles 6:36(v14)“If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they…
Job 5:1(v15)“Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Job 9:2(v14)“Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?
Psalms 51:5(v14)Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.
Psalms 53:3(v16)Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
Ecclesiastes 7:29(v14)Behold, I have only found this: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.”
Isaiah 6:2-5(v15)Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. One…
John 3:6(v14)That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Romans 3:9-19(v16)What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is…
Galatians 3:22(v14)But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Ephesians 2:2-3(v14)in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works…
Titus 3:3(v16)For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating…
Job 4:19(v16)How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
Job 20:12(v16)“Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,
Job 42:6(v16)Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Psalms 14:1-3(v16)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. Yahweh…
Romans 1:28-30(v16)Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv14, 16His purpose is to prove that Job as an…
His purpose is to prove that Job as an unjust man, and an hypocrite is punished for his sins, like as he did before, Job 4:8.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv14–16Job 15:14 What [is] man, that he should be…
Job 15:14 What [is] man, that he should be clean? and [he which is] born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Ver. 14. What is man, that he should be clean?] Eliphaz hath now done chiding (it is but time he should), and falls to reasoning; wherein nevertheless he showeth himself an empty and troublesome disputer, urging again the same arguments as before, Job 14:17-19, and not resting satisfied in a sufficient answer. Did Job ever assert himself clean? Said he not the clean contrary in many places? See Job 14:4. Only as washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of his God, 1Co 6:11, he discoursed of his integrity and righteousness; not denying himself otherwise tainted with original sin, and guilty of actual; which he begged pardon for; according to the tenour of the covenant of grace. And therefore Eliphaz might have spared these words, and better bestowed his pains in comforting Job, and exhorting him to patience. The Jesuits have at this day a device in handling texts of Scripture by their nice distinctions to perplex and obscure the clearest places; and for those that are doubtful, not at all to distinguish or illustrate them. Again, in points of controversy they make a great putter about that which we deny not, but say little or nothing to the main business.
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Haec quae desperant renitescere posse relinquunt.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv14–16What is man, Heb. frail, or sick, or wretched…
What is man, Heb. frail, or sick, or wretched man? his mean original and corrupt nature showeth him to be unclean.
Which is born of a woman; from whom he derives infirmity, and corruption, and guilt, and the curse consequent upon it.
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Righteous, to wit, in his own eyes, as thou, O Job, art.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv14–16What is man, that he should be clean?.... Frail,…
What is man, that he should be clean?.... Frail, feeble, mortal man, or woeful man, as Mr. Broughton renders it; since he is sinful, whereby he is become such a weak and dying creature: this question, as well as the following, is put by way of contempt, and as lessening man in a comparative sense, and in order to abate any high conceit of himself; who is not naturally clean, but the reverse, being conceived and born in sin; nor can he be so of himself, nor by any means he is capable of; and however clean he may be in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, yet is not clean in the sight of God, and still less pure than him, his Maker, as in Job 4:17; and indeed cannot be clean at all, but through the grace of God, and blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin:
and he which is born of a woman; a periphrasis of man, Job 14:1;
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that he should be righteous? as no man is naturally; there is none righteous, no, not one; though man originally was made righteous, yet sinning he lost his righteousness, and all his posterity are without any; nor can they become righteous of themselves, or by any works of righteousness done by them; and though they may trust in themselves that they are righteous, and may appear outwardly so before men, yet by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified or accounted righteous in the sight of God, and much less be more just than he, as in Job 4:17; nor can any of the sons of men be made or reckoned righteous but by the obedience of Christ, or by that justifying righteousness that is in him: what Eliphaz here says concerning the impurity, imperfection, and unrighteousness of men, are very great truths; but if he aims at Job, as he seems to do he misses his mark, and mistakes the man, and it is in vain with respect to him, or as a refutation of any notions of his; for Job asserts the corruption and depravity of human nature as strongly as it is expressed here, Job 14:4; nor does he ever claim, but disclaims, sinless perfection, Job 9:20; nor did he expect to be personally justified before God by any righteousness of his own, the imperfection of which he was sensible of, but by the righteousness of his living Redeemer, Job 9:30; but what he pleaded for was the integrity and uprightness of his heart in opposition to hypocrisy he was charged with; and the holiness and righteousness of his life and conversation, in opposition to a course of living in sin, or to his being guilty of some notorious sin or sins for which he was afflicted, as was insinuated. Eliphaz here recurs to his oracle, Job 4:17; and expresses it much to the same sense.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv15–16Saints - In his angels, chap. iv, 18, who…
Saints - In his angels, chap. iv, 18, who are called his saints or holy ones, Deut. xxxiii, 2 Psalm ciii, 20. Who though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Heavens - The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv14–16Verse 14. What is man, that he should be…
Verse 14. What is man, that he should be clean?] מה אנוש mah enosh; what is weak, sickly, dying, miserable man, that he should be clean? This is the import of the original word enosh.
And - born of a woman, that he should be righteous?] It appears, from many passages in the sacred writings, that natural birth was supposed to be a defilement; and that every man born into the world was in a state of moral pollution. Perhaps the word יצדק yitsdak should be translated, that he should justify himself, and not that he should be righteous.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv14, 16Job 15:14-15. What is man? — Hebrew, אנושׁ, enosh,…
Job 15:14-15. What is man? — Hebrew, אנושׁ, enosh, frail, weak, imperfect man; that he should be clean? — That is, that he should pretend to be so; or, that any should expect to find him so: and he that is born of a woman — A sinful woman, from whom he has derived infirmity, corruption, and guilt; that he should be righteous? — Just and holy in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, and especially that he should be such in the sight of the just and holy God? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints — That is, in his angels, (see Job 4:18,) who are called his saints or holy ones, Deu 33:2; Dan 4:13; Dan 4:23. Who, though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight — The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply, and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv14–16What is man that he should be clean? -…
What is man that he should be clean? - The object of Eliphaz in this is to overturn the positions of Job that he was righteous, and had been punished beyond his deserts. He had before maintained Job 4:7, that no one ever perished being innocent, and that the righteous were not cut off. This was with him a favorite position; and indeed the whole drift of the argument maintained by him and his friends was, to prove that uncommon calamities were proof of uncommon guilt. Job had insisted on it that he was a righteous man, and had not deserved the calamities which had come upon him - a position which Eliphaz seems to have regarded as an assertion of innocence. To meet this he now maintains that no one is righteous; that all that are born of women are guilty; and in proof of this he goes back to the oracle which had made so deep an impression on his mind, and to the declaration then made to him that no one was pure before God; Job 4: He does not repeat it exactly as the oracle was then delivered to him, but adverts to the substance of it, and regards it as final and indisputable. The meaning is, “What are all the pretensions of man to purity, when even the angels are regarded as impure and the heavens unclean?”
He which is born of a woman - Another mode of denoting man. No particular argument to maintain the doctrine of man’s depravity is couched in the fact that he is born of a woman. The sense is, simply, how can anyone of the human family be pure?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv14–16Just. Few are free from all spot; but venial…
Just. Few are free from all spot; but venial sins do not hinder a man from being styled truly virtuous. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv14–16Eliphaz repeats the revelation (Job 4:17) in substance, but…
Eliphaz repeats the revelation (Job 4:17) in substance, but using Job's own words (see on Job 14:1, on "born of a woman") to strike him with his own weapons.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv14–1614. Born of a woman — The words of…
14. Born of a woman — The words of Job are now turned upon him, and give point to the citations Eliphaz makes from his wonderful revelation, Job_4:17. Job’s admission “born of a woman,” (see note Job_14:1,) justifies Eliphaz in seizing again his fallen weapon — “Job a sinner.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv14–1614. What is there to justify such passion—thy pretended…
14. What is there to justify such passion—thy pretended innocence? What is man that he should be clean? cf. ch. Job_14:1. Eliphaz recurs again to his principles formerly enunciated, ch. Job_4:17 seq., for his former speech is in his mind throughout.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv14–16(14) What is man?—This is the ceaseless burden.·(See Job_4:17;…
(14) What is man?—This is the ceaseless burden.·(See Job_4:17; Job_9:2; Job_25:4, &c.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv14–16What is man, that he should be clean? A…
What is man, that he should be clean? A vain "beating of the air." Eliphaz had asserted the same truth in his first speech, when he said, "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he taxeth with folly: how m u ch less in them that dwell in houses of clay"whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?"; (Job_4:17-19) and Job had given his full assent to it, when he exclaimed, "I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand". (Job_9:2, Job_9:3) The true question was not whether Job or any other man was" clean," i.e. wholly sinless" but whether Job had sinned so deeply and grievously that his sufferings were the natural and just punishment for his sins. And a mere repetition of the statement that all men were sinful and unclean was off the point nihil ad rem-altogether futile and superfluous. And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?. (Job_25:4) The clause is a mere variant of the preceding one.
Vers. 14-16. Human sinfuless.
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Eliphaz accuses Job of his attempt to justify himself, and speaks with great apparent acerbity of spirit. His words are cutting and cruel. He secretly declares Job to be sinful in proportion to his sufferings. He branches into generalities, and affirms the general human sinfulness with the quiet accusation, "All men are sinful; therefore thou art. Sorrow is the punishment of the wicked; therefore thy suffering is proof of thy guilt." Eliphaz"s view is imperfect, and needs to be supplemented. Job, in his struggling, cries aloud for that supplement. It is found only in the assurance of the future, and in the fact that, with the future in view, it pleases the Almighty to discipline and prepare men for it. Suffering is seen to be a method of that discipline. Of human sinfulness it is affirmed
I IT IS AN INHERENT CONDITION OF HUMAN LIFE. "What is man, that he should be clean? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" as though he had said, "It is of the nature of man to be unclean." "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." The human nature derived from the imperfect and unholy is necessarily unholy and imperfect. Evidences of this may be seen in the general observed depravity of man; in the necessity for very powerful influences to check sinfulness; in the constant recognition of the Fall in Holy Scripture; in the difficulty with which even good men preserve their goodness; and in the sad examples of deep degradation in all lands.
II THIS SINFULNESS IS MOST APPARENT TO THE DIVINE JUDGMENT. Men are not always alive to their own sinfulness. Not apprehending righteousness, they have not an accurate standard by which to judge themselves. But in the Divine view the very angels, who are superior to men, are not pure: "The heavens are not clean in his sight.
III THIS SINFULNESS EXHIBITS ITSELF IN GREAT IMPURITY OF LIFE AND SPIRIT. Happily there are many exceptions, and we live in brighter, better times than did Job; yet how truly is it still to be said, "How much more abominable and filthy is man!
IV THIS SINFULNESS IS ESPECIALLY SHOWN IN AN ACTIVE PREFERENCE OF EVIL BEFORE GOOD. He "drinketh iniquity like water." Eliphaz has been led from general views to single out the sad cases which all may observe, and which bear such painful testimony, that if human life be not checked in its natural tendencies, it degenerates to the worst conditions of evil.
Therefore:
1. Life to be guarded with great care, lest degenerating influences exert destructive power over it.
2. The most potent corrections to be sought; the need of regeneration.
3. The instruction, grace, and sanctification of the Spirit of God to be thankfully received and most carefully cherished. R.G.
Vers. 14-16. God"s holiness and man"s sin.
Eliphaz takes up Job"s words, (Job_14:1-4) but turns them against their author. Job had spoken of inherited frailty as a ground for pity; Eliphaz seizes on it as an accusation of guilt. How dare this puny, imperfect creature, man, boast of his innocence in the sight of the holy God?
I GOD"S HOLINESS IS INCOMPARABLE. This is an idea which we take for granted. Yet it was not found in most heathen religions. Monotheism is commonly reckoned as the great peculiarity of the Hebrew faith; but a more striking peculiarity is holiness. The neighbouring divinities were just representations of magnified human passions, often more degraded and immoral than men. The revelation of the true God shows that he is not only above all human passion; he is perfect in holiness. We can find no image with which to compare his purity. The mountain is high above the plain, hut mountain and plain are equally low when we think of the stars. Our goodness may mean something among men, but it does not extend to God. (Psa_16:2) Even the very angels veil their faces before him, awed by the majesty of absolute goodness. Yet God"s goodness in being absolute is not so because he is infinite. If it were, it would be unfair to complain that we could not approach it. An inch of snow may be as pure as an acre of snow.
II GOD"S HOLINESS REVEALS MAN"S SIN. We do not know our sin till we see it in the light of God. There are in the farmyard fowls black and white. But when the snow has fallen the white fowls look so no longer, because by the side of the Heaven-sent purity of the snow their plumage is seen to be of a very impure colour. There are men of various character, and some are accounted white-souled saints. But when placed by the side of God"s holiness these are the first to confess that their righteousness is as filthy rags. Christ revealed the sin of his age in contrast to his own holiness. We do not own our sinfulness because we do not know God"s goodness. It is not the Law, but God"s goodness in Christ, that most makes us feel our sin.
III GOD"S HOLINESS CANNOT ENDURE SIN. Sin may stand uurebuked and unchecked in the world, because all are "tarred with the same brush." Thus there is a dangerous condoning of conventional evil. But this is not possible with God. Holiness and sin are opposed as light and darkness. The thought of God"s holiness alone makes men tremble. "Eternal Light, Eternal Light! How pure the soul must be When, placed within thy searching sight, It shrinks not, but with calm delight Can live and look on thee!
Therefore God must deal with sin, to banish and destroy it. If the sinner cleaves to his sin he cannot but share in its doom. If, however, he will detach himself from it, it will be destroyed, while he is saved. God hates the sin, not the sinner. Now, God"s holy hatred of sin should be regarded by us as a reason for great thankfulness. For the sin he hates is just our most deadly enemy. If he destroys our sin, he saves our soul from its fatal foe. On the other hand, only God can give the purity which is needed for his presence. We may make ourselves seem fair before man. Only God can purify us so that we are fit for his presence, only the blood of Christ can cleanse from all sin. W.F.A. (1Jn_1:7)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v14What is man that he should be clean?
Job_15:14-16
What is man that he should be clean?
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Original sin
Of all the truths acknowledged and assumed in this ancient book, we find none more clearly or readily confessed than that of mans original sin and native corruption. What is man that he should be clean? When a question is asked in argument and left unanswered, it is the strongest possible form of denial. It is more than saying no man is clean or righteous. It represents such a supposition as mans priority or holiness to be preposterous and absurd. Man, as man, and as born of woman by natural descent, is necessarily imperfect and impure. God is Himself the pure and perfect one, and nothing is pure or perfect but what is in God. All other purity and perfection is therefore comparative. Man may be pure and perfect as a man, while he is still very far from the purity and holiness of God. God has other and higher beings than man. Compare man with these. By saints here are meant the holy angels. God is said not to put trust in them. Their perfection is derived and comparative, not absolute. Contemplate man as he actually is; take the positive side of the charge brought against him in the text. II he is not clean, and cannot be righteous in Gods sight, then what is he? How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water. It might be urged that this is the representation made of the case by an angry and unscrupulous disputant, only anxious to establish his own position. But does not Job himself allow much the same? Is he not brought to say, Behold, I am vile. I abhor myself? Such representations abound in Scripture. Away, then, with all human maxims and all worldly opinions, which only throw a false gloss over the heart, and conceal its hidden corruption without touching it. Let us always look at ourselves in the looking glass of Gods Word, and not in the deceitful mirror of our own judgment, or the flattering worlds opinion. (W. E. Light, M. A.)
Holiness imperfect in the best men
Archbishop Usher was once asked to write a treatise upon sanctification; this he promised to do, but six months rolled away and the good Archbishop had not written a sentence. He said to a friend, I have not begun the treatise, yet I cannot confess to a breach of my promise, for to tell you the truth I have done my best to write upon the subject; but when I came to look into my own heart I saw so little of sanctification there, and found that so much which I could have written would have been merely by rote as a parrot might have talked, that I had not the face to write it. Yet if ever there was a man renowned for holiness it was Archbishop Usher; if ever there was a saintly man who seemed to be one of the seraphic spirits permitted to stray beyond the companionship of his kind among poor earthworms here, it was Usher, yet this is the confession he makes concerning himself. Where, then, shall we hide our diminished heads? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v15(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trust
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v14Eliphaz Accuses Job of Impiety
Eliphaz Accuses Job of Impiety
v. 14. What is man that he should be clean, and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous? Eliphaz here takes up a point which he had broached in his first discourse, 4:17-20, and which Job himself had conceded, 14:1-4. If Job admitted man’s mortality and frailty in general, he should also concede his own particular wickedness.
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v. 15. Behold, He putteth no trust in His saints, not even in His holy angels, because they are finite and beneath Him in dignity; yea, the heavens, the very home of bliss, are not clean in His sight, they do not measure up to the essential purity of God’s nature.
v. 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man, or, "much less, then, is the utterly corrupt man," which drinketh iniquity like water? The characteristic of natural man is that he is so desirous for wickedness in one form or other that he pants for it like a thirsty person. After this sharp arraignment of Job, Eliphaz attempts a more objective form of rebuke.
v. 17. I will show thee, hear me, giving Job the information which he needed; and that which I have seen, what he has gained by experience, I will declare,
v. 18. which wise men have told from their fathers and have not hid it, setting it forth without concealment, without deception, without hypocrisy or hidden meanness;
v. 19. unto whom alone the earth was given, their tribe alone inhabited the land where they first settled, and no stranger passed among them, the purity of their race had been maintained from the earliest times, a fact which was considered the sign of the highest nobility. Eliphaz now sets forth this doctrine of the moral order of the world, in order to convince Job of the justice of his sufferings.
v. 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, writhing, twisting, and trembling in torments of one form or other, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor, rather, a definite number of years is set aside for the tyrant, the one who commits violence in any manner.
v. 21. A dreadful sound is in his ears, noises that fill him with terror; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him, falling upon him in the midst of peace, when he is expecting no such evil.
v. 22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, he despairs of ever being relieved of his misfortune, and he is waited for of the sword, marked out, destined for its attack and for destruction by it.
v. 23. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? In the midst of plenty the miser is tortured by anxiety concerning his food. He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand, namely, to seize him and to thrust him into punishment of the most severe kind.
v. 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid, fill him with terror, anguish, find alarm; they shall prevail against him, overpower, overthrow him, as a king ready to the battle, the rush of the sudden attack sweeping over him and leaving him prostrate and beaten,
v. 25. For he, the wicked one, stretcheth out his hand against God, in a bold show of rebellion, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty, boasting himself in proud insolence.
v. 26. He runneth upon him, even on his neck, that is, with his neck rigid, with all the muscles of his body taut for the attack, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers, as the leader of a whole army of rebels he rushes forward with his weapons of offense and of defense,
v. 27. because he covereth his face with his fatness, a mark of his unbounded greed, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks, having gathered lumps of fat upon his loins as a result of his immoderate indulgence.
v. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps, about to fall into ruins. The description is that of a tyrant who sets aside all regard for the opinion of men, living even among the ruins of an accursed city. The result of such unparalleled insolence is now shown.
v. 29. He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, his wealth would have no stability, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth, literally, "not bow down to the earth the gains of such"; that is, even if the wicked succeed in having the finest stand of grain, the ears do not fill out; they may have a show of opulence, but it is not substantial.
v. 30. He shall not depart, not escape, out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, a parching heat withering his shoots, destroying his hopes for new gains, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away, the Lord Himself sending the last great catastrophe upon him.
v. 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity, rather, let him not trust in vanity, he deceives himself; for vanity shall be his recompense, everyone who trusts in the vain possessions of this world will find himself rewarded with their hollow emptiness.
v. 32. It shall be accomplished before his time, before his appointed time has run its course, the fulfillment of the evil will strike him, and his branch shall not be green, the picture of a decaying, palm-tree being applied to the wicked person.
v. 33. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, losing his gains before he has had any enjoyment of them, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. As the olive-tree, every other year, casts its blossoms without bearing fruit, so the godless will not realize their hopes, which are directed entirely upon vanity.
v. 34. For the congregation of hypocrites, the company of the wicked and profligate, shall be desolate, barren, having no lasting good fortune, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery, the fire of God’s judgment devours the dwellings of those who build up their substance on bribery and wickedness.
v. 35. They conceive mischief, pregnant with misery, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit, bearing it, bringing it forth, as a child of their wickedness. The point of this speech of Eliphaz is, of course, directed against Job, whom he wants to include in the category of such wicked and godless people as he has here described. The same bad habit of drawing unwarranted conclusions and placing innocent men under suspicion is employed to this day. and believers must guard most carefully against the practise of judging and condemning others.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v15This word is used here to draw Job's attention…
See
This word is used here to draw Job's attention to what is said next. AT: "Listen"
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his holy ones
"his angels"
clean
Something that God considers spiritually acceptable is spoken of as if it were physically clean. (See: Metaphor)
in his sight
Here sight represents judgment or evaluation. AT: "in his judgment" (See: Metaphor)
abominable and corrupt
These two words basically mean the same thing and emphasize how wicked humans are. (See: Doublet)
who drinks iniquity like water
This describes iniquity as if it were water you can drink. It compares how the evil man desires to commit sin to how readily he desires to drink cool water. AT: "who love iniquity as much as they love a cup of fresh water" or "who commit evil deeds as often as they drink water" (See: Metaphor)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv14–1515:14 Can any mortal be pure? Eliphaz repeated himself…
15:14 Can any mortal be pure? Eliphaz repeated himself (4:17-19) and Job (7:17; 14:4). • anyone born of a woman: Both “mortal” and “born of woman” imply weakness.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 His purpose is to prove that Job as an…
His purpose is to prove that Job as an unjust man, and an hypocrite is punished for his sins, like as he did before, Job 4:8.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Job 15:14 What [is] man, that he should be…
Job 15:14 What [is] man, that he should be clean? and [he which is] born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Ver. 14. What is man, that he should be clean?] Eliphaz hath now done chiding (it is but time he should), and falls to reasoning; wherein nevertheless he showeth himself an empty and troublesome disputer, urging again the same arguments as before, Job 14:17-19, and not resting satisfied in a sufficient answer. Did Job ever assert himself clean? Said he not the clean contrary in many places? See Job 14:4. Only as washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of his God, 1Co 6:11, he discoursed of his integrity and righteousness; not denying himself otherwise tainted with original sin, and guilty of actual; which he begged pardon for; according to the tenour of the covenant of grace. And therefore Eliphaz might have spared these words, and better bestowed his pains in comforting Job, and exhorting him to patience. The Jesuits have at this day a device in handling texts of Scripture by their nice distinctions to perplex and obscure the clearest places; and for those that are doubtful, not at all to distinguish or illustrate them. Again, in points of controversy they make a great putter about that which we deny not, but say little or nothing to the main business.
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Haec quae desperant renitescere posse relinquunt.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–16 What is man, Heb. frail, or sick, or wretched…
What is man, Heb. frail, or sick, or wretched man? his mean original and corrupt nature showeth him to be unclean.
Which is born of a woman; from whom he derives infirmity, and corruption, and guilt, and the curse consequent upon it.
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Righteous, to wit, in his own eyes, as thou, O Job, art.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–16 What is man, that he should be clean?.... Frail,…
What is man, that he should be clean?.... Frail, feeble, mortal man, or woeful man, as Mr. Broughton renders it; since he is sinful, whereby he is become such a weak and dying creature: this question, as well as the following, is put by way of contempt, and as lessening man in a comparative sense, and in order to abate any high conceit of himself; who is not naturally clean, but the reverse, being conceived and born in sin; nor can he be so of himself, nor by any means he is capable of; and however clean he may be in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, yet is not clean in the sight of God, and still less pure than him, his Maker, as in Job 4:17; and indeed cannot be clean at all, but through the grace of God, and blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin:
and he which is born of a woman; a periphrasis of man, Job 14:1;
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that he should be righteous? as no man is naturally; there is none righteous, no, not one; though man originally was made righteous, yet sinning he lost his righteousness, and all his posterity are without any; nor can they become righteous of themselves, or by any works of righteousness done by them; and though they may trust in themselves that they are righteous, and may appear outwardly so before men, yet by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified or accounted righteous in the sight of God, and much less be more just than he, as in Job 4:17; nor can any of the sons of men be made or reckoned righteous but by the obedience of Christ, or by that justifying righteousness that is in him: what Eliphaz here says concerning the impurity, imperfection, and unrighteousness of men, are very great truths; but if he aims at Job, as he seems to do he misses his mark, and mistakes the man, and it is in vain with respect to him, or as a refutation of any notions of his; for Job asserts the corruption and depravity of human nature as strongly as it is expressed here, Job 14:4; nor does he ever claim, but disclaims, sinless perfection, Job 9:20; nor did he expect to be personally justified before God by any righteousness of his own, the imperfection of which he was sensible of, but by the righteousness of his living Redeemer, Job 9:30; but what he pleaded for was the integrity and uprightness of his heart in opposition to hypocrisy he was charged with; and the holiness and righteousness of his life and conversation, in opposition to a course of living in sin, or to his being guilty of some notorious sin or sins for which he was afflicted, as was insinuated. Eliphaz here recurs to his oracle, Job 4:17; and expresses it much to the same sense.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Saints - In his angels, chap. iv, 18, who…
Saints - In his angels, chap. iv, 18, who are called his saints or holy ones, Deut. xxxiii, 2 Psalm ciii, 20. Who though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Heavens - The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Verse 14. What is man, that he should be…
Verse 14. What is man, that he should be clean?] מה אנוש mah enosh; what is weak, sickly, dying, miserable man, that he should be clean? This is the import of the original word enosh.
And - born of a woman, that he should be righteous?] It appears, from many passages in the sacred writings, that natural birth was supposed to be a defilement; and that every man born into the world was in a state of moral pollution. Perhaps the word יצדק yitsdak should be translated, that he should justify himself, and not that he should be righteous.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Job 15:14-15. What is man? — Hebrew, אנושׁ, enosh,…
Job 15:14-15. What is man? — Hebrew, אנושׁ, enosh, frail, weak, imperfect man; that he should be clean? — That is, that he should pretend to be so; or, that any should expect to find him so: and he that is born of a woman — A sinful woman, from whom he has derived infirmity, corruption, and guilt; that he should be righteous? — Just and holy in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, and especially that he should be such in the sight of the just and holy God? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints — That is, in his angels, (see Job 4:18,) who are called his saints or holy ones, Deu 33:2; Dan 4:13; Dan 4:23. Who, though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight — The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply, and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–16 What is man that he should be clean? -…
What is man that he should be clean? - The object of Eliphaz in this is to overturn the positions of Job that he was righteous, and had been punished beyond his deserts. He had before maintained Job 4:7, that no one ever perished being innocent, and that the righteous were not cut off. This was with him a favorite position; and indeed the whole drift of the argument maintained by him and his friends was, to prove that uncommon calamities were proof of uncommon guilt. Job had insisted on it that he was a righteous man, and had not deserved the calamities which had come upon him - a position which Eliphaz seems to have regarded as an assertion of innocence. To meet this he now maintains that no one is righteous; that all that are born of women are guilty; and in proof of this he goes back to the oracle which had made so deep an impression on his mind, and to the declaration then made to him that no one was pure before God; Job 4: He does not repeat it exactly as the oracle was then delivered to him, but adverts to the substance of it, and regards it as final and indisputable. The meaning is, “What are all the pretensions of man to purity, when even the angels are regarded as impure and the heavens unclean?”
He which is born of a woman - Another mode of denoting man. No particular argument to maintain the doctrine of man’s depravity is couched in the fact that he is born of a woman. The sense is, simply, how can anyone of the human family be pure?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Just. Few are free from all spot; but venial…
Just. Few are free from all spot; but venial sins do not hinder a man from being styled truly virtuous. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Eliphaz repeats the revelation (Job 4:17) in substance, but…
Eliphaz repeats the revelation (Job 4:17) in substance, but using Job's own words (see on Job 14:1, on "born of a woman") to strike him with his own weapons.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. Born of a woman — The words of…
14. Born of a woman — The words of Job are now turned upon him, and give point to the citations Eliphaz makes from his wonderful revelation, Job_4:17. Job’s admission “born of a woman,” (see note Job_14:1,) justifies Eliphaz in seizing again his fallen weapon — “Job a sinner.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. What is there to justify such passion—thy pretended…
14. What is there to justify such passion—thy pretended innocence? What is man that he should be clean? cf. ch. Job_14:1. Eliphaz recurs again to his principles formerly enunciated, ch. Job_4:17 seq., for his former speech is in his mind throughout.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 (14) What is man?—This is the ceaseless burden.·(See Job_4:17;…
(14) What is man?—This is the ceaseless burden.·(See Job_4:17; Job_9:2; Job_25:4, &c.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–16 What is man, that he should be clean? A…
What is man, that he should be clean? A vain "beating of the air." Eliphaz had asserted the same truth in his first speech, when he said, "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he taxeth with folly: how m u ch less in them that dwell in houses of clay"whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?"; (Job_4:17-19) and Job had given his full assent to it, when he exclaimed, "I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand". (Job_9:2, Job_9:3) The true question was not whether Job or any other man was" clean," i.e. wholly sinless" but whether Job had sinned so deeply and grievously that his sufferings were the natural and just punishment for his sins. And a mere repetition of the statement that all men were sinful and unclean was off the point nihil ad rem-altogether futile and superfluous. And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?. (Job_25:4) The clause is a mere variant of the preceding one.
Vers. 14-16. Human sinfuless.
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Eliphaz accuses Job of his attempt to justify himself, and speaks with great apparent acerbity of spirit. His words are cutting and cruel. He secretly declares Job to be sinful in proportion to his sufferings. He branches into generalities, and affirms the general human sinfulness with the quiet accusation, "All men are sinful; therefore thou art. Sorrow is the punishment of the wicked; therefore thy suffering is proof of thy guilt." Eliphaz"s view is imperfect, and needs to be supplemented. Job, in his struggling, cries aloud for that supplement. It is found only in the assurance of the future, and in the fact that, with the future in view, it pleases the Almighty to discipline and prepare men for it. Suffering is seen to be a method of that discipline. Of human sinfulness it is affirmed
I IT IS AN INHERENT CONDITION OF HUMAN LIFE. "What is man, that he should be clean? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" as though he had said, "It is of the nature of man to be unclean." "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." The human nature derived from the imperfect and unholy is necessarily unholy and imperfect. Evidences of this may be seen in the general observed depravity of man; in the necessity for very powerful influences to check sinfulness; in the constant recognition of the Fall in Holy Scripture; in the difficulty with which even good men preserve their goodness; and in the sad examples of deep degradation in all lands.
II THIS SINFULNESS IS MOST APPARENT TO THE DIVINE JUDGMENT. Men are not always alive to their own sinfulness. Not apprehending righteousness, they have not an accurate standard by which to judge themselves. But in the Divine view the very angels, who are superior to men, are not pure: "The heavens are not clean in his sight.
III THIS SINFULNESS EXHIBITS ITSELF IN GREAT IMPURITY OF LIFE AND SPIRIT. Happily there are many exceptions, and we live in brighter, better times than did Job; yet how truly is it still to be said, "How much more abominable and filthy is man!
IV THIS SINFULNESS IS ESPECIALLY SHOWN IN AN ACTIVE PREFERENCE OF EVIL BEFORE GOOD. He "drinketh iniquity like water." Eliphaz has been led from general views to single out the sad cases which all may observe, and which bear such painful testimony, that if human life be not checked in its natural tendencies, it degenerates to the worst conditions of evil.
Therefore:
1. Life to be guarded with great care, lest degenerating influences exert destructive power over it.
2. The most potent corrections to be sought; the need of regeneration.
3. The instruction, grace, and sanctification of the Spirit of God to be thankfully received and most carefully cherished. R.G.
Vers. 14-16. God"s holiness and man"s sin.
Eliphaz takes up Job"s words, (Job_14:1-4) but turns them against their author. Job had spoken of inherited frailty as a ground for pity; Eliphaz seizes on it as an accusation of guilt. How dare this puny, imperfect creature, man, boast of his innocence in the sight of the holy God?
I GOD"S HOLINESS IS INCOMPARABLE. This is an idea which we take for granted. Yet it was not found in most heathen religions. Monotheism is commonly reckoned as the great peculiarity of the Hebrew faith; but a more striking peculiarity is holiness. The neighbouring divinities were just representations of magnified human passions, often more degraded and immoral than men. The revelation of the true God shows that he is not only above all human passion; he is perfect in holiness. We can find no image with which to compare his purity. The mountain is high above the plain, hut mountain and plain are equally low when we think of the stars. Our goodness may mean something among men, but it does not extend to God. (Psa_16:2) Even the very angels veil their faces before him, awed by the majesty of absolute goodness. Yet God"s goodness in being absolute is not so because he is infinite. If it were, it would be unfair to complain that we could not approach it. An inch of snow may be as pure as an acre of snow.
II GOD"S HOLINESS REVEALS MAN"S SIN. We do not know our sin till we see it in the light of God. There are in the farmyard fowls black and white. But when the snow has fallen the white fowls look so no longer, because by the side of the Heaven-sent purity of the snow their plumage is seen to be of a very impure colour. There are men of various character, and some are accounted white-souled saints. But when placed by the side of God"s holiness these are the first to confess that their righteousness is as filthy rags. Christ revealed the sin of his age in contrast to his own holiness. We do not own our sinfulness because we do not know God"s goodness. It is not the Law, but God"s goodness in Christ, that most makes us feel our sin.
III GOD"S HOLINESS CANNOT ENDURE SIN. Sin may stand uurebuked and unchecked in the world, because all are "tarred with the same brush." Thus there is a dangerous condoning of conventional evil. But this is not possible with God. Holiness and sin are opposed as light and darkness. The thought of God"s holiness alone makes men tremble. "Eternal Light, Eternal Light! How pure the soul must be When, placed within thy searching sight, It shrinks not, but with calm delight Can live and look on thee!
Therefore God must deal with sin, to banish and destroy it. If the sinner cleaves to his sin he cannot but share in its doom. If, however, he will detach himself from it, it will be destroyed, while he is saved. God hates the sin, not the sinner. Now, God"s holy hatred of sin should be regarded by us as a reason for great thankfulness. For the sin he hates is just our most deadly enemy. If he destroys our sin, he saves our soul from its fatal foe. On the other hand, only God can give the purity which is needed for his presence. We may make ourselves seem fair before man. Only God can purify us so that we are fit for his presence, only the blood of Christ can cleanse from all sin. W.F.A. (1Jn_1:7)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 What is man that he should be clean?
Job_15:14-16
What is man that he should be clean?
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Original sin
Of all the truths acknowledged and assumed in this ancient book, we find none more clearly or readily confessed than that of mans original sin and native corruption. What is man that he should be clean? When a question is asked in argument and left unanswered, it is the strongest possible form of denial. It is more than saying no man is clean or righteous. It represents such a supposition as mans priority or holiness to be preposterous and absurd. Man, as man, and as born of woman by natural descent, is necessarily imperfect and impure. God is Himself the pure and perfect one, and nothing is pure or perfect but what is in God. All other purity and perfection is therefore comparative. Man may be pure and perfect as a man, while he is still very far from the purity and holiness of God. God has other and higher beings than man. Compare man with these. By saints here are meant the holy angels. God is said not to put trust in them. Their perfection is derived and comparative, not absolute. Contemplate man as he actually is; take the positive side of the charge brought against him in the text. II he is not clean, and cannot be righteous in Gods sight, then what is he? How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water. It might be urged that this is the representation made of the case by an angry and unscrupulous disputant, only anxious to establish his own position. But does not Job himself allow much the same? Is he not brought to say, Behold, I am vile. I abhor myself? Such representations abound in Scripture. Away, then, with all human maxims and all worldly opinions, which only throw a false gloss over the heart, and conceal its hidden corruption without touching it. Let us always look at ourselves in the looking glass of Gods Word, and not in the deceitful mirror of our own judgment, or the flattering worlds opinion. (W. E. Light, M. A.)
Holiness imperfect in the best men
Archbishop Usher was once asked to write a treatise upon sanctification; this he promised to do, but six months rolled away and the good Archbishop had not written a sentence. He said to a friend, I have not begun the treatise, yet I cannot confess to a breach of my promise, for to tell you the truth I have done my best to write upon the subject; but when I came to look into my own heart I saw so little of sanctification there, and found that so much which I could have written would have been merely by rote as a parrot might have talked, that I had not the face to write it. Yet if ever there was a man renowned for holiness it was Archbishop Usher; if ever there was a saintly man who seemed to be one of the seraphic spirits permitted to stray beyond the companionship of his kind among poor earthworms here, it was Usher, yet this is the confession he makes concerning himself. Where, then, shall we hide our diminished heads? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v15 (See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trust
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v14 Eliphaz Accuses Job of Impiety
Eliphaz Accuses Job of Impiety
v. 14. What is man that he should be clean, and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous? Eliphaz here takes up a point which he had broached in his first discourse, 4:17-20, and which Job himself had conceded, 14:1-4. If Job admitted man’s mortality and frailty in general, he should also concede his own particular wickedness.
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v. 15. Behold, He putteth no trust in His saints, not even in His holy angels, because they are finite and beneath Him in dignity; yea, the heavens, the very home of bliss, are not clean in His sight, they do not measure up to the essential purity of God’s nature.
v. 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man, or, "much less, then, is the utterly corrupt man," which drinketh iniquity like water? The characteristic of natural man is that he is so desirous for wickedness in one form or other that he pants for it like a thirsty person. After this sharp arraignment of Job, Eliphaz attempts a more objective form of rebuke.
v. 17. I will show thee, hear me, giving Job the information which he needed; and that which I have seen, what he has gained by experience, I will declare,
v. 18. which wise men have told from their fathers and have not hid it, setting it forth without concealment, without deception, without hypocrisy or hidden meanness;
v. 19. unto whom alone the earth was given, their tribe alone inhabited the land where they first settled, and no stranger passed among them, the purity of their race had been maintained from the earliest times, a fact which was considered the sign of the highest nobility. Eliphaz now sets forth this doctrine of the moral order of the world, in order to convince Job of the justice of his sufferings.
v. 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, writhing, twisting, and trembling in torments of one form or other, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor, rather, a definite number of years is set aside for the tyrant, the one who commits violence in any manner.
v. 21. A dreadful sound is in his ears, noises that fill him with terror; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him, falling upon him in the midst of peace, when he is expecting no such evil.
v. 22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, he despairs of ever being relieved of his misfortune, and he is waited for of the sword, marked out, destined for its attack and for destruction by it.
v. 23. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? In the midst of plenty the miser is tortured by anxiety concerning his food. He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand, namely, to seize him and to thrust him into punishment of the most severe kind.
v. 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid, fill him with terror, anguish, find alarm; they shall prevail against him, overpower, overthrow him, as a king ready to the battle, the rush of the sudden attack sweeping over him and leaving him prostrate and beaten,
v. 25. For he, the wicked one, stretcheth out his hand against God, in a bold show of rebellion, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty, boasting himself in proud insolence.
v. 26. He runneth upon him, even on his neck, that is, with his neck rigid, with all the muscles of his body taut for the attack, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers, as the leader of a whole army of rebels he rushes forward with his weapons of offense and of defense,
v. 27. because he covereth his face with his fatness, a mark of his unbounded greed, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks, having gathered lumps of fat upon his loins as a result of his immoderate indulgence.
v. 28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps, about to fall into ruins. The description is that of a tyrant who sets aside all regard for the opinion of men, living even among the ruins of an accursed city. The result of such unparalleled insolence is now shown.
v. 29. He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, his wealth would have no stability, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth, literally, "not bow down to the earth the gains of such"; that is, even if the wicked succeed in having the finest stand of grain, the ears do not fill out; they may have a show of opulence, but it is not substantial.
v. 30. He shall not depart, not escape, out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, a parching heat withering his shoots, destroying his hopes for new gains, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away, the Lord Himself sending the last great catastrophe upon him.
v. 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity, rather, let him not trust in vanity, he deceives himself; for vanity shall be his recompense, everyone who trusts in the vain possessions of this world will find himself rewarded with their hollow emptiness.
v. 32. It shall be accomplished before his time, before his appointed time has run its course, the fulfillment of the evil will strike him, and his branch shall not be green, the picture of a decaying, palm-tree being applied to the wicked person.
v. 33. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, losing his gains before he has had any enjoyment of them, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. As the olive-tree, every other year, casts its blossoms without bearing fruit, so the godless will not realize their hopes, which are directed entirely upon vanity.
v. 34. For the congregation of hypocrites, the company of the wicked and profligate, shall be desolate, barren, having no lasting good fortune, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery, the fire of God’s judgment devours the dwellings of those who build up their substance on bribery and wickedness.
v. 35. They conceive mischief, pregnant with misery, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit, bearing it, bringing it forth, as a child of their wickedness. The point of this speech of Eliphaz is, of course, directed against Job, whom he wants to include in the category of such wicked and godless people as he has here described. The same bad habit of drawing unwarranted conclusions and placing innocent men under suspicion is employed to this day. and believers must guard most carefully against the practise of judging and condemning others.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 This word is used here to draw Job's attention…
See
This word is used here to draw Job's attention to what is said next. AT: "Listen"
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his holy ones
"his angels"
clean
Something that God considers spiritually acceptable is spoken of as if it were physically clean. (See: Metaphor)
in his sight
Here sight represents judgment or evaluation. AT: "in his judgment" (See: Metaphor)
abominable and corrupt
These two words basically mean the same thing and emphasize how wicked humans are. (See: Doublet)
who drinks iniquity like water
This describes iniquity as if it were water you can drink. It compares how the evil man desires to commit sin to how readily he desires to drink cool water. AT: "who love iniquity as much as they love a cup of fresh water" or "who commit evil deeds as often as they drink water" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
God
trust
holy
heaven
abomination
corrupt
iniquity
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14–15 15:14 Can any mortal be pure? Eliphaz repeated himself…
15:14 Can any mortal be pure? Eliphaz repeated himself (4:17-19) and Job (7:17; 14:4). • anyone born of a woman: Both “mortal” and “born of woman” imply weakness.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.