who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
Parallel Translations
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who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
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Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
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Who said unto God: 'Depart from us'; and what could the Almighty do unto them?
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Job 22:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 21:14-15 They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
- Psalms 4:6 Many say, “Who will show us any good?” Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
- Romans 1:28 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;
- Job 21:10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
- Isaiah 30:11 Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
- Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?
- Matthew 8:29 Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
- Matthew 8:34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us:…
Job 22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
Ver. 17. Which said unto God, Depart from us] Atheists those antediluvians were; if not dogmatic, yet practical, such as Job had described, speaking the like language of hell, Job 21:14. Et malitiose eum Eliphazus talium atheorum numero accenset, saith Mercer: And maliciously doth Eliphaz reckon Job among those odious atheists, so thinking to cut his throat with his own sword, and confute him with his own words. Malice cares not how truly things are set forth, so it may gall or kill.
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And what can the Almighty do for them?] That is, they asked, What can the Almighty do for them? As if God neither could nor would reward their services; as if he would do them neither good nor evil. The Seventy render it, τι επαξεται ημιν, What will he bring upon us? q.d. He threateneth us with a flood, but when, where, and how? Let the day of the Lord come! Isa 5:19. "Where is the promise of his coming?" &c., 2Pe 3:4. Thus they jeered when it was fitter they should have feared: but what was the issue?
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 He reports Job’s words, Job 21:14,15, (where they are…
He reports Job’s words, Job 21:14,15, (where they are explained,) but to a contrary purpose. Job alleged them to show that they prospered notwithstanding their professed wickedness, and Eliphaz produceth them to show that they were cut off for it.
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 Yet he filled their houses with good things,.... With…
Yet he filled their houses with good things,.... With temporal good things, with this world's good, with plenty of providential goodness; earthly enjoyments are good things in themselves, and in their effects, when rightly used, and these wicked men have their share of; this is their portion, they have their good things in this life, and a large abundance of them oftentimes; their hearts are filled with food, and should be with gladness and thankfulness; their bellies are filled with hidden treasures; their barns with corn and wheat, and such like fruits of the earth; their shops with all manner of goods; their dwelling houses with gold and silver, with rich furniture, and all precious substance; and all this is from God, every good gift comes from him; the earth is full of his goodness; though these men say, "what can the Almighty do for them?" Job 22:17; this shows, that what they have they are not deserving of; and what is bestowed upon them is not from any merit in them, but according to the sovereign will and pleasure of God; find this is an aggravation of their wickedness, that notwithstanding he has loaded them with his benefits, and indulged them with such a plenty of good things, yet they spurn at him, rebel against him, and bid him depart from them; which conduct of theirs Eliphaz expresses his abhorrence of:
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me; such impious reasonings, and wicked practices, he was far from justifying; he had them in the utmost detestation, and could not but abhor such vile ingratitude; he makes use of Job's words, Job 21:16; which he thought he could do to better purpose, and with greater sincerity.
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 Who - He repeats Job's words, chap. xxi, 14,…
Who - He repeats Job's words, chap. xxi, 14, 15, but to a contrary purpose. Job alleged them to shew that they prospered notwithstanding their wickedness; and Eliphaz produces them to shew that they were cut off for it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 22:17. Which said unto God, Depart from us…
Job 22:17. Which said unto God, Depart from us — He repeats Job’s words, Job 21:14-15; but to a contrary purpose. Job alleged them to show that some men prospered, notwithstanding their professed wickedness, and Eliphaz produces them to show that they were cut off for it. And, What can the Almighty do for them? — Thus did that wicked generation, whom Noah had in vain called to repentance, as it were, defy God, contemning both his threatenings and his promises.
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 Which said unto God, Depart from us - Notes,…
Which said unto God, Depart from us - Notes, Job 21:14. A very correct description of the old world. They had no wish to retain God in their knowledge. Probably Eliphaz here refers to what Job had said, Job 21:14-15. He had remarked, in describing the wicked, that they said unto God, “Depart from us,” and yet they lived prosperously. “But see,” says Eliphaz,’” a case” where they did this. It was done by the inhabitants of the world before the deluge, and their houses were filled, as you say the houses of the wicked are, with good things, but God swept them all suddenly away.”
And what can the Almighty do for them? - Margin, or,” to.” That is, they demanded what the Almighty could do for them. They did not feel their dependence on him; they did not admit that they needed his aid; they cast off all reliance on him. This whole passage is a most sarcastic retort on what Job had said in Job 21:14-15. He had affirmed that though wicked people used this language, yet that they prospered. Eliphaz takes the same language and applies it to the sinners before the deluge, and says that they expressed themselves just in this manner. The language which Job puts into the mouths of the wicked, had indeed, says Eliphaz, been used. But by whom? By those who lived in security and prosperity. “By the men before the deluge,” says he, “the race that was so wicked that it was necessary to cut them off by the flood. These are the people to whose sentiments Job appeals; these the people with whom he has sympathy!”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Eliphaz designedly uses Job's own words (Job 21:14-15).
Eliphaz designedly uses Job's own words (Job 21:14-15).
do for them--They think they can do everything for themselves.
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 17. Depart from us — Note, Job_21:14. Do for…
17. Depart from us — Note, Job_21:14. Do for them — Do to them, as in the margin. To them, that is, to us; a poetical change of person. Job had spoken in these very terms of the defiant prosperity of the wicked. Eliphaz sarcastically ascribes the same language to the ungodly who lived at the time of the deluge. They reveled in luxury, as Job in general terms said the wicked do, and yet they were overwhelmed by the flood. The retort is both striking and logically complete.
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 17. do for them] Rather, do unto them.
17. do for them] Rather, do unto them.
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 (17) Which said unto God, Depart from us.—Here again…
(17) Which said unto God, Depart from us.—Here again he attributes to Job the very thoughts he had ascribed to the wicked (Job_20:14-15).
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 Who said unto God, Depart from us. (comp. Job_21:14)…
Who said unto God, Depart from us. (comp. Job_21:14) Eliphaz tries, though with no very great success, to turn Job"s words against him. And, What can the Almighty do for them? i.e. and ask what the Almighty can do for them. A change from the second to the third person, without any change of subject, is not unusual in Hebrew. The wicked renounce God, and bid him depart from them conduct which they justify by asking what good he could do them if they acted otherwise. The idea is the same as that of Job_21:15, though not expressed so pointedly. What Eliphaz thinks to gain by echoing Job"s words is not very apparent.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.