1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 2“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him? 3Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless? 4Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? 5Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless? 6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. 7You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, 8while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. 9You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. 10Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you; 11it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. 12Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are! 13Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? 14Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’ 15Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? 16They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. 17They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’ 18But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. 19The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them: 20‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’ 21Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. 22Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. 23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents 24and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, 25then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. 26Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. 27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways. 29When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly. 30He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Eliphaz shows that a man's goodness profits not God. (1-4) Job accused of oppression. (5-14) The world before the flood. (15-20) Eliphaz exhorts Job to repentance. (21-30) 1-4 Eliphaz considers that, because Job complained so much of his afflictions, he thought God was unjust in afflicting him; but Job was far from thinking so. What Eliphaz says, is unjustly applied to Job, but it is very true, that when God does us good it is not because he is indebted to us. Man's piety is no profit to God, no gain. The gains of religion to men are infinitely greater than the losses of it. God is a Sovereign, who gives no account of his conduct; but he is perfectly wise, just, faithful, good, and merciful. He approves the likeness of his own holiness, and delights in the fruits of his Spirit; he accepts the thankful services of the humble believer, while he rejects the proud claim of the self-confident. 5-14 Eliphaz brought heavy charges against Job, without reason for his accusations, except that Job was visited as he supposed God always visited every wicked man. He charges him with oppression, and that he did harm with his wealth and power in the time of his prosperity. 15-20 Eliphaz would have Job mark the old way that wicked men have trodden, and see what the end of their way was. It is good for us to mark it, that we may not walk therein. But if others are consumed, and we are not, instead of blaming them, and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we ought to be thankful to God, and take it for a warning. 21-30 The answer of Eliphaz wrongly implied that Job had hitherto not known God, and that prosperity in this life would follow his sincere conversion. The counsel Eliphaz here gives is good, though, as to Job, it was built upon a false supposition that he was a stranger and enemy to God. Let us beware of slandering our brethren; and if it be our lot to suffer in this manner, let us remember how Job was treated; yea, how Jesus was reviled, that we may be patient. Let us examine whether there may not be some colour for the slander, and walk watchfully, so as to be clear of all appearances of evil.