Job 22 Study Notes: Eliphaz Accuses Job of Great Sins
In his third speech Eliphaz argues that God gains nothing from human goodness and charges Job with cruelty to the poor, widows, and orphans, accusations the book’s opening shows to be false. He then urges Job to make peace with God and promises restored blessing and answered prayer.
General
In Job 22:15-18, how does Eliphaz respond to Job’s claim that the wicked often live long and prosper?
Answer: He says such men were cut off early and their foundations washed out
Eliphaz asks whether Job will keep to the old road that evildoers have traveled (22:15). Those men, he says, were carried off early, with a flood washing out their foundations (22:16). They told God to go away and asked what the Almighty could do to them, even though He had blessed their homes with plenty (22:17-18). This echoes Job’s own description of the prosperous wicked (21:14-15), and Eliphaz even repeats Job’s line about keeping far from their counsel (21:16). Where Job said the wicked often live long, Eliphaz insists they die early, and he adds that the righteous see their ruin and rejoice (22:19-20).
- Job 22:15-18 (BSB)“Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’ But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”Eliphaz claims the wicked of old were cut off before their time.
- Job 21:14-15 (BSB)“Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’”Job had described the prosperous wicked telling God to leave them alone.
- Job 21:16 (BSB)“Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”Eliphaz echoes Job’s own words about keeping far from the counsel of the wicked.
Theological
How does Eliphaz counter Job’s observations about the prosperity of the wicked in Job 22:15-18?
Answer: He says such men were cut off early and their foundations washed out
Eliphaz warns Job against the ancient path trodden by the wicked (22:15), who, he insists, were seized before their time with their foundations washed away (22:16). He borrows Job’s own description of their defiance of the Almighty (21:14-15) and even Job’s disavowal of their counsel (21:16), but reverses Job’s conclusion: where Job saw long life and peace, Eliphaz asserts premature destruction (22:16), a ruin he says the righteous watch with gladness (22:19-20).
- Job 22:15-18 (BSB)“Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’ But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”Eliphaz claims the wicked of old were cut off before their time.
- Job 21:14-15 (BSB)“Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’”Job had described the prosperous wicked telling God to leave them alone.
- Job 21:16 (BSB)“Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.”Eliphaz echoes Job’s own words about keeping far from the counsel of the wicked.
General
What point is Eliphaz pressing with his opening questions in Job 22:2-3?
Answer: God gains nothing from a man, however wise or upright he may be
Eliphaz asks whether any man, even a wise one, can be useful to God, and whether Job’s righteousness gives the Almighty any pleasure or profit (22:2-3). It is true that God needs nothing from anyone: the LORD Himself later asks who has ever given to Him that He should repay (41:11), words Paul echoes (Romans 11:35), and Paul says God is not served as though He lacked anything (Acts 17:24-25). But Eliphaz uses this truth to suggest God is unconcerned with Job’s integrity, when in fact the LORD had held Job up as His blameless servant (1:8).
- Job 22:2-3 (BSB)““Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him? Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?”Eliphaz asks whether a man’s righteousness can benefit God.
- Job 41:11 (BSB)“Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.”The LORD declares that no one has first given to Him.
- Romans 11:35 (BSB)““Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?””Paul echoes the truth that no one puts God in his debt.
- Acts 17:24-25 (BSB)“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”God is not served as though He needed anything.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD Himself commends Job as His blameless servant.
Theological
What is the thrust of Eliphaz’s opening questions in Job 22:2-3?
Answer: God gains nothing from a man, however wise or upright he may be
Eliphaz argues from divine self-sufficiency: no man, however wise, can profit God, and Job’s righteousness adds nothing to the Almighty (22:2-3). The premise is sound; the LORD Himself asks who has ever put Him in debt (41:11), which Paul echoes (Romans 11:35), and God is served by no human hand as though He lacked anything (Acts 17:24-25). The inference Eliphaz draws, that God is indifferent to Job’s integrity, is false, for the LORD Himself held up Job as His blameless servant (1:8).
- Job 22:2-3 (BSB)““Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him? Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?”Eliphaz asks whether a man’s righteousness can benefit God.
- Job 41:11 (BSB)“Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.”The LORD declares that no one has first given to Him.
- Romans 11:35 (BSB)““Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?””Paul echoes the truth that no one puts God in his debt.
- Acts 17:24-25 (BSB)“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”God is not served as though He needed anything.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD Himself commends Job as His blameless servant.
General
True or False: Eliphaz says God will rescue even a guilty man through the clean hands of someone else, and at the end of the book the LORD spares Eliphaz himself after Job prays for him.
Answer: True
This is true. Eliphaz ends by promising that when others are humbled, a restored Job will ask God to lift them up, and God will rescue even a guilty man through the purity of Job’s hands (22:29-30). In the end the roles turn around. The LORD tells Eliphaz and his two friends to go to Job and offer burnt offerings, and says Job will intercede for them so that He will not deal with them as their folly deserves (42:8). Once Job had interceded for them, the LORD restored Job’s fortunes (42:10). A righteous person’s prayer is powerful and effective (James 5:16).
- Job 22:29-30 (BSB)“When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.””Eliphaz says God will rescue even the guilty through the cleanness of Job’s hands.
- Job 42:8 (BSB)“So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.””The LORD tells Eliphaz that Job will pray for the friends and He will accept that prayer.
- Job 42:10 (BSB)“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.”The LORD restored Job after he prayed for his friends.
- James 5:16 (BSB)“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.”The prayer of a righteous man is powerful.
Theological
True or False: Eliphaz closes by saying God delivers even the guilty through another’s clean hands, and in the epilogue Eliphaz himself is spared through Job’s intercession.
Answer: True
This is true. Eliphaz’s closing promise is that God will rescue even a guilty man by means of the cleanness of Job’s hands (22:29-30). In the epilogue the situation is reversed: the LORD sends Eliphaz and his companions to Job with burnt offerings, declaring that He will accept Job’s intercession and spare them what their folly deserved (42:8), and He restores Job after Job prays for them (42:10). The righteous man’s prayer prevails (James 5:16).
- Job 22:29-30 (BSB)“When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.””Eliphaz says God will rescue even the guilty through the cleanness of Job’s hands.
- Job 42:8 (BSB)“So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.””The LORD tells Eliphaz that Job will pray for the friends and He will accept that prayer.
- Job 42:10 (BSB)“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.”The LORD restored Job after he prayed for his friends.
- James 5:16 (BSB)“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.”The prayer of a righteous man is powerful.
General
According to Eliphaz, why is God rebuking Job and bringing him into judgment (Job 22:4-5)?
Answer: Because Job’s evil is vast and his sins go on without any end
Eliphaz asks with sarcasm whether God is correcting Job because of his reverence for God, and then answers his own question: Job’s wickedness must be great and his sins without end (22:4-5). Eliphaz had begun by claiming that the innocent never perish (4:7-8), and now he concludes that Job must be very wicked. But the book’s opening tells the reader that Job was a man of complete integrity who revered God and turned from evil (1:1), and the LORD said Job had been ruined without cause (2:3).
- Job 22:4-5 (BSB)“Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?”Eliphaz declares Job’s wickedness great and his iniquities endless.
- Job 4:7-8 (BSB)“Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.”Eliphaz’s first speech assumed that the innocent never perish.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”Job is introduced as a man of integrity who feared God and turned from evil.
- Job 2:3 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.””The LORD says Job was ruined without cause.
Theological
What reason does Eliphaz assign for God’s judgment on Job in Job 22:4-5?
Answer: Because Job’s evil is vast and his sins go on without any end
Eliphaz ironically asks whether God judges Job for his piety, then asserts that Job’s wickedness is great and his iniquities endless (22:4-5). His retributive premise (4:7-8) has hardened into a sweeping verdict. The prologue, however, has already given the reader the true assessment: Job was a man of complete integrity, revering God and turning from evil (1:1), and the LORD Himself said he was ruined without cause (2:3).
- Job 22:4-5 (BSB)“Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?”Eliphaz declares Job’s wickedness great and his iniquities endless.
- Job 4:7-8 (BSB)“Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.”Eliphaz’s first speech assumed that the innocent never perish.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”Job is introduced as a man of integrity who feared God and turned from evil.
- Job 2:3 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.””The LORD says Job was ruined without cause.
General
Which of these is one of the specific sins Eliphaz charges Job with in Job 22:6-9?
Answer: Turning widows away with nothing and leaving orphans crushed
Eliphaz accuses Job of taking pledges from his brothers for no reason, stripping people of their clothing, refusing a drink to the tired and bread to the hungry, and sending widows off with nothing while orphans were crushed (22:6-9). He says these sins explain the traps and terrors around Job (22:10-11). But the charges are false. The book introduces Job as a man of integrity who feared God (1:1), and the LORD Himself called Job blameless and upright (1:8). Job describes how he actually rescued the poor and the fatherless and made widows sing for joy (29:12-13). And the LORD says the friends did not speak accurately about Him (42:7). Eliphaz reasons backward from Job’s suffering to sins Job never committed.
- Job 22:6-9 (BSB)“For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.”Eliphaz lists specific acts of cruelty that he charges against Job.
- Job 22:10-11 (BSB)“Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you; it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.”Eliphaz says these sins are why Job is surrounded by snares and terror.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”Job is introduced as a man of integrity who feared God and turned from evil.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD calls Job blameless and upright, refuting the charges.
- Job 29:12-13 (BSB)“because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.”Job’s actual record was rescuing the poor, the fatherless and the widow.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD says the friends did not speak accurately about Him.
Theological
Which charge belongs to Eliphaz’s itemized indictment of Job in Job 22:6-9?
Answer: Turning widows away with nothing and leaving orphans crushed
Eliphaz itemizes concrete social crimes: exacting pledges needlessly, stripping the naked, withholding water and bread from the weary and hungry, sending widows away empty, and crushing the fatherless (22:6-9), and he names these as the cause of Job’s snares and terrors (22:10-11). The charges are groundless. The prologue presents Job as a man of integrity who feared God (1:1), and the LORD pronounced him blameless and upright (1:8); Job’s record was the rescue of the poor and fatherless and the joy of the widow (29:12-13); and the LORD’s verdict condemns the friends’ speech (42:7). Eliphaz’s theology has forced him to infer sins from suffering.
- Job 22:6-9 (BSB)“For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.”Eliphaz lists specific acts of cruelty that he charges against Job.
- Job 22:10-11 (BSB)“Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you; it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.”Eliphaz says these sins are why Job is surrounded by snares and terror.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”Job is introduced as a man of integrity who feared God and turned from evil.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD calls Job blameless and upright, refuting the charges.
- Job 29:12-13 (BSB)“because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.”Job’s actual record was rescuing the poor, the fatherless and the widow.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD says the friends did not speak accurately about Him.
General
Eliphaz urges Job to make peace with God and turn back to the Almighty (Job 22:21-23). What is wrong with his counsel as he gives it?
Answer: It rests on the false charge that Job’s suffering came from his sins
Eliphaz urges Job to come to terms with God and find peace, to accept instruction from God and keep His words in his heart, and to turn back to the Almighty so that he will be restored (22:21-23). He promises that if Job throws away his gold, God Himself will be his treasure, and that Job will pray and be heard (22:24-27). In themselves these words echo true calls in Scripture: the wicked are urged to come back to the LORD, who will freely pardon (Isaiah 55:7), and sinners are told to come near to God (James 4:8). But Eliphaz builds his call on the false charges he has just made against Job (22:5-9), and the LORD later says the friends did not speak accurately about Him (42:7).
- Job 22:21-23 (BSB)“Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents”Eliphaz urges Job to be reconciled to God and return to the Almighty.
- Job 22:24-27 (BSB)“and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.”Eliphaz promises that the Almighty will be Job’s treasure and will hear his prayers.
- Isaiah 55:7 (BSB)“Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.”Scripture calls the wicked to return to the LORD, who pardons.
- James 4:8 (BSB)“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”Sinners are called to draw near to God.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD says the friends did not speak accurately about Him.
Theological
Eliphaz calls Job to reconciliation and a turning back to the Almighty (Job 22:21-23). Where does his counsel go wrong?
Answer: It rests on the false charge that Job’s suffering came from his sins
Eliphaz’s exhortation, reconcile, receive instruction, lay up God’s words, turn back to the Almighty (22:21-23), with its promise that God Himself will be Job’s treasure and that his prayers will be heard (22:24-27), contains language Scripture affirms elsewhere: the call for the wicked to return to a pardoning God (Isaiah 55:7) and to draw near to Him (James 4:8). The fault lies in the premise. Eliphaz grounds the call on groundless charges (22:5-9), and the LORD’s verdict rejects the friends’ speech about Him (42:7).
- Job 22:21-23 (BSB)“Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents”Eliphaz urges Job to be reconciled to God and return to the Almighty.
- Job 22:24-27 (BSB)“and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.”Eliphaz promises that the Almighty will be Job’s treasure and will hear his prayers.
- Isaiah 55:7 (BSB)“Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.”Scripture calls the wicked to return to the LORD, who pardons.
- James 4:8 (BSB)“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”Sinners are called to draw near to God.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD says the friends did not speak accurately about Him.
General
What does Eliphaz claim Job is saying about God in Job 22:13-14?
Answer: That God is hidden behind the clouds and cannot see what happens
Eliphaz points to God, high above the highest stars (22:12), and then puts words in Job’s mouth: Job supposedly thinks God cannot know what is going on, cannot judge through the darkness, and is hidden by clouds as He walks the heavens (22:13-14). Job had said nothing like that. In fact he had complained that God watched him all too closely, guarding all his paths (13:27). Scripture is clear that darkness hides nothing from God (Psalm 139:11-12) and that everything is uncovered before Him (Hebrews 4:13), a truth Job never denied.
- Job 22:12-14 (BSB)“Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are! Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’”Eliphaz attributes to Job the idea that God cannot see through the clouds.
- Job 13:27 (BSB)“You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.”Job had complained that God watched all his paths, not that God could not see.
- Psalm 139:11-12 (BSB)“If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”— even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.”Darkness hides nothing from God.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Everything is exposed before God’s eyes.
Theological
What view of God does Eliphaz attribute to Job in Job 22:13-14?
Answer: That God is hidden behind the clouds and cannot see what happens
Eliphaz contrasts God’s exaltation above the stars (22:12) with a view he attributes to Job: that God cannot know or judge through the thick darkness, being veiled by clouds (22:13-14). The attribution misrepresents Job, whose complaint was the opposite, that God scrutinizes him relentlessly and watches all his paths (13:27). God’s omniscience is certain (Psalm 139:11-12; Hebrews 4:13), and Job had never denied it.
- Job 22:12-14 (BSB)“Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are! Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’”Eliphaz attributes to Job the idea that God cannot see through the clouds.
- Job 13:27 (BSB)“You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.”Job had complained that God watched all his paths, not that God could not see.
- Psalm 139:11-12 (BSB)“If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”— even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.”Darkness hides nothing from God.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Everything is exposed before God’s eyes.