151 And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith:— 2 Doth a wise man answer 'with' vain knowledge? And fill 'with' an east wind his belly? 3 To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them? 4 Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God. 5 For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile. 6 Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee. 7 The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed? 8 Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom? 9 What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou—and it is not with us? 10 Both the gray-headed And the very aged 'are' among us—Greater than thy father 'in' days. 11 Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word 'is' with thee, 12 What—doth thine heart take thee away? And what—are thine eyes high? 13 For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth: 14 What 'is' man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman? 15 Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes. 16 Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.
17 I shew thee—hearken to me—And this I have seen and declare: 18 Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers. 19 To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst: 20 'All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one. 21 A fearful voice 'is' in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 15:1-21
Commentary on Job 15:1-16
(Read Job 15:1-16)
Eliphaz begins a second attack upon Job, instead of being softened by his complaints. He unjustly charges Job with casting off the fear of God, and all regard to him, and restraining prayer. See in what religion is summed up, fearing God, and praying to him; the former the most needful principle, the latter the most needful practice. Eliphaz charges Job with self-conceit. He charges him with contempt of the counsels and comforts given him by his friends. We are apt to think that which we ourselves say is important, when others, with reason, think little of it. He charges him with opposition to God. Eliphaz ought not to have put harsh constructions upon the words of one well known for piety, and now in temptation. It is plain that these disputants were deeply convinced of the doctrine of original sin, and the total depravity of human nature. Shall we not admire the patience of God in bearing with us? and still more his love to us in the redemption of Christ Jesus his beloved Son?
Commentary on Job 15:17-35
(Read Job 15:17-35)
Eliphaz maintains that the wicked are certainly miserable: whence he would infer, that the miserable are certainly wicked, and therefore Job was so. But because many of God's people have prospered in this world, it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and made poor, as Job, are not God's people. Eliphaz shows also that wicked people, particularly oppressors, are subject to continual terror, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably. Will the prosperity of presumptuous sinners end miserably as here described? Then let the mischiefs which befal others, be our warnings. Though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. No calamity, no trouble, however heavy, however severe, can rob a follower of the Lord of his favour. What shall separate him from the love of Christ?