Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 22:17
Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
17. do for them ] Rather, do unto them.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
He reports Jobs 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. Eliphaz designedly usesJob’s own words (Job 21:14;Job 21:15).
do for themThey thinkthey can do everything for themselves.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Which said unto God, depart from us,…. Choosing not to be admonished of their sins, nor be exhorted to repentance for them, nor be instructed by him in the way of their duty, nor to attend the worship and ordinances of God, nor be under his rule and government; the same is observed by Job of wicked men, but to a different purpose; he makes this to be the language of such who were in very prosperous circumstances, and continued in them, notwithstanding their impiety; here by this Eliphaz describes such persons who were cut off, and destroyed for their wickedness, see Job 21:14;
and what can the Almighty do for them? that is, for us; for these are either the words of the wicked continued, being so self-sufficient, and full of good things, having as much, or more, than heart can wish, that they stood in no need of anything from God; nor could they imagine they should receive any profit and advantage from him, by listening to his instructions, or obeying his will; they had such low and mean thoughts of God, that he would neither do them good nor evil; they expected no good from him, and feared no ill at his hands; they ascribed all the good things they had to their own care, industry, and diligence; and when any ill befell them, they attributed it to chance, and second causes, thinking nothing of God: as these are the words of Eliphaz, they may be rendered, “what has the Almighty done to them”, or “against them?” e what injury has he done them, or ill will has he shown them, that they should treat him in so contemptuous a manner? so far from it, that he has bestowed abundance of good things on them, as follows, see Jer 2:5.
e “et quid fecerat omnipotens illis?” Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(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).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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.
And what can the Almighty do for them?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 22:17-20
Job 22:17-20
A CLUMSY EFFORT TO REPLY TO JOB’S WORDS IN Job 21:14
“Who said unto God, Depart from us;
And what can the Almighty do for us?
Yet he filled their houses with good things:
But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
The righteous see it, and are glad;
And the innocent laugh them to scorn,
Saying, Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off,
And the remnant of them the fire hath consumed.”
“Who said unto God, Depart from us, etc.” (Job 22:18). Eliphaz in this and the following verse quoted the words Job had spoken in Job 21:14-16. This is an elaborate and clumsy effort of Eliphaz to turn Job’s own words against himself. Job had said that the wicked who said such things prospered; but Eliphaz here asserted that the generation which was lost in the Deluge had said exactly the same thing. He thus contradicted Job, saying, “On the contrary, it is those who come to ruin who have dismissed God.” It should be noted here that what Eliphaz attributed to the ante-diluvian generation was his own personal invention, as the Scriptures do not confirm the words he attributed to them.
It is tiresome to this writer, the manner in which so many make excuses for Eliphaz and Job’s other friends. They were not merely mistaken; they were not free of guilt in their treatment of Job; they were not true and honest; THEY WERE SINNERS; ENGAGED IN SATAN’S WORK! This is a necessary deduction from the fact that God Himself ordered them to bring sacrifices and seek the prayers of Job that they might be forgiven (See Job 42).
“The righteous see it, and are glad” (Job 22:19). This is by far the nastiest thing any of his friends said. Driver gave the meaning here as, “The righteous see the fate which habitually befalls the wicked, and are glad.
This was Eliphaz’ declaration that he and Bildad and Zophar were happy to see Job reaping what he sowed, getting what he deserved, having his sins exposed, and his hypocrisy revealed!
Eliphaz ended with his plea for Job to confess his wickedness, and repent of it, assuring him, guilty as he was, that God would deliver him if he would only clean up his dirty and sinful hands.
We find it impossible to view this as any kind and thoughtful remonstrance on the part of Eliphaz. Having thrust a dagger into Job’s heart with his sinful accusations against him, he here twisted it in these final words.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 22:15-17. Job was asked to recall the experiences of wicked men who had lived before him and profit thereby.
Job 22:18-21. Again Job was bidden to take a lesson from the experiences of the generations who lived before him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Depart: Job 21:10, Job 21:14, Job 21:15, Isa 30:11, Mat 8:29, Mat 8:34, Rom 1:28
and what: Psa 4:6, Mal 3:14
for them: or, to them
Reciprocal: Gen 25:32 – and what Job 34:9 – It Psa 10:4 – will not Hos 7:13 – fled Luk 15:13 – and took 2Th 1:9 – from the presence Heb 3:12 – in Heb 7:25 – come Jam 3:5 – so
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 22:17. Which said unto God, Depart from us He repeats Jobs 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.