Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 22:23
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
23. built up ] i. e. probably rebuilt, or, restored.
thou shalt put away ] Or, if thou put away. The words take up “if thou return” of the first clause.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
If thou return to the Almighty – Assuming that he was an impenitent sinner, and wholly unreconciled to him.
Thou shalt be built up – A figure taken from building up a house, in contradistinction from pulling one down, and denoting that he would be prospered and happy.
Thou shalt put away iniquity – Rosenmuller, Good, Noyes, and Wemyss, suppose correctly, as it seems to me, that the word if is to be understood here to complete the sense – if thou shalt put away iniquity.
From thy tabernacle – From thy tent, or dwelling.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 22:23-30
If thou return to the Almighty.
Spiritual Reformation
I. The nature of a true spiritual reformation is here set forth.
1. Reconciliation to God. Men in their unregenerate state are out of sympathy with their Maker. There is an estrangement of soul.
2. Practical regard to the Divine precepts. Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in thine heart. Put thy being under the reign of heavenly laws.
3. Renunciation of all iniquity. Thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. There is no reformation where sin is cherished, or where it is allowed to linger.
4. Estimating the best things as worthless in comparison with God. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brook. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
II. The advantages of a true spiritual reformation, as here set forth. Eliphaz says that if Job would only act out his counsel he should, enjoy signal advantages. Thereby good shall come unto thee. What is the good he refers to? He specifies several things.
1. Restoration of lost blessings. Thou shalt be built up. All thy losses shall be repaired, and the breaches in thy fortune healed. How much Job had lost!
2. Delight in God. Job had been complaining of the Almighty; and his face was cast down in sadness.
3. Answer to prayer. Prayer is always answered where it leads to a submission to the Divine will; and true prayer always leads to this.
4. Realisation of purposes. Thou shalt form a plan or purpose, and it shall not be frustrated.
5. rower of usefulness. When men are cast down, thou shalt say, Cheer up. (Homilist.)
Standing right with God
Thou shalt have plenty of silver. But, first, the religion such a motive would produce would be worth little. Religion is not, in its nature, external. And the desire of the silver could only bring to an external conformity to the Divine commands. And, second, the motive cannot be urged. The statement of Eliphaz was grounded in a mistaken view of Divine Providence. Gold and silver are given and withheld as the sovereign Lord sees fit; and their distribution follows not the rules of holy obedience.
I. The hortatory portions or the text.
1. The belief of Eliphaz was, that Job was a great sinner; and he therefore urges the necessity of returning to God. He was mistaken in his particular views of Job.
2. Returning to God, we shall acquaint ourselves with Him, and be at peace. The expression implies knowledge and intimacy.
3. Thus standing right with God, a two-fold duty devolves on us.
(1) Due preparation for practice. Receive the law from His mouth. Acknowledge Him as supreme Lord.
(2) Practice itself. Put away iniquity,–have nothing to do with it personally: from thy tabernacles,–allow it not in the circle which thou governest.
II. Blessings shall come from this better than gold and silver.
1. Good shall come unto thee. Gods favour, the light of His countenance,–all that makes the true eternal good of the soul.
2. The Almighty shall be thy defence: against all real danger. A complete oversight and protection shall be granted thee.
3. Thou shalt delight in the Almighty: in the thought of what He is in Himself, and to thee; and in His consciously possessed favour.
4. Thou shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt not now be ashamed. Thou shalt have a holy, humble, but firm and joyful confidence. Sin makes the man afraid.
5. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He will hear thee. There is permission to enjoy this highest privilege. Pray,–be heard.
6. Thy path shall be truly happy. The light shall shine on thy ways. Even providential obscurity shall make spiritual light more visible. (G. Cubitt.)
Returning to God by conviction and progress
In the return of a human soul to God there is decision arising from conviction,–a conviction forced upon the conscience, and will, and reason, and feelings of the heart and mind, from the unanswerable compulsory power of circumstances. With regard to religious conviction as a necessary step to our returning to the Almighty, we may steel our minds against it from many causes; one, say, from the formal custom of hearing sermons. For blended with this kind of hearing may be a self-comparison with the religious teacher himself, and the self-satisfaction which may arise from this comparison. There may stand in the way of this conviction the strong bias of early impressions, of local customs, and of deeply-rooted habits of thought and conception. We may look at religious duties through not only very limited mediums, and therefore partial, but through certain party-coloured ones, and so mistake the broad expansive and glorious character of Gods truth by the disfiguring and narrowing influence of bigotry, intolerance, and prejudice. When a man, however, steadily and fixedly sets the eye of his faith upon the Almighty, as the all-absorbing and exclusive end of his religious convictions and decisions, he returns to Him in the spirit of the prodigal. He returns to God with a humble heart, a humble faith, and a humble prayer. As a result of the return of the soul to the Almighty, it shall be built up. This points to a progress of religious life and experience. There is a power exerted, on mans behalf above and independently of himself. It is Thou shalt be built up, not Thou shalt build thyself up. The spirit of man assuming the form of a building, in a moral and religious sense, becomes so after the manner of all other structures. It has its foundations in Christ; its gradual rise in the piling up, so to speak, of one virtue upon another, as stone upon stone. But as the earthly building is dependent upon the genius of the architect, so is the spiritual building dependent upon the wisdom and power of the Almighty. We may go where the castle or palace or temple once stood in noble splendour, in proud dignity, and in great strength, but now a crumbling ruin with wails gray with age, battered by the hand of time, or made spectral-like by fire, axe, and sword. But its remaining walls and columns and arches may be restored, strengthened, replenished, and built up again. So with the human soul, its original beauty and grandeur might be defaced by sin, and all its former promises of endurance might be broken by disobedience; but by the grace and mercy of God it may be built up once more. (W. D. Horwood.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. Thou shalt be built up] God will restore thee to thy wonted state of prosperity; and thou shalt again have a household, not only of servants, but of children also. So much may be Implied in the words, Thou shalt be BUILT UP. See my sermon on Job 22:21-23.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To the Almighty; or, home to the Almighty; or, so as to reach to the Almighty, and be joined to him. The Hebrew phrase is extraordinary, and emphatical, and implies a thorough and effectual turning not only from sin, (which a hypocrite may do in great part, at least for a time, upon carnal motives, and without any respect or love to God,) but also unto God, so as to love him, and cleave to him, and sincerely devote a mans self to his fear and service. And he expresseth it in this manner, because he thought Job to be a hypocrite, and therefore counselleth him to turn to God in another and better manner than he had done, to wit, with all his heart, and not feignedly.
Thou shalt be built up; God, who hath pulled thee down in thy estate, and honour, and children, will repair thy ruins, and give thee more children, which is oft called building; Gen 16:2; Exo 1:21; Rth 4:11; and bless thee with prosperity and happiness, as building signifies, Jer 42:10; 31:4.
Thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles: this may be either,
1. A condition, upon which God makes the following promises, If (which particle may be repeated out of the former part of the verse) thou shalt put away, &c., i.e. if thou shalt effectually purge thyself and family from all sin, and keep thyself and them, as far as thou canst, from all appearances and occasions of sin, which is the duty of all, and the practice of true penitents; whereby he seems to reflect upon Job, as if he had been faulty and negligent in the government of himself or children, notwithstanding his sacrificing for them, Job 1. Or rather,
2. A promise, because the conditions required had been expressed together, Job 22:21,22, and in the beginning of this verse, after which he comes to the promises, and begins with this,
thou shalt be built up, and so proceeds to other promises; and therefore it seems not probable that he should return to the conditions again, and mix the conditions and promises together, which he hath so carefully separated in these verses. And so it is either,
1. A spiritual promise, If thou dost sincerely repent, God will give thee more grace effectually to reform thyself and family, according to that rule, To him that hath shall be given. Or,
2. A temporal promise,
Thou shalt put away iniquity, or injury, or perverseness, (i.e. either perverse and injurious men; or Gods judgments, or the punishments of thy sins; as iniquity is very oft used,)
far from thy tabernacles, i.e. from all thy dwellings, and tents, and possessions; no hand of violence shall come near them, no evil plague shall come upon thy own habitation, or upon the habitations of thy children, as lately it did for thine and their sins.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Built upanew, as arestored house.
thou shalt put awayrather,”If thou put away” [MICHAELIS].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If thou return to the Almighty,…. Which supposes a departure from him; and that is by sinning against him, which should be repented of, confessed, and pardoning grace and mercy be implored, by all those that have backslidden, and return to God; to which they are encouraged by his being the “Almighty”, who has power to forgive sins, also to cause all grace to abound, and to save to the uttermost; he is not a God that is prayed and returned to, that cannot save, or whose hand is shortened, or his ear heavy; the word is “shaddai”, which signifies “[who is] sufficient”, all sufficient; whose grace is sufficient to restore and receive backsliders, pardon their sins, accept their persons, supply their wants, and preserve them safe to his kingdom and glory:
thou shalt be built up; restored to his former happiness, have all his breaches repaired and made up; his body, which was like a building out of repair and dropping down, become hale and healthful; his family, which was in a ruinous condition, being deprived of his children as well as substance, be increasing again through a like number of children; by which means families are built up, Ru 4:16; and by having a large affluence of good things, abundantly greater than he had before; and also, in a spiritual sense, be edified and built up in his soul, through the light of God’s countenance, the discoveries of his love, the comforts of his spirit, an application of precious promises, and divine truths, and a communication of grace, and the blessings of it:
thou shall put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle; not commit it himself, nor connive at it in others, nor suffer it in his family, suggesting as if he had so done in times past; or remove men of iniquity, wicked men, from his house, and not allow them to dwell there; though rather this seems to be spoken of by way of promise, and as an encouragement to return to the Almighty; upon which all evils and calamities, the effects of sin and iniquity, should be removed from his house, and the apartments of it, they were now full of.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) Thou shalt put away iniquity.All this implies the imputation of apostasy and iniquity to Job.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. To the Almighty ; even to close up to. “Job need not despair of coming, through penitence, again close up to his offended Creator.” Bernard.
(23) If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. (24) Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. (25) Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. (26) For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. (27) Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. (28) Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. (29) When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. (30) He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
Some of those blessings which Eliphaz points out as the sure consequence of peace with GOD, are strictly true. The soul which is brought into divine favor by JESUS, shall be built up in JESUS. GOD will be that soul’s defense; and the soul will delight itself in GOD. These are the blessed consequences of such a state of reconciliation and favor. But when Eliphaz talks of laying up gold as the dust, and silver in plenty; if these things be taken in the literal acceptation of this world’s goods; here Eliphaz falls back again into his old idea, that prosperity in this world is a mark of GOD’S favor; and the reverse, in affliction, a sure sign of GOD’S anger. There are indeed riches, yea durable riches, and righteousness, which belong to the followers of the LORD; for JESUS promiseth to give them to his people, and to fill all their treasures. Pro 8:18-21 . But these differ totally from what Eliphaz had in view; and therefore it is plain, that this poor man’s reasonings were all foreign to grace. Neither, with all his pretended wisdom, had he himself suitable conceptions of what is meant in being acquainted with GOD! So that this man holds forth a lively specimen of all similar characters, who, in the present hour, speak from books and the information of others; but not, as our LORD hath marked it, from the abundance of the heart: and as John his servant did, when the life which he had seen and enjoyed, he recommended, from this very consideration, to the enjoyment of others. 1Jn 1:1-3 .
Job 22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
Ver. 23. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up ] By sin men run from God, by repentance they return to him. Break off thy sins by repentance, and put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle (for iniquity and repentance cannot cohabit, and he is no true penitentiary that reformeth not his family, that setteth not up God wherever he hath to do), so shalt thou be built up; that is, thou shalt be restored, and all thy losses in wealth and children shall be made up again; prorsus erigeris qui iam collapsus es; thou, who art now down on all fours, shalt be new set up, and made to stand in thy former strength. Only thou must return usque ad Omnipotentem, all out as far as to the Almighty, thou must not give the half turn only, as hypocrites do, but with thy whole heart; and as Joe 2:12 . See Trapp on “ Joe 2:12 “ Thus Eliphaz discourseth very well and handsomely of the business in hand; only he was out in this, that he looked upon Job as an impenitent person, and upon his family as ill ordered. As, also, in that he conceived that true repentance is ever rewarded with outward and inward prosperity; whereas a penitent person may continue under crosses, though God will surely save the humble, as he saith afterwards, Job 22:29 , and repentance can turn crosses into comforts; and, like the philosopher’s stone, make golden afflictions, 1Pe 1:7 . As scarlet pulls out the teeth of a serpent, so this takes away the sting of a judgment. As wine draweth a nourishing virtue from the flesh of vipers, &c.
return. Septuagint adds “and submit thyself”.
tabernacles = tents. Some codices, with four early printed editions, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “tent”; others, with six early printed editions (and one in margin), read “tents” (plural)
return: Job 8:5, Job 8:6, Job 11:13, Job 11:14, Isa 55:6, Isa 55:7, Hos 14:1, Hos 14:2, Zec 1:3, Act 26:20
built up: Job 12:14, Jer 31:4, Col 2:7, Jud 1:20
thou shalt: Job 11:14, Job 18:15, Jos 7:13-16, Isa 33:15, Zec 5:3, Zec 5:4
put: 2Ti 2:19
Reciprocal: Exo 23:7 – far from Exo 38:21 – tabernacle of testimony Jdg 6:25 – Take thy father’s 1Sa 1:14 – put away 2Ch 33:13 – he was entreated Job 36:11 – spend Pro 4:15 – General Mal 3:15 – set Eph 4:22 – ye
Job 22:23. If thou return to the Almighty The Hebrew phrase, , tashub gnad shaddai, is emphatical, and implies a thorough turning from sin to God, so as to love him, and cleave to him, and sincerely devote a mans self to his fear and service. Thou shalt be built up God will repair thy ruins, and give thee more children, and bless thee with prosperity. Thou shalt put away iniquity, &c. It is either, 1st, A spiritual promise; if thou dost sincerely repent, God will give thee grace effectually to reform thyself and family: or, 2d, A temporal promise, meaning, thou shalt put away the punishment of thy sins, as iniquity is very often used; far from thy tabernacles From all thy dwellings, and tents, and possessions.
22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt {r} be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
(r) God will restore to you all your substance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes