Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 22:7
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withheld bread from the hungry.
7. Compare Job’s answer, ch. Job 31:16-17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou hast not given water to the weary – That is, thou hast withheld the rites of hospitality – one of the most grievous offences which could be charged on an Arabian; compare the notes at Isa 21:14. In all the Oriental world, hospitality was regarded, and is still, as a duty of the highest obligation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Thou hast not given water] It was esteemed a great virtue in the East to furnish thirsty travellers with water; especially in the deserts, where scarcely a stream was to be found, and where wells were very rare. Some of the Indian devotees are accustomed to stand with a girbah or skin full of water, on the public roads, to give drink to weary travellers who are parched with thirst.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Surely thou hast been so hard-hearted as to deny a cup of cold water to those that needed and desired it. Water was ofttimes scarce and precious in those hot countries, and was appropriated to particular persons, without whose leave other persons might not take it.
To the weary, i.e. to him who by reason of hard labour or travel is weary and thirsty. So this word is used Pro 25:25.
From the hungry, to whom it was due by Gods law, Pro 3:27, which also was known to Job by the light of nature. Hereby he intimates the greatness of this sin of uncharitableness, by ranking it with heinous crimes; whereas Job (as he thought) esteemed it but a small fault, if any.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Hospitality to the wearytraveller is regarded in the East as a primary duty (Isa21:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,…. To a weary thirsty traveller, to whom in those hot countries cold water was very refreshing, and which in desert places was not to be had in common, or any where; rich men were possessed of their wells and fountains, and were kept for their own use, and it was a kindness and favour to obtain water of them; and yet a cup of cold water is one of the least favours to be given to a poor man, and to deny it him in distress was very inhuman, and was very far from Job’s character:
and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry: bread, which strengthens man’s heart, and is the staff of life, without which he cannot support; and this is not to be withheld from, but given even to an enemy when hungry; and to deny it to a poor neighbour in such circumstances is very cruel; the charge is, that Job would not give a poor hungry man a morsel of bread to eat; which must be false, being directly contrary to what he strongly asserts, Job 31:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. Not given water That which we do not do is made at the last day quite as much a test of character as what we do. Mat 25:42-43. The Egyptian Book of the Dead represents a soul before Osiris as saying. “I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked,” (ch. 125.) The same sentiment appears so frequently on stelae and tombs, that Mariette thinks that it must have been a part of a daily prayer among the ancient Egyptians.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 22:7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
Ver. 7. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink ] But hast slain him with thirst, when thou mightest have saved him with a cup of cold water. Qui non, cum potest, servat, occidit: Who when able did not serve, and died. Not to do good (when it is in the power of a man’s hand) is to do evil; and not to save a life is to destroy it, Mar 3:4 . Not robbing only, but not relieving the beggar, was the rich man’s ruin, Luk 16:24 , who, for a cup of cold water, duly given, might have had heaven, Mat 10:42 . But what meant Eliphaz to charge innocent and munificent Job with such a cruelty? 1. The man was angry; and,
Impedit ira animum ne possit cernere verum (Horat.).
Anger hinders the soul so that it is not able to know the truth. 2. He seems not directly to charge him with these crimes, but to urge him to consider and confess, that he could not be but a grievous sinner who was so great a sufferer. Surely God would never handle thee so hardly unless thou wert deeply guilty of these or the like enormities, Necesse est, ut fatearis te aut hoc, aut illud, aut omnia commisisse, &c. (Junius).
Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
not given: Job 31:17, Deu 15:7-11, Psa 112:9, Pro 11:24, Pro 11:25, Pro 19:17, Isa 58:7, Isa 58:10, Eze 18:7, Eze 18:16, Mat 25:42, Rom 12:20
Reciprocal: Job 31:16 – withheld Jam 2:16 – one