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12 “Is not God on high in heaven?[a]

And see[b] the lofty stars,[c] how high they are!
13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness?[d]
14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,[e]
as he goes back and forth
in the vault[f] of heaven.’[g]
15 Will you keep to the old path[h]
that evil men have walked—
16 men[i] who were carried off[j] before their time,[k]
when the flood[l] was poured out[m]
on their foundations?[n]
17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’[o]
18 But it was he[p] who filled their houses
with good things—
yet the counsel of the wicked[q]
was far from me.[r]
19 The righteous see their destruction[s] and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully,[t] saying,
20 ‘Surely our enemies[u] are destroyed,
and fire consumes their wealth.’

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Footnotes

  1. Job 22:12 tn This reading preserves the text as it is. The nouns “high” and “heavens” would then be taken as adverbial accusatives of place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).
  2. Job 22:12 tn The parallel passage in Isa 40:26-27, as well as the context here, shows that the imperative is to be retained here. The LXX has “he sees.”
  3. Job 22:12 tn Heb “head of the stars.”
  4. Job 22:13 sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Pss 73:11; 94:11).
  5. Job 22:14 tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”
  6. Job 22:14 sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.
  7. Job 22:14 sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven—this is what Eliphaz says Job means.
  8. Job 22:15 tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.
  9. Job 22:16 tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”
  10. Job 22:16 tn The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”
  11. Job 22:16 tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.
  12. Job 22:16 tn The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).
  13. Job 22:16 tn The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Hophal means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).
  14. Job 22:16 tn This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.
  15. Job 22:17 tn The form in the text is “to them.” The LXX and the Syriac versions have “to us.”
  16. Job 22:18 tn The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.
  17. Job 22:18 tn See Job 10:3.
  18. Job 22:18 tc The LXX has “from him,” and this is followed by several commentators. But the MT is to be retained, for Eliphaz is recalling the words of Job. Verses 17 and 18 are deleted by a number of commentators as a gloss because they have many similarities to 21:14-16. But Eliphaz is recalling what Job said, in order to say that the prosperity to which Job alluded was only the prelude to a disaster he denied (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 156).
  19. Job 22:19 tn The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).
  20. Job 22:19 sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.
  21. Job 22:20 tc The word translated “our enemies” is found only here. The word means “hostility,” but used here as a collective for those who are hostile—“enemies.” Some commentators follow the LXX and read “possessions,” explaining its meaning and derivation in different ways. Gordis simply takes the word in the text and affirms that this is the meaning. On the other hand, to get this, E. Dhorme (Job, 336) repoints קִימָנוּ (qimanu) of the MT to יְקוּמַם (yequmam), arguing that יְקוּם (yequm) means “what exists [or has substance]” (although that is used of animals). He translates: “have not their possessions been destroyed.”

12 Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!
13 Yet you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through total darkness?(A)
14 Clouds(B) veil him so that he cannot see,
as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
15 Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
16 They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations(C) were washed away by a river.
17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?” [a](D)
18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
19 The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,(E)
20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 22:17 LXX, Syr; MT reads them