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Eliphaz Charges Job with Wickedness
v. 1. Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered and said, ignoring Job's argument concerning the prosperity of the ungodly,
v. 2. Can a man be profitable unto God, no matter how good or how great he may be in this world, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? This is really the answer to the first part of the verse: God, being absolutely wise, is not influenced by the wisdom of any man.
v. 3. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, a gain or advantage to Him, who Himself is perfection, that thou art righteous? The most blameless life of men cannot add to His bliss; He is never actuated by selfish motives. Or is it gain to Him that thou makest thy ways perfect, striving to be absolutely righteous in his manner of living? God does not reward the pious because they bring Him any benefit by their piety, nor does He punish sinners because their transgressions diminish His blessedness.
v. 4. Will He reprove thee for fear of thee? Will He enter with thee into judgment? It must not enter one's mind that God was sending this punishment upon Job on account of his godliness, since God never acts from selfish motives, and because the cause of Job's calamity must lie in himself, as Eliphaz supposed.
v. 5. Is not thy wickedness great and thine iniquities infinite? Eliphaz here boldly draws the conclusion to which his first statements entitled him, as he thought: Because God sends such afflictions only as punishment for transgressions, and because He is never influenced and guided by any selfish motives and arbitrary notions, therefore it follows that Job is guilty. This accusation he now tries to back up by an enumeration of sins of which he supposed Job had become guilty.
v. 6. For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught, there being no need for Job, who had been wealthy, to be so exacting in collecting moneys due him from his relatives, and stripped the naked of their clothing, taking even the last piece of garment which they possessed, Exo_22:25-26; Deu_24:6 to Deu_10:11, against every sentiment of humanity.
v. 7. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, as they fainted in their thirst, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry, thus setting aside the fundamental demands of charity.
v. 8. But as for the mighty man, literally, "the man of the arm or fist," he had the earth, and the honorable man dwelt in it, that is, the honored, influential one. Thus Eliphaz accused Job of selfishness and greed, of taking the whole land for himself and letting the poor suffer.
v. 9. Thou hast sent widows away empty, when they appealed to him for help, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken, they were treated with the most inhuman cruelty, deprived of all their rights and powers.
v. 10. Therefore, as a punishment of such sins, snares are round about thee, various forms of destruction besieged him, and sudden fear troubleth thee, a sudden deadly anguish overpowered him time and again,
v. 11. or darkness, that thou canst not see, the night of suffering admitting no ray of consoling light; and abundance of waters cover thee, bursting upon him with overwhelming misery. It was a bitter and unjust accusation which Eliphaz heaped upon Job.