Job 22:1-3, Man of no benefit to God
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
"Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise man benefit him?
What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
Eliphaz begins with two rhetorical questions, each expressed in two sets of parallelisms. The first parallel set, verse 2, expects a response of "No"; the second parallel set, verse 3, expects a response of "none". Eliphaz argues that God needs nothing and so does not need the righteous.
Job 22:4-5, You are being rebuked!
"Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
Two more pairs of rhetorical questions follow, becoming more accusative, clearly addressing Job in the second person "you", instead of asking philosophical questions. The anticipated responses to these questions are "No" (to verse 4) and "Yes" (verse 5.)
Job 22:6-11, All your wickedness
You demanded security from your brothers for no reason;
you stripped men of their clothing,
leaving them naked.
You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
though you were a powerful man, owning land--
an honored man, living on it.
And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
After the set of rhetorical questions comes a harsh attack. Eliphaz insists that Job is being punished and lists a number of conjectured sins and abuses by Job. These sins include oppressing the weary and the poor, taking advantage of widows and orphans. He concludes by explaining that Job's sins have led to him being ensnared, with the dark waters (of approaching Sheol?) washing over him.
Job 22:12-14, God far away
"Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
Yet you say, `What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
Thick clouds veil him,
so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'
Eliphaz sees God as high above the stars but then accuses Job of believing that God is indeed far away, so far away as to unobservant of earthly activity. Implied is the accusation that since this is Job's belief, he has felt free to do whatever he has wanted. (I am reminded of an old Russian saying, attributed to Russian explorers in Alaska, "God is high above, and the Tsar is far away". There is apparently a similar Chinese proverb, "Heaven is high and the emperor is far away".)
Previously Job has complained about God's treatment of him and has demanded to appear before God to hear the charges against him. Hartley argues that Eliphaz has interpreted these accusations of Job as a dismissal of God.
Job 22:15-18, Old evil paths
Will you keep to the old path that evil men have trod?
They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
They said to God, `Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?'
Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.
Eliphaz emphasizes that the wicked -- like Job -- have dismissed God, audaciously telling Him to go away. In the last verse, says Hartley, Eliphaz agrees that the wicked often temporarily get good things but the pauses, implying that these good things quickly disappear
Job 22:19-20, Rejoicing at ruin
"The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
`Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.'
Eliphaz concludes this passage by emphasizing that as the evil are destroyed, the righteous rejoice at their destruction.
Job 22:21-25, God is the way to prosperity
"Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
After a sermon on the punishment of the wicked, Eliphaz now, once again, calls on Job to repent and submit to God. Submission to God leads to prosperity, says Eliphaz. Even Job's most precious possession, gold nuggets, gold of Ophir, should be assigned to the dust, thrown into ravines, so that God becomes Job's gold and silver.
Job 22:26-30, Submission leads to delight and fulfillment
Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
You will pray to him,
and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
When men are brought low and you say, `Lift them up!'
then he will save the downcast.
He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."
Submission leads to delight in God and to great reward, says Eliphaz.
There are considerable problems with Eliphaz's response here. First, he continues to completely ignore Job's previous responses. Job is being punished, period, says Eliphaz. In addition, Eliphaz is echoing The Accuser's claim in the first two chapters: the only reason for being good is to avoid punishment.
Hartley adds one more complaint about Eliphaz. If, as Eliphaz claims (in verses 29 and 30), the righteous man can lift up the downcast and deliver those who are not innocent, why isn't Eliphaz doing this for Job? If Eliphaz is righteous and Job is not innocent, where is the activity promised in that last verse? (We will see later, Job 42:9-10, that Job will, in this manner, deliver Eliphaz and the other friends.)
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