1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 “Would a wise man answer with such empty ‘knowledge’ that is just a lot of hot air? 3 He wouldn't argue with unprofitable speeches using words that do no good. 4 But you are doing away with the fear of God, and destroying communion with him. 5 It's your sins that are doing the talking, and you are choosing deceptive words. 6 Your own mouth is condemning you, not me; your own lips are testifying against you. 7 Were you the very first person to be born? Were you born before the hills were created? 8 Were you there listening in God's council? Does wisdom only belong to you? 9 What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that we don't? 10 We have among us old, gray-haired people much older than your father! 11 Are the comforts God provides too little for you? Are God's gentle words not enough for you? 12 Why do you let yourself be carried away by your emotions? 13 Why do your eyes flash in anger that you turn against God and let yourself speak this way? 14 Who can say they are clean? Which human being can say that they do what is right? 15 Look, God doesn't even trust his angels—even the heavenly beings are not pure in his sight! 16 How much less pure are those who are unclean and corrupt, drinking in sin like water! 17 If you are ready to listen to me, I will show you. I will explain my insights. 18 This is what wise men have said, confirmed by their ancestors, 19 those to whom alone the land was given before foreigners ever were there. 20 The wicked writhe in pain all their lives, through all the years these oppressors survive. 21 Terrifying sounds fill their ears; even when they think they're safe, the destroyer will attack them. 22 They don't believe they will escape the darkness—they know a sword is waiting for them. 23 They wander around looking for food, asking ‘Where is it?’ They know that their day of darkness is close at hand. 24 Misery and torment overwhelm them like a king preparing for battle. 25 They shake their fists in God's face, defiantly challenging the Almighty, 26 insolently attacking him with their shields. 27 They have become fat in their rebellion, their bellies bloated with fat. 28 But their cities will become desolate; they will live in abandoned houses that are crumbling into ruins. 29 They will lose their riches, their wealth will not endure, their possessions will not spread over the earth. 30 They will not escape from the darkness. Like a tree whose shoots are burned up in a forest fire, the breath of God will blow him away. 31 They should not trust in things that are worthless, for their reward will be worthless. 32 This will be paid in full before their time has come. They are like tree branches that wither, 33 like vines that lose their unripe grapes, or olive trees that lose their flowers. 34 For those who reject God are barren, and fire will burn up the homes of those who love bribes. 35 They plan trouble and produce evil, giving birth to deception.”
Job 15 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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Eliphaz the Temanite
One of Job's three friends who came to sympathize and comfort him, and whom the LORD rebuked at the end of the book for not speaking rightly of Him.
Cited in the guide: Job 2:11; Job 4:1; Job 15:1
Cross references (35)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Job 2:11; Job 42:7; Job 4:1; Job 42:9; Job 22:1
- 2 Job 6:26; Job 8:2; Hosea 12:1; Job 11:2–3; James 3:13
- 3 Matthew 12:36–37; Colossians 4:6; Malachi 3:13–15; Job 26:1–3; 1 Timothy 6:4–5
- 4 Romans 3:31; Psalm 36:1–3; Job 6:14; 1 Chronicles 10:13–14; Galatians 2:21
- 5 Jeremiah 9:3–5; James 1:26; Luke 6:45; Psalm 52:2–4; Jeremiah 9:8
- 6 Luke 19:22; Matthew 12:37; Job 9:20; Job 40:8; Job 34:5–9
- 7 Psalm 90:2; Job 38:4–41; Job 12:12; Proverbs 8:22–25; Genesis 4:1
- 8 Romans 11:34; Jeremiah 23:18; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Psalm 25:14; Matthew 11:25
- 9 Job 13:2; 2 Corinthians 11:5; 2 Corinthians 10:7; Job 26:3–4; Job 12:3
- 10 Job 32:6–7; Job 12:12; Job 8:8–10; Deuteronomy 32:7; Proverbs 16:31
- 11 2 Corinthians 1:3–5; Job 13:2; Job 5:8–26; 1 Kings 22:24; 2 Corinthians 7:6
- 12 Psalm 35:19; Mark 7:21–22; Job 17:2; Job 11:13; James 1:14–15
- 13 James 3:2–6; Job 15:25–27; Psalm 34:13; Job 12:6; Malachi 3:13
- 14 Ecclesiastes 7:20; Job 14:4; Proverbs 20:9; Romans 7:18; Job 25:4–6
- 15 Job 25:5; Job 4:18; Isaiah 6:2–5; Job 5:1
- 16 Proverbs 19:28; Job 34:7; Romans 3:9–19; Titus 3:3; Psalm 53:3
- 17 Job 33:1; Job 13:5–6; Job 5:27; Job 34:2; Job 36:2
- 18 Job 8:8; Psalm 71:18; Isaiah 38:19; Psalm 78:3–6; Job 15:10
- 19 Joel 3:17; Deuteronomy 32:8; Genesis 10:25; Genesis 10:32
- 20 James 5:1–6; Job 27:13; Job 24:1; Luke 12:19–21; Psalm 90:12
- 21 Job 18:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Leviticus 26:36; 1 Corinthians 10:10; Job 1:13–19
- 22 Job 20:24–25; Job 27:14; Isaiah 8:21–22; Matthew 27:5; Job 19:29
- 23 Job 18:12; Psalm 109:10; Psalm 59:15; Amos 5:20; Ecclesiastes 11:8
- 24 Proverbs 6:11; Proverbs 24:34; Romans 2:9; Job 6:2–4; Psalm 119:143
- 25 Psalm 52:7; Job 9:4; Daniel 5:23; Psalm 73:9; Malachi 3:13
- 26 2 Chronicles 32:13–17; 2 Chronicles 28:22; Genesis 49:8; Psalm 18:40; Job 16:12
- 27 Psalm 17:10; Psalm 73:7; Jeremiah 5:28; Isaiah 6:10; Deuteronomy 32:15
- 28 Job 3:14; Jeremiah 51:37; Micah 7:18; Jeremiah 26:18; Jeremiah 9:11
- 29 Job 27:16–17; James 1:11; Luke 12:19–21; Psalm 49:16–17; Luke 16:19–22
- 30 Job 4:9; Job 15:22; Job 18:5–6; Job 20:26; Matthew 25:41
- 31 Isaiah 59:4; Galatians 6:3; Psalm 62:10; Galatians 6:7–8; Hosea 8:7
- 32 Ecclesiastes 7:17; Psalm 55:23; Job 22:16; Hosea 9:16; Isaiah 27:11
- 33 Deuteronomy 28:39–40; Isaiah 33:9; Revelation 6:13
- 34 Job 8:13; Job 27:8; Micah 7:2; Job 8:22; Matthew 24:51
- 35 Psalm 7:14; Hosea 10:13; Isaiah 59:4–5; James 1:15; Galatians 6:7–8
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
But when I lifted myself proudly against Thee, and "ran against the Lord, even on His neck, with the thick bosses" of my buckler, even these inferior things were placed above me, and pressed upon me, and nowhere was there alleviation or breathing space.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… the Lord;" for enantion means both "before" and "against." In the Psalm this word is rendered, "Let us weep before the Lord our Maker." The same word occurs in the book of Job, where it is written, "Thou hast broken into fury against the Lord." And so this giant is to be recognized as a "hunter against the Lord." And …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
"He runneth against God, upon the stiff neck of his shield." What is, "upon the stiff neck of his shield"?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)