King James Version
Job 4
21 verses with commentary
Eliphaz's First Speech: The Innocent Do Not Suffer
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz begins as the eldest and most sympathetic of Job's friends, yet his theology of retribution will prove inadequate. The dialogues reveal how even well-meaning comfort can wound when it prioritizes theological systems over compassionate presence. True comfort acknowledges mystery rather than offering premature answers.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**73. So ... all Israel, dwelt in their cities--**The utility of these genealogical registers was thus found in guiding to a knowledge of the cities and localities in each tribe to which every family anciently belonged.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 4
Chapter Outline
The Jews lament their danger.(1-4)
Esther undertakes to plead for the Jews.(5-17)
**Verses 1-4**
Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews. Public calamities, that oppress the church of God, should affect our hearts more than any private affliction, and it is peculiarly distressing to occasion sufferings to others. God will keep those that are exposed to ...
Read full commentary →If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? to: Heb. a word withhold: Heb. refrain from words?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz begins tentatively: 'If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?' The Hebrew 'nasa' (assay/venture) and 'la'ah' (be weary/grieved) suggest he fears Job might find speech burdensome. Yet this apparent courtesy masks the coming accusation. Eliphaz's politeness cannot conceal that he will ultimately blame Job for his suffering, demonstrating how even well-intentioned counsel can w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**IV.**
(2) **If we assay.**—Rather, perhaps, *Has one ever assayed? *or, *Has a word ever been tried? *It appears from Job 29:9-10, that Job was held in great honour and reverence by all, and Eliphaz regarded him with awe such as would have constrained him to be silent, but he is so convinced that Job is wrong and deserves reproof, that he cannot refrain from speaking. He strikes a note, however,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 4
Chapter Outline
The Jews lament their danger.(1-4)
Esther undertakes to plead for the Jews.(5-17)
**Verses 1-4**
Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews. Public calamities, that oppress the church of God, should affect our hearts more than any private affliction, and it is peculiarly distressing to occasion sufferings to others. God will keep those that are exposed to ...
Read full commentary →Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz acknowledges Job's past ministry: 'Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.' The Hebrew 'yasar' (instructed/disciplined) and 'chazaq' (strengthened) indicate Job's former role as spiritual counselor. This makes the irony more painful—Job who strengthened others now cannot strengthen himself. Eliphaz will use this to imply hypocrisy, yet Scripture shows ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Behold, thou hast instructed many.**—There is a conspicuous want of feeling in Eliphaz. Without any true sympathy, however, he may have given the outward signs of it (Job 2:12-13). He charges Job with inability to derive from his own principles that support which he had expected them to afford to others, and seems almost to rejoice malevolently that one who had been so great a help to others...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 8 Ne 8:1-8. Religious Manner of Reading and Hearing the Law.
**1. all the people gathered themselves together as one man--**The occasion was the celebration of the feast of the seventh month (Ne 7:73). The beginning of every month was ushered in as a sacred festival; but this, the commencement of the seventh month, was kept with distinguished honor as "the feast of trumpets," which extend...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 4
Chapter Outline
The Jews lament their danger.(1-4)
Esther undertakes to plead for the Jews.(5-17)
**Verses 1-4**
Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews. Public calamities, that oppress the church of God, should affect our hearts more than any private affliction, and it is peculiarly distressing to occasion sufferings to others. God will keep those that are exposed to ...
Read full commentary →Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz continues praising Job's past: 'Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.' The imagery of upholding the falling and strengthening weak knees appears elsewhere in Scripture (Isaiah 35:3, Hebrews 12:12) as marks of gospel ministry. Yet Eliphaz will soon argue that Job's current collapse proves his former ministry was hypocritical—a cruel inver...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 4
Chapter Outline
The Jews lament their danger.(1-4)
Esther undertakes to plead for the Jews.(5-17)
**Verses 1-4**
Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews. Public calamities, that oppress the church of God, should affect our hearts more than any private affliction, and it is peculiarly distressing to occasion sufferings to others. God will keep those that are exposed to ...
Read full commentary →But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz springs his trap: 'But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.' The Hebrew 'la'ah' (faint) and 'bahal' (troubled/dismayed) accuse Job of failing his own test. Eliphaz's logic is demonic: if Job were truly righteous, he would endure suffering without distress. This denies the legitimacy of lament and human emotion, contradicting Scripture's affi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-17**
We are prone to shrink from services that are attended with peril or loss. But when the cause of Christ and his people demand it, we must take up our cross, and follow him. When Christians are disposed to consult their own ease or safety, rather than the public good, they should be blamed. The law was express, all knew it. It is not thus in the court of the King of kings: to th...
Read full commentary →Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz asks, 'Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?' This could be read two ways: either asking if Job's former piety is now his confidence, or accusing Job's piety of being shallow. The Hebrew allows both readings. Eliphaz seems to suggest Job's faith was merely external righteousness rather than genuine trust, anticipating Satan's accusation. This show...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Is not this thy fear, thy confidence . . .?**—The meaning seems to be, “Should not thy fear or piety be thy confidence, and the uprightness of thy ways thy hope? Should not the piety thou wast so ready to commend to others supply a sufficient ground of hope for thyself?” Or we may understand, “Is not thy reverence, thy confidence, thy hope, and thy integrity shown to be worthless if thou fai...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. Ezra ... stood upon a pulpit of wood--**Not made in the form known to us, but only a raised scaffold or platform, broad enough to allow fourteen persons to stand with ease upon it. Ezra's duty was very laborious, as he continued reading aloud from morning until midday, but his labor was lightened by the aid of the other priests present. Their presence was of importance, partly to show their c...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-17**
We are prone to shrink from services that are attended with peril or loss. But when the cause of Christ and his people demand it, we must take up our cross, and follow him. When Christians are disposed to consult their own ease or safety, rather than the public good, they should be blamed. The law was express, all knew it. It is not thus in the court of the King of kings: to th...
Read full commentary →Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz articulates the retribution theology that will dominate the friends' speeches: 'who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?' His rhetorical questions assume the innocent never suffer and the righteous never perish. The Hebrew uses zakhar (זָכַר, remember/recall) implying Eliphaz appeals to universal experience and wisdom tradition. This theology contains partial...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) Re**member, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?**—He challenges Job’s experience, and quotes his own in proof of the universal connection between sin and suffering. In so doing, his object may be to insinuate that Job is sinful; or, as seems perhaps more probable, and certainly more gracious, to prove to him that if he is what he was supposed to be, that itself is a ground of hope,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. when he opened it, all the people stood up--**This attitude they assumed either from respect to God's word, or, rather, because the reading was prefaced by a solemn prayer, which was concluded by a general expression of "Amen, Amen."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observa...
Read full commentary →Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz's doctrine of retribution - 'they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same' - represents conventional wisdom that sin always produces visible consequences. While containing truth (Galatians 6:7), this theology cannot explain innocent suffering. The friends' failure is not false doctrine but misapplication.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **They that plow iniquity.**—Comp. Galatians 6:7-8; and comp. also the strange expression of Isaiah 5:18.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observa...
Read full commentary →By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. by the breath: that is, by his anger
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz declares, 'By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.' The Hebrew 'neshamah' (breath/blast) suggests God's powerful judgment. Eliphaz assumes all suffering is divine judgment for sin, making Job's suffering proof of hidden wickedness. This is the central error of all three friends—conflating consequence with causation. While sin does bring judgmen...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-8. caused the people to understand the law ... gave the sense--**Commentators are divided in opinion as to the import of this statement. Some think that Ezra read the law in pure Hebrew, while the Levites, who assisted him, translated it sentence by sentence into Chaldee, the vernacular dialect which the exiles spoke in Babylon. Others maintain that the duty of these Levites consisted in expla...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observa...
Read full commentary →The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz uses animal imagery: 'The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.' Lions represent powerful wicked people who oppress others. The Hebrew 'nathats' (broken) suggests God violently destroys the powerful wicked. Eliphaz implies Job must be such a one, since he's suffering God's destruction. This shows how even accurate theology (God...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7-8. caused the people to understand the law ... gave the sense--**Commentators are divided in opinion as to the import of this statement. Some think that Ezra read the law in pure Hebrew, while the Levites, who assisted him, translated it sentence by sentence into Chaldee, the vernacular dialect which the exiles spoke in Babylon. Others maintain that the duty of these Levites consisted in expla...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observa...
Read full commentary →The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz continues the lion metaphor: 'The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.' The imagery suggests that even if the powerful wicked seem secure, they ultimately perish. Their children (whelps) are scattered, losing their inheritance. Eliphaz subtly implies Job's loss of children proves he was a 'lion'—a powerful oppressor now justly judged. This ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **The old lion perisheth . . .**—This means that even though wickedness is joined with strength, it is equally unable to prosper. It is to be observed that no less than five different words are here used for *lion, *showing that these animals must have been common and of various kinds in Job’s country.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 8:9-15. The People Comforted.
**9-10. This day is holy unto the Lord ... mourn not, nor weep--**A deep sense of their national sins, impressively brought to their remembrance by the reading of the law and its denunciations, affected the hearts of the people with penitential sorrow. But notwithstanding the painful remembrances of their national sins which the reading of the law awakened, the pe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-11**
Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observa...
Read full commentary →Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. secretly: Heb. by stealth
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz claims a supernatural revelation ('a thing was secretly brought to me') to validate his theology. The mysterious nighttime vision adds authority to his argument but reveals pride - assuming his experience represents ultimate truth. God's later rebuke (42:7) shows that spiritual experiences must align with divine revelation.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Now a thing.**—He now proceeds to enforce and illustrate what he has said in highly poetical language, which has been versified in one of Byron’s Hebrew Melodies.
**Secretly brought to me.**—Literally, *was stolen for me. *Joseph uses the same expression of himself in Genesis 40:15.
**Mine ear received a little, **compared with the inexhaustible resources remaining unrevealed. The word used...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 8:9-15. The People Comforted.
**9-10. This day is holy unto the Lord ... mourn not, nor weep--**A deep sense of their national sins, impressively brought to their remembrance by the reading of the law and its denunciations, affected the hearts of the people with penitential sorrow. But notwithstanding the painful remembrances of their national sins which the reading of the law awakened, the pe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz claims special revelation: 'In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men.' The Hebrew 'tardemah' (deep sleep) is the same word used for Adam's sleep (Genesis 2:21) and Abraham's deep sleep during the covenant (Genesis 15:12), suggesting divine revelation. Eliphaz claims his theology comes from God Himself, making it more difficult for Job to refute. This reveal...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **In thoughts from the visions of the night.**—The Book of Genesis exhibits the same idea of revelation through visions of the night, *e.g.,* Job 15:1; Job 20:3; Job 30:11; Job 40:5; Job 41:1; afterwards it is not common, except in the Book of Daniel. The word rendered “thoughts” only occurs once again, in Job 20:2. The “deep sleep” of this place is like a reminiscence of Genesis 2:21; Genesi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. came: Heb. met all: Heb. the multitude of
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz describes his vision: 'Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.' The Hebrew 'pachad' (fear) and 'ra'adah' (trembling) suggest terror, while 'pagar' (meet/encounter) indicates unexpected confrontation. Eliphaz's physical response—bones shaking—supposedly validates his revelation's divine origin. Yet Scripture shows that dramatic experiences don't guarantee true re...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz continues: 'Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.' The Hebrew 'ruach' (spirit) could be divine or demonic. The physical response—hair standing up—indicates terror rather than peace. Notably, God's revelations to prophets often begin with 'fear not' (Daniel 10:12, Luke 1:13), while demonic encounters produce unqualified terror. Eliphaz's vision lacks the divine...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **A spirit passed before my face.**—It is vain to argue from this passage that spiritual essences are capable of being seen by the bodily eye, because, first of all, the language is highly figurative and poetical, and because, secondly, every one understands that a spiritual manifestation can be made only to the spirit. The notion, therefore, of *seeing *a spirit is absurd in itself, because ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, there: or, I heard a still voice
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz reports, 'It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice.' The inability to discern the form suggests either overwhelming glory or deliberate obscurity. The 'silence' (Hebrew 'demamah') before the voice parallels Elijah's experience (1 Kings 19:12), but where God's voice brought comfort to Elijah, this voice w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz's question 'Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?' uses comparative language challenging Job's implied accusations against divine justice. The Hebrew enosh (אֱנוֹשׁ) emphasizes human frailty and mortality, while gever (גֶּבֶר) denotes a strong man. The rhetorical structure assumes the answer 'No'—creatures cannot exceed their Creator in justice or...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Shall mortal man be more just than God?**—This is the burden, or refrain, upon which the friends of Job are for ever harping. It is perfectly orthodox, but at the same time perfectly inadequate to deal with the necessities of Job’s case. He is willing to admit that it is impossible for any man to be just with God; but then arises Job’s dilemma, Where is God’s justice if He punishes the inno...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: and his: or, nor in his angels, in whom he put light
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The vision's message: 'Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.' This statement is partially true—angels are creatures and can rebel (2 Peter 2:4)—but Eliphaz misapplies it. He'll argue that if God cannot trust angels, He certainly cannot trust humans, making all human suffering deserved judgment. This logic denies grace and implies salvation is impossible. Tr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Behold, he put no trust in his servants.**—The statement is a general one; it does not refer to any one act in the past. We should read *putteth *and *chargeth. *Eliphaz repeats himself in Job 15:15.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ne 8:16-18. They Keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
**16. the people went forth, and brought ... and made themselves booths, &c.--**(See on Le 23:34; De 16:13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz continues: 'How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?' The 'houses of clay' refers to human bodies (2 Corinthians 5:1). Eliphaz argues from lesser to greater: if angels can fall, how much more humans! The moth comparison suggests humans are crushed as easily as moths. This is true anthropology—humans are frail—bu...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Houses of clay.**—This may perhaps contain an allusion to Genesis 11:3.
**Are crushed before the moth?**—That is to say, are so frail that even the moth destroys them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. since the days of Jeshua ... had not the children of Israel done so--**This national feast had not been neglected for so protracted a period. Besides that it is impossible that such a flagrant disregard of the law could have been tolerated by Samuel, David, and other pious rulers, its observance is sufficiently indicated (1Ki 8:2, 65; 2Ch 7:9) and expressly recorded (Ezr 3:4). But the meanin...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it. destroyed: Heb. beaten in pieces
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz declares, 'They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.' The Hebrew 'kathath' (destroyed/beaten down) and 'abad' (perish) emphasize complete destruction. 'Without any regarding it' suggests people die unnoticed and unmourned. Eliphaz implies Job is experiencing this—suffering divine destruction that proves his hidden wickedness. This denies God...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **From morning to evening.**—The process is continual and unceasing, and when we consider the ravages of time on history, we may well say, as in Job 4:20, that “none regardeth it.”
The next verse, however, may seem to imply that they themselves are unmindful of their decay, it is so insidious and so complete.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. Also day by day ... he read in the book of the law of God--**This was more than was enjoined (De 31:10-12), and arose from the exuberant zeal of the time.
**on the eighth day was a solemn assembly--**This was the last and great day of the feast (see on Nu 29:35). In later times, other ceremonies which increased the rejoicing were added (Joh 7:37).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Eliphaz concludes: 'Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.' Human 'excellency' (Hebrew 'yether'—abundance/cord) is temporary. The phrase 'die without wisdom' suggests people perish without understanding why—implying Job's suffering proves his spiritual ignorance. Yet this contradicts God's own assessment (Job 1:8). Eliphaz's vision delivers a message of ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-21**
Eliphaz relates a vision. When we are communing with our own hearts, and are still, Psa 4:4, then is a time for the Holy Spirit to commune with us. This vision put him into very great fear. Ever since man sinned, it has been terrible to him to receive communications from Heaven, conscious that he can expect no good tidings thence. Sinful man! shall he pretend to be more just, ...
Read full commentary →