Job 22:21-30

4. Repent, and restoration will be certain. (Job 22:21-30)

TEXT 22:21-30

21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace:

Thereby good shall come onto thee.

22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth,

And lay up his words in thy heart.

23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up,

If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.

24 And lay thou thy treasure in the dust,

And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks;

25 And the Almighty will be thy treasure,

And precious silver unto thee.

26 For then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty,

And shalt lift up thy face unto God.

27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee;

And thou shalt pay thy vows.

28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee;

And light shall shine upon thy ways.

29 When they cast thee down, thou shalt say, There is lifting up;

And the humble person he will save.

30 He will deliver even him that is not innocent:

Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.

COMMENT 22:21-30

Job 22:21Eliphaz entreats Job to reconcile[248] or yield (agree with Godverb means be accustomed toNumbers 22:30; Psalms 139:3) himself to God, promising him great material felicity in rewardJob 5:17-27; Job 11:13-19. This results in Job's submission to God; then he will be at peace.[249] Eliphaz still claims that the rewards of the righteous constitute its attraction.

[248] See W. B. Bishai, Journal Eastern Studies, 1961, pp. 258ff, for defense of acquiesce. Pope concurs and translates yield to; see also Blommerde's remarks.

[249] S. N. Kramer, Harvard Theological Review, 19S6, pp. 59ff.

Job 22:22The only occurrence of the word Torah in Job is here. It means instruction or revelation and is one of the most precious words in the Old Testament. (Torah is not to be confused with the legalistic view of nomos, esp. see Romans and Galatians, which dominated Rabbinic Judaism in the time of Jesus and Paul.)[250] His words is parallel in line two and reflects a scribe taking dictation from God.[251]

[250] See Kittel nomos, article, Vol. IV; I. D. Strauss, Theology of Promise (New Testament Theology Syllabus); R. N. Longenecker, Paul, Apostle of Liberty (Baker reprint, 1976), esp. chapter 4, pp. 86-105; I. Munck, Paul and Salvation of Mankind (John Knox Press, E. T., 1959); H. Ridderbos, Pauline Theology (Eerdmans, 1976); and W. D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism (Harper Torch); and H. I. Schoeps, Paul (E. T., Westminster, 1961), esp. chapter 5, pp. 168ff.

[251] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1966, pp. 108ff.

Job 22:23If you become reconciled to God, you will be built up (reading te-'aneh for tibbaneh). The passive form of the verb build (b ny) is used in Jeremiah 12:16; Malachi 3:15 of persons made prosperous, implying here healing or restoration.

Job 22:24Eliphaz is promising Job the restoration of his wealth if he will but return to God. God will make his gold as common as dirt. The word translated treasure in A. V. means ore, or that which is dug out of the earth. The text has only Ophir which symbolizes the highly prized gold from that locationGenesis 2:11 ff; Genesis 10:29. Gold and precious stones will be his in abundance.

Job 22:25Eliphaz exhorts Job to make God, not gold or silver, his treasure. Job vigorously responds to this charge in Job 31:24 ff, though Eliphaz means that God's favor brings wealth. Dhorme is probably correct in claiming that your gold, which is the plural of the word in Job 22:24 a, is gold as it leaves the crucible, i.e., ingots of gold. The word rendered precious probably means heaps of, i.e., a large amount of silver (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs).[252]

[252] See this suggestion by W. F. Albright, JBL, 1944, p. 215, n. 47.

Job 22:26Eliphaz asserts that if Job will make God his treasure, then he will be able to lift up his head in confidence as in Job 10:15; Job 11:15; Job 27:10; Isa. 58:15; and delight yourself[253] in Psalms 37:4 in God alone. The metaphor of face to face implies the fact of reconciliation.

[253] G. R. Driver, Vetus Testamentum, III, 1955, 84.

Job 22:27God's silence will be broken, and His presence will be restored to JobGenesis 28:20 ff and Psalms 66:13 ff. If the prayer was answered, the one making the request would make a vow to sacrifice to GodIsaiah 58:8-9.

Job 22:28If Job would return to God, the light of constant success would shine on his way. Instead of darkness, he would walk in lightJob 19:8; Job 22:11. If Job will decree a thing and it will stand for you means that God will fulfill his purpose.

Job 22:29The righteous man (Heb. saddiq) has great influence with GodGenesis 18:21-33. Daniel, Noah, and Job were credited with great powers of influenceEzekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 14:20; but is emphatically rejected by Ezekiel 14:12 ff; Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 31:29-30. Here we see an early form of the Rabbinic concept of Zekut Abot, which gradually develops into the Roman Catholic theology of the merits of the saints.[254]

[254] See R. Gordis, Journal Near Eastern Studies, 1945, pp. 54-55; and StrackBillerbeck, Kommentor Zum Neuen Testament, Vol. I, 1922, 429ff on Matthew 6:19 ff. The Rabbinic concept suggested that an ordinary Israelite could draw on the supererogatory merits of the patriarchs; R. Gordis, Corporate Personality in Job, Journal Near Eastern Studies, 1945, pp. 54ff; N. M. Sarna, A Crux Interpretum in Job XXII, 30,JNES, 1956, pp. 118ff.

Job 22:30The Hebrew -i naki can be rendered as island of the innocent or him that is not innocentas A. V. The first line then means that by the cleanness of Job's hands, the wicked shall be deliveredJob 42:8; Genesis 18:27 ff; and 1 Samuel 12:23.[255] The vicarious life and prayer is unquestionably set forth, though many commentaries attempt to remove the vicarious element.[256]

[255] M. Dahood, Biblica, 1968, p. 363; also J. K. Zink, Uncleanness and Sin in Job 14:4 and Psalms 51:7, Vetus Testamentum, 1967, pp. 354-361.

[256] For how the negative in the first line and the rhetorical question in the second line, are explained, see C. Thexton, Expository Times, 1966-1967, pp. 342ff.