“Should he argue with useless talk, Or with words which do not benefit?
Parallel translations
- WEB Should he reason with unprofitable talk, or with speeches with which he can do no good?
- KJV Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
- BSB Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
- NKJV Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
- NLT The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Eliphaz claims Job argues with useless, profitless words. He judges Job's speech to be without value.
Overview
Eliphaz continues that Job reasons 'with unprofitable talk' and speeches that 'do no good.' He treats Job's heartfelt defense as worthless babble. This dismissal shows the friends' refusal to take Job's anguish and integrity seriously, deepening the rift between them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 12:36–37I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
- Col 4:6Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- Mal 3:13–15“Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
- 1 Tim 6:4–5he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions,
- Job 26:1–3Then Job answered,
- Job 13:4–5But you are forgers of lies. You are all physicians of no value.
- Job 16:2–3“I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 15:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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