Limitless Word
Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
Job 22:16 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
  • BSB They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
  • NKJV Who were cut down before their time, Whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
  • NASB Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundations were washed away by a river?
  • NLT They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away.

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 recalls how such wicked men were swept away before their time, their security washed out like a flood. He cites their ruin as a warning to Job.

Overview

Eliphaz points to the sudden destruction of the ungodly, possibly alluding to the generation of the flood. He uses their downfall to frighten Job into repentance. The historical pattern of judgment on the wicked is real, but Eliphaz's mistake lies in applying it to a righteous sufferer rather than recognizing that not all suffering is judgment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Job 15:32It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
  • Gen 7:17–24And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
  • 1 Pet 3:19–20By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
  • Gen 7:11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  • 2 Pet 2:5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
  • Ps 55:23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
  • Matt 24:37–39But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
  • Ps 102:24I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
  • Job 14:19The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
  • Matt 7:26–27And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
  • Eccl 7:17Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 22:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 22:16 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.