Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
Parallel translations
- WEB who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
- BSB They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’
- NKJV They said to God, ‘Depart from us! What can the Almighty do to them?’
- NASB “They said to God, ‘Go away from us!’ And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’
- NLT For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
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 quotes the wicked telling God to depart and questioning what the Almighty could do for them. He describes their proud rejection of God.
Overview
Echoing Job's own earlier description of the wicked (Job 21:14-15), Eliphaz characterizes the ungodly by their dismissal of God. Ironically, he uses Job's words against him, implying Job shares their attitude. The verse accurately depicts the heart of rebellion, but Eliphaz wrongly assigns that heart to Job, who in fact desperately seeks God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 21:14–15Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
- Rom 1:28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
- Ps 4:6There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
- Job 21:10Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
- Mal 3:14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
- Matt 8:29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
- Isa 30:11Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
- Matt 8:34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
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 22:17 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.