Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
- BSB But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
- NKJV Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
- NASB “Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the advice of the wicked is far from me.
- NLT Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.
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 admits that God filled even the wicked's houses with good things, then distances himself from their counsel. He concedes their prosperity yet disowns their way.
Overview
Strikingly, Eliphaz here repeats almost verbatim Job's own line, 'the counsel of the wicked is far from me' (Job 21:16). He acknowledges God blesses even the ungodly with good things, a tension within his own argument. The verse shows the friends grappling, however inconsistently, with the same hard reality Job has pressed: God's goodness reaches even the undeserving.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 21:16Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
- Job 12:6The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
- 1 Sam 2:7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
- Acts 14:17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
- Ps 17:14From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
- Jer 12:2Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
- Ps 1:1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
- Acts 15:16After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
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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 22:18 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.