Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
Parallel translations
- WEB Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect?
- KJV Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
- NKJV Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
- NASB “Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, Or gain if you make your ways blameless?
- NLT Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?
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 suggests God gains no pleasure or profit from Job's righteousness, so Job's claim to integrity is pointless. He minimizes the value of human goodness to God.
Overview
Eliphaz presses his argument that God is indifferent to whether Job is righteous. Yet the larger witness of Scripture corrects him: God does take pleasure in the righteous (Ps 147:11) and the very point of the book is that God is pleased to defend His servant Job. Eliphaz's theology of God's detachment is precisely what the conclusion of Job overturns.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Cor 7:1Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- Ps 147:10–11He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legpower of the man.
- Prov 12:22Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.
- Prov 11:1Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
- Prov 11:20The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their walk are His delight.
- 1 Chr 29:17I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.
- Mal 2:17You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- Ps 39:1For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
- Job 23:10–12Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
- Ps 119:59I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.
- Ps 119:3–6They do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
- Acts 24:16In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
- Phil 4:18I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
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 22:3 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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