Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways 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?
- BSB Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are 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 7:1Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Ps 147:10–11He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Prov 12:22Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who do the truth are his delight.
- Prov 11:1A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but accurate weights are his delight.
- Prov 11:20Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
- 1 Chr 29:17I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now I have seen with joy your people, who are present here, offer willingly to you.
- Mal 2:17You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in Yahweh’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
- Ps 39:1For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
- Job 23:10–12But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come out like gold.
- Ps 119:59I considered my ways, and turned my steps to your statutes.
- Ps 119:3–6Yes, they do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways.
- Acts 24:16Herein I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- Phil 4:18But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 22:3 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
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.