Limitless Word
Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
Job 22:4 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgment?
  • BSB Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you?
  • NKJV “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you, And enters into judgment with you?
  • NASB “Is it because of your reverence that He punishes you, That He enters into judgment against you?
  • NLT Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you?

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 sarcastically asks whether God is punishing Job for his piety, implying instead that Job's sin is the obvious cause. He rules out any explanation but guilt.

Overview

Eliphaz mocks the idea that a righteous man could be reproved, insisting Job's suffering must stem from wickedness. He cannot conceive of innocent suffering. The book of Job, and supremely the cross of Christ, refute this: the truly innocent One suffered, not for His own sin, but in the will of God for the salvation of others.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Job 14:3And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
  • Ps 143:2And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
  • Isa 3:14–15The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
  • Rev 3:19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
  • Job 9:19If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
  • Job 19:29Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
  • Job 23:6–7Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
  • Ps 130:3–4If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
  • Job 34:23For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.
  • Job 7:12Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
  • Ps 80:16It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
  • Ps 39:11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
  • Job 16:21O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
  • Ps 76:6At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
  • Job 9:32For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
  • Eccl 12:14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 22:4YouTube · 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 22:4 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.