You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it!
Parallel translations
- WEB But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it.
- KJV But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
- BSB while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.
- NKJV But the mighty man possessed the land, And the honorable man dwelt in it.
- NASB “But the earth belongs to the powerful man, And the one who is honorable dwells on it.
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 implies Job used his power and status to take land and live as a privileged man at others' expense. He casts Job as an oppressive strongman.
Overview
Eliphaz suggests Job leveraged might and honor to dominate, possessing the land while others went without. The charge fits the stereotype of the wealthy oppressor. Yet it contradicts Job's actual character as defender of the poor (Job 29:12-16). Eliphaz's slander shows how easily power is presumed to be corrupt, even when the powerful person is righteous.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 9:15The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
- Job 29:7–17when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.
- Ps 12:8The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.
- Job 31:34because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door —
- Job 13:8Will you show partiality to him? Will you contend for God?
- 1 Kgs 21:11–15The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had instructed them in the letters which she had written and sent to them.
- Isa 3:3the captain of fifty, the honorable man, the counselor, the skilled craftsman, and the clever enchanter.
- Mic 7:3Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.
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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 22:8 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.