Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 22:15-30

"Wilt thou keep the old way Which wicked men have trodden? Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundation was poured out as a stream, Who said unto God, Depart from us; And, What can the Almighty do for us? Yet he filled their houses with good things: But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. The righteous see it, and are glad; And the innocent laugh them to scorn, [Saying], Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off, And the remnant of them the fire hath consumed. Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: Thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, And lay up his words in thy heart. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents. And lay thou [thy] treasure in the dust, And [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the brooks; And the Almighty will be thy treasure, And precious silver unto thee. For then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, And shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee; And thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; And light shall shine upon thy ways. When they cast [thee] down, thou shalt say, [There is] lifting up; And the humble person he will save. He will deliver [even] him that is not innocent: Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands." — Job 22:15-30 (ASV)

In the preceding words, Eliphaz seems to have charged Job with not believing that God has providence in human affairs. Now, as a consequence, he appears to charge him with the effects of this lack of faith. For those who do not believe that God cares for human affairs usually follow their own will in all things, disdaining the fear of God.

Therefore, Eliphaz asks if Job wants to follow the path of the world—the conduct of those who believe in nothing but the temporal things they see, and from this proceed to acts of injustice. He then asks, "which wicked men have trodden?" A path is said to be trodden by those who frequent it, intentionally and without hesitation wearing it away. In the same way, those who do not believe in divine providence frequently, freely, and intentionally commit acts of injustice. This does not happen to those who believe in divine providence, although they sometimes fall into injustice from weakness.

So that they do not appear to do this with impunity, Eliphaz then says, "They were snatched away before their time," because they died without completing their natural lifespan. He assigns the cause for this, saying, "and the river undermined their foundation." A person's foundation is that on which their hope primarily rests. Such men do not place their hope in God, but only in temporal things, which are corrupted by the changing course of events that he calls a river.

Eliphaz explains what he means by this path when he says, “They told God: Depart from us,” for in their hearts they disdained both him and his spiritual goods. He describes their intellectual lack of faith, saying they thought the Almighty could do nothing. This is because if the care of human affairs does not belong to him, he can do nothing good or evil to humanity, which is contrary to the very idea of omnipotence.

To add to their fault, he then speaks of their ingratitude, saying, “though he filled their houses with good things”—that is, with the temporal things God gives to people. To disprove their assertion, he says, “let the opinion of these men be far from me.”

So that it does not seem that the just are also overthrown with the wicked, Eliphaz adds, “The just will see it and will rejoice.” By this, he means to say that the just will not be ruined but will live in joy. To address the potential objection that they would lack justice by rejoicing over the ruin of others, he says, “and the innocent will mock them.” It is as if to say: The innocent can mock them while preserving their own innocence, because the wicked are ruined contrary to their own arrogant opinion. In this, the innocent rejoice in divine justice. This statement seems to answer what Job had said directly, “After this, if it seems right to you, laugh” (Job 21:3), where he seemed to complain that he was being mocked by them.

To remove any doubt that the river has undermined the foundation of evil men, he presents this as something obvious in the form of a question: “Has not their insolence been beaten down?” For they seemed, from earthly prosperity or their own pride, to grow as high as a tree. But just as a tree’s growth is suddenly stopped by being cut down, so also their elevation suddenly ceases when these things are removed.

Sometimes when a tree is cut down, it grows no higher, but its trunk remains. If, however, it is burned, no trace of its former height is left. So also, if a sinner has died or been brought low, his sons also perish and his riches are taken away by the fire of adversity, and nothing will appear to remain of his former prominence. And so Eliphaz continues, “And fire devoured their remains,” in the heat of tribulation. This is similar to the words of James: “The sun rose hot and dried the hay” (James 1:11). A man’s “remains” refers to his sons or whatever else is left of him after his death.

Since Eliphaz had said (Job 22:17) that this kind of ruin happens to the wicked because they struggled against God, he now explains how Job can avoid a similar downfall. He adds, “Go along with him and be at peace,” as if to say: You were agitated because you wanted to argue against him. “And in this”—that is, through the peace by which you will be reconciled with him—“you will bear the best fruit.” This means you will attain whatever is best as the fruit of this peace.

He shows how Job should find comfort in God in the next statement: “Receive the law from his mouth.” This is as if to say: Do not think that human affairs are not ruled by divine providence; rather, you should order your life according to the law of his government. Since some profess the law of divine government but do not follow it in practice, he then says, “and put his decrees in your heart,” meaning to meditate on his commandments and be disposed to keep them.

He shows how Job will experience these “best of fruits,” saying, “If you will return to the Almighty,” by believing in his omnipotence and submitting yourself to him, “he will rebuild you.” This means that the prosperity of your house, which was destroyed, will be restored. He then shows how Job should return perfectly to God, saying, “and you will put evil far from your tent.” (The word “if” should be understood here, so that the literal text reads, “if you will put evil far from your tent, God will give flint in place of earth and golden torrents in place of flint.”) His saying, “If you will put evil far from your tent,” explains what he had said before: “If you return to the Almighty” (Job 22:23).

He does not say, “If you will put evil far from you,” but “from your tent,” because he wants to imply that this adversity happened to Job not only for his own personal sin but also for the sin of his family. Indeed, when he says, “he will give flint in place of earth,” the word “flint” refers back to his earlier statement, “you will be rebuilt.” This indicates that there will be a restoration, but to something greater, so that Job can receive greater things in place of those he lost. For flint is more precious than the soil of the earth, and gold is more precious than flint.

Eliphaz concludes by listing the nature of the goods he promises will be restored to Job. First, he places security resulting from God’s protection, saying, “The Almighty will fight against your enemies,” so that they cannot again destroy what God will restore to you. Second, he places an abundance of riches, saying, “and you will heap up masses of silver.” All riches are meant by the word “silver” because money is commonly made from it.

So that he does not seem to promise only material goods, he adds spiritual goods. Among these, he first places the ability for a person to love and enjoy God, and so the text continues, “Then you will abound in the delights of the Almighty above.” When you have peace with him, you will delight in him. Since everyone looks with pleasure on what they delight in, he then says, “and you will raise your face (your mind) up to God,” so that you can contemplate him often.

From this contemplation, you will gain confidence in turning to him, and so he then says, “you will ask him.” This will not be without effect, as the text says, “and he will hear you.” Those whom God has heard usually fulfill the vows they made while praying, so he says, “and you will fulfill your promises,” as a sign that you have been heard.

Then he promises success and prosperity in all of Job's plans, saying, “You will decide on a matter”—that is, you will determine by your own foresight how something will be—“and it will come to you,” for your hope will not be in vain. So that you do not hesitate about what to decide, the means you should use will be clear to you, and so he then says, “and light will shine on your ways.” This means it will be clear to you which paths you should take.

He shows the reason for these promises, saying, “He who will be humbled,” by subjecting himself to God in his heart, “will be in glory,” which he will receive from God. “And he who lowered his eyes,” so as not to think anything foolish or proud against God in his mind, “will be saved”—that is, freed from evils and made steadfast in goodness.

Still, not only is inner humility of the heart and mind required for salvation, but outward purity of actions is also necessary. And so he then says, “The innocent will be saved.” He shows by what merit this person will be saved, saying, “he will be saved through the cleanness of his hands,” that is, through the innocence of his works. Consider here that Eliphaz not only promises Job temporal goods, which can be common to both the good and the evil (if he converts), as he had already done (Job 5:17–26), but also spiritual goods, which are unique to the righteous. However, he still promises these only in this life.