Commentary - Job 15:14-16

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, Eliphaz the Temanite continues his second speech to Job, and he does so by launching into a series of rhetorical questions designed to put Job back in his place. The substance of what Eliphaz says here is, in a certain light, theologically correct. He is asserting the universal sinfulness of man and the transcendent holiness of God. However, the truth of a statement is not the only thing that makes it appropriate. The context here is that of a friend attempting to comfort a man who has been scraped down to the studs, and Eliphaz is using these glorious truths like a bludgeon. He is right that man is sinful and God is holy, but he is dead wrong in his application of this truth to Job’s immediate suffering. He assumes a simplistic one-to-one correlation: great suffering must mean great sin. The book of Job as a whole exists to demolish that tidy little equation. So as we go through this, we must distinguish between the theological propositions, which are sound, and the pastoral application, which is atrocious.

Eliphaz’s argument is an argument from the greater to the lesser. If God’s holy ones, the angels, are not trustworthy in His sight, and if the very heavens are not pure before Him, then how much more pathetic is man? Man, he says, is abominable, corrupt, and drinks down sin like a thirsty man gulps water. This is a classic statement of what theologians call total depravity. While Eliphaz’s motive is to get Job to confess some secret, heinous sin, the Holy Spirit has included this speech in Scripture to teach us a foundational truth about our condition before a holy God. The problem is not that Eliphaz is wrong about human nature in general, but that he is wrong about Job in particular, and profoundly ignorant of the workings of God in the heavenly council.

Outline

Context In Job

We are in the second cycle of speeches between Job and his three friends. Job has just finished his reply to the first round, maintaining his integrity and lamenting his condition. Eliphaz, who was the most measured of the friends in his first speech, now comes back with a much sharper tone. He accuses Job of speaking empty words (Job 15:2-3) and undermining the fear of God (Job 15:4). The passage we are considering (vv. 14-16) is the theological anchor for his renewed assault. He is laying down the doctrine of man’s innate sinfulness as the basis for his conclusion that Job must be a great sinner. He is establishing a major premise: all men are unrighteous. His minor premise, unstated but clearly implied, is that Job is a man. The conclusion he wants Job to draw is that Job is therefore unrighteous and should confess his sin. The irony is that the premise is true, but the conclusion he draws from it regarding the reason for Job's suffering is false.

Key Issues

Theological Commentary

Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Eliphaz opens with a pair of rhetorical questions that expect a resounding "nothing" and "no one." The first question concerns man's essential nature. "What is man, that he should be pure?" The word for man here is enosh, which often carries the connotation of mortal, frail man. What is this fragile creature, that he could possibly be clean? The implied answer is that he cannot be. Purity is not in his nature. The second question parallels the first but specifies the source of this impurity. "Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" This points directly to the doctrine of original sin. Our sinfulness is not something we acquire later in life; it is our birthright. As David would later say, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5). To be "born of a woman" is to be born into the lineage of Adam, and this means being born a sinner. Righteousness, in the sense of a perfect moral standing before God, is not something any son of Adam can claim. Eliphaz is stating a bedrock truth of the human condition. The problem is that he is using this truth to deny Job's lived experience of integrity and God’s testimony concerning him.

Job 15:15 Behold, He puts no faith in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight;

Here Eliphaz builds his case by moving from the earthly to the heavenly. This is his argument from the greater to the lesser. "Behold, He puts no faith in His holy ones." The "holy ones" here are most likely the angels, the members of God's heavenly court. Even these glorious beings, who have not fallen as Satan and his demons have, are not trusted by God in an ultimate sense. This does not mean God is paranoid, but rather that their holiness is a derived and dependent holiness. Compared to the absolute, uncreated, and immutable holiness of God, their created holiness is as nothing. God alone is holy by His own definition. Then Eliphaz adds, "And the heavens are not pure in His sight." The physical heavens, the majestic expanse we see, are a picture of grandeur and purity to us. But in the sight of the one who spoke them into existence, even they are tarnished. If the angels are not ultimately trustworthy and the heavens are not ultimately pure, what does that say about us?

Job 15:16 How much less one who is abominable and corrupt, Man, who drinks unrighteousness like water!

This is the punchline. "How much less..." If the angels and heavens fall short, where does that leave man? Eliphaz uses two potent words to describe him: "abominable and corrupt." The word for abominable, ta'ab, means disgusting, loathsome. The word for corrupt, alach, has the sense of being soured or tainted, like milk that has gone bad. This is not a flattering picture, but it is an accurate one of man in his natural state. Man is not just a little off; he is fundamentally repulsive to a holy God. And the verse concludes with a vivid metaphor for our depravity: "Man, who drinks unrighteousness like water!" This is a stunning image. We don't just sin occasionally, as though by accident. We don't just dabble. We drink it down. It is our refreshment, our sustenance. A man in the desert craves water; it is a natural, driving thirst. In the same way, fallen man craves sin. He thirsts for it, and when he finds it, he gulps it down with relish. This is the doctrine of total depravity in poetic form. Every part of man, his mind, his will, his affections, is corrupted by sin, and he pursues it as naturally as a thirsty man pursues water.

Key Words

'Abominable' (ta'ab)

The Hebrew word ta'ab denotes that which is morally disgusting and abhorrent, particularly from a divine perspective. It is frequently used in the Old Testament to describe idolatry and other practices that God finds utterly repulsive. For Eliphaz to apply this to man in his natural state is to make a profound statement about the chasm between God's holiness and man's sinfulness.

'Corrupt' (alach)

The verb alach carries the idea of being morally soured or spoiled. It suggests a state of decay and perversion. It's not just that man does wrong things, but that his very nature has gone bad. This points to the inwardness of our sin problem; it is a corruption of our being, not just a series of poor choices.

Application

The central truth in this passage, despite Eliphaz’s clumsy and cruel application, is a truth we must all confront: before a holy God, we are utterly without merit. We are not pure. We are not righteous. We are, in our natural state, abominable and corrupt, drinking down sin as if it were our life’s source. This is grim news, but it is the necessary backdrop for the gospel. Until we see the depth of our sin, we will never appreciate the height of God’s grace.

Eliphaz was a miserable comforter because he had no gospel to offer Job. He could diagnose the disease with frightening accuracy, but he had no cure. He could only say, "You are a sinner, so you must be suffering for your sin." The gospel says, "You are a sinner, and Christ suffered for your sin." The truth of our depravity should not lead us to despair, as Eliphaz intended for Job, but rather to Christ. It is precisely because we cannot be pure or righteous on our own that God sent His Son. Jesus Christ is the only man born of a woman who was truly righteous. He did not drink unrighteousness; He was the fountain of living water.

Therefore, we must reject our own righteousness, which is no righteousness at all, and submit to the righteousness of God which is by faith. We must confess that we are the man who drinks unrighteousness like water, and then we must come to Christ to drink the water of life freely. The truth of our condition is not meant to crush us, but to drive us out of ourselves and into the arms of the only one who can make us clean.