Job 15:14 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 15:1-16

Eliphaz here falls very foul upon Job, because he contradicted what he and his colleagues had said, and did not acquiesce in it and applaud it, as they expected. Proud people are apt thus to take it very much amiss if they may not have leave to dictate and give law to all about them, and to censure those as ignorant and obstinate, and all that is naught, who cannot in every thing say as they say. Several great crimes Eliphaz here charges Job with, only because he would not own himself a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 15:14

What is man, that he should be clean ?.... Frail, feeble, mortal man, or woeful man, as Mr. Broughton renders it; since he is sinful, whereby he is become such a weak and dying creature: this question, as well as the following, is put by way of contempt, and as lessening man in a comparative sense, and in order to abate any high conceit of himself; who is not naturally clean, but the reverse, being conceived and born in sin; nor can he be so of himself, nor by any means he is capable of;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 15:14

What is man, that he should be clean? - אנוש מה mah enosh ; what is weak, sickly, dying, miserable man, that he should be clean? This is the import of the original word enosh. And - born of a woman, that he should be righteous? - It appears, from many passages in the sacred writings, that natural birth was supposed to be a defilement; and that every man born into the world was in a state of moral pollution. Perhaps the word יצדק yitsdak should be translated, that he should... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-16

Eliphaz to Job: Resumption of the second controversy: 1. An overwhelming indictment. I. OLD ACCUSATIONS REPEATED . 1 . Unprofitable talk. The replies given by Job in the preceding colloquy Eliphaz characterizes as 2 . Manifest impiety. Eliphaz had already ( Job 4:6 ) insinuated that Job was devoid of true religion; here he regards the insinuation as substantiated by the conduct of Job himself in three particulars. 3 . Astounding presumption. Stung by Job's ridicule... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-19

Perversity and impenitence rebuked. In the next six chapters the controversy between Job and his friends takes a new and embittered turn. They muster their forces to put down the daring speaker, who as they deem has challenged the justice of God. They seek to humiliate him as a late-born, itinerant, and passionate man, who has incurred fresh guilt by his impious questionings and blasphemies. Eliphaz gives a terrible representation of the general truth that the wicked man, living for himself... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-35

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:14

What is man, that he should be clean? A vain "beating of the air." Eliphaz had asserted the same truth in his first speech, when he said, "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he taxeth with folly: how m u ch less in them that dwell in houses of clay ' whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?" ( Job 4:17-19 ); and Job had given his full assent to it, when he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:14-16

Human sinfuless. Eliphaz accuses Job of his attempt to justify himself, and speaks with great apparent acerbity of spirit. His words are cutting and cruel. He secretly declares Job to be sinful in proportion to his sufferings. He branches into generalities, and affirms the general human sinfulness with the quiet accusation, "All men are sinful; therefore thou art. Sorrow is the punishment of the wicked; therefore thy suffering is proof of thy guilt." Eliphaz's view is imperfect, and needs to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:14-16

God's holiness and man's sin. Eliphaz takes up Job's words ( Job 14:1-4 ), but turns them against their author. Job had spoken of inherited frailty as a ground for pity; Eliphaz seizes on it as an accusation of guilt. How dare this puny, imperfect creature, man, boast of his innocence in the sight of the holy God? I. GOD 'S HOLINESS IS INCOMPARABLE . This is an idea which we take for granted. Yet it was not found in most heathen religions. Monotheism is commonly reckoned as the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 15:14

What is man that he should be clean? - The object of Eliphaz in this is to overturn the positions of Job that he was righteous, and had been punished beyond his deserts. He had before maintained Job 4:7, that no one ever perished being innocent, and that the righteous were not cut off. This was with him a favorite position; and indeed the whole drift of the argument maintained by him and his friends was, to prove that uncommon calamities were proof of uncommon guilt. Job had insisted on it that... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 15:1-16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 15:14

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 15:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-19

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:1-35

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:14-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 15:14-16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 15:14

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