Job 15 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Job 15:1: 15:1–21:34 In this second round of speeches, Job’s friends focus on the fate of the wicked and imply that Job’s condition shows he has sinned.

Summary for Job 15:1: 15:1–21:34 ^a In this second round of speeches, Job’s friends focus on the fate of the wicked and imply that Job’s condition shows he has sinned.
Summary for Job 15:2-3: 15:2-3 ^b You are nothing but a windbag (literally You fill your belly with the east wind): Since the east wind was hot, it might represent heated (Exod 14:21 ^c; Hos 13:15 ^d; Jon 4:8 ^e) or violent (Job 27:21 ^f; Jer 18:17 ^g) speech.
15:6 ^h Your own mouth condemns you: Job feared that this would happen (9:20 ⁱ; see Matt 26:65 ^j).
Summary for Job 15:7-8: 15:7-8 ^k When the Lord himself later issued a similar challenge, Job found it convicting (38:1-11 ^l).
15:8 ^m The book’s readers know about God’s secret council (1:6-12 ⁿ; 2:1-6 ^o; see 1 Kgs 22:19-20 ^p; Ps 89:5-7 ^q), but Job and his company did not.
Summary for Job 15:9-10: 15:9-10 ^r Aged, gray-haired men claim a monopoly on wisdom (8:8-10 ^s; 12:20 ^t; see 12:2 ^u).
15:12 ^v What has weakened your vision (literally Why do your eyes blink): This sentence might be a metaphor for unbelief, or it could indicate winking like a schemer or blinking in disbelief.
15:14 ^w Can any mortal be pure? Eliphaz repeated himself (4:17-19 ^x) and Job (7:17 ^y; 14:4 ^z).

• anyone born of a woman: Both “mortal” and “born of woman” imply weakness.
15:15 ^aa The heavens, traditionally associated with purity (Exod 24:10 ^ab), were not absolutely pure; they had been defiled, perhaps by rebellious angels (Job 1:6-7 ^ac).
Summary for Job 15:17-19: 15:17-19 ^ad before any foreigners arrived: Eliphaz’s contempt for foreign ideas is ironic because wisdom literature has a more international flavor than is characteristic of other Old Testament writings.
Summary for Job 15:20-35: 15:20-35 ^ae The wicked also suffer everything that happened to Job (see 1:16-19 ^af)—attacks by marauders (15:21 ^ag), loss of possessions (15:29 ^ah), crumbled houses (15:28 ^ai), and fire (15:30 ^aj, 34 ^ak).
15:21 ^al Although Eliphaz generalized the terror that the wicked experience, Job had undergone similar experiences (3:25 ^am; 6:4 ^an; 9:34 ^ao; 13:11 ^ap, 21 ^aq; 23:15 ^ar; 27:20 ^as; 30:15 ^at). Bildad (18:11 ^au, 14 ^av) and Zophar (20:25 ^aw) spoke of more terror to come.

• The Sabeans and Chaldeans were examples of the destroyer (1:13-17 ^ax), but this could refer to any destructive agent (1:18-19 ^ay). Destroyers might be agents of Satan (1 Cor 10:10 ^az; Rev 9:11 ^ba) or divine agents that punish wickedness (Exod 12:23 ^bb; 2 Sam 24:16 ^bc; 2 Chr 32:21 ^bd; Acts 12:23 ^be; Heb 11:28 ^bf). Eliphaz meant the latter.
15:22 ^bg for fear they will be murdered (literally he is marked for the sword): The wicked might be killed by murder or by the sword of God’s wrath.
15:23 ^bh They wander around, saying, “Where can I find bread?”: Like the wicked (15:20 ^bi), Job either experienced hunger (see 15:27 ^bj) or (following the Greek Old Testament) had been “appointed to be food for a vulture,” which would parallel “marked for the sword” (15:22 ^bk).
15:25 ^bl Job had complained earlier that God was treating him like a formidable foe (7:19-21 ^bm; 13:24 ^bn).
15:30 ^bo The burning sun (literally The flame) might be the scorching sun or a flame of judgment from God (15:34 ^bp, see Num 16:31-35 ^bq; Ps 106:17-18 ^br; Ezek 20:47 ^bs).

• The breath of God might be a desert wind or a more direct theophany (a manifestation of God’s presence) that caused the burning of Job 15:34 ^bt.
15:34 ^bu The flame of judgment (15:30 ^bv) will burn the unjust gain of the godless.