FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation Job 15:31
KJVLet not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Read it in context
Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God
Start reading at Job 15:1 (Job 15:1 to Job 15:35).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
- 15:1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
- 15:2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
- 15:3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
- 15:4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
- 15:5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
- 15:6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
- 15:7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
- 15:8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
- 15:9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
- 15:10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
- 15:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
- 15:12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
- 15:13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
- 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
- 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
- 15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
- 15:17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
- 15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
- 15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
- 15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
- 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
- 15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
- 15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
- 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
- 15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
- 15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
- 15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
- 15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
- 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
- 15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
- 15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
- 15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
- 15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
- 15:34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
- 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 15:1–15:35): Eliphaz again addresses Job. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God. Read Job 15:1 through Job 15:35 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God (Job 15:1 to Job 15:35). Start reading at Job 15:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 15:1, Job 15:35, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
- not him Job 12:16 Isa 44:20 Gal 6:3,7 Eph 5:6
- trust Ps 62:10 Isa 59:4 Jonah 2:8
- for vanity Job 4:8 Prov 22:8 Isa 17:10-11 Hos 8:7 Gal 6:8
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 15
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation The lament and first exchange
Job 3:1–14:22FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.