Job · Chapter 22

Explanation of the words of this response — 'Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said.'

The Fourteenth Oration - Eliphaz's Speech in the Third Round After two rounds had been arranged, six [orations] in each round (Leviticus 24:6) — one round on the question of why the righteous suffer, the other on why the wicked prosper — and the philosopher [Job] had triumphed over them all with his replies, his sword and his bow (Genesis 48:22), Eliphaz strove once more, setting his arrow upon the string (Psalms 11:2), to turn back the battle at the gate (Isaiah 28:6) with a single speech addressing both questions. And he brought forth from his heart a new approach, with fine insight and knowledge (Psalms 119:66): namely, that it was through wisdom and particular intent on God's part that the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked are not paid at once in this world, so that the service of Hashem might be whole, for His sake alone, and not motivated by love of reward or fear of punishment. For the most important aspect of a person's worship is that he should do good for its own sake, and for the sake of the rational law issued by the Supreme Lawgiver, and principally for the sake of His great Name (2 Chronicles 6:32). This would not be so, however, if a person's actions were guided by considerations of reward or fear of punishment, for he would then be serving not Hashem but himself, and this is not the sort of worship Hashem desires. If the sentence against an evil deed were carried out at once (Ecclesiastes 8:11) and the wicked were punished immediately, no one would dare (Jeremiah 30:21) to do evil, for fear of the retribution that would follow at once. Likewise, everyone would strive to do good, knowing that the reward would be paid instantly to the one who did it — but then the deed would not be done for Hashem's sake, nor would reward and punishment have any meaning at all, since all would be compelled to act as they did out of fear of punishment or hope of reward. Nor would there be any meaning to free will and trial, though these are the very purpose of Hashem's intent in creating man: that the heart's inclination should tempt a person to do evil, and he should be free in his soul to do it, and yet he should hold back and turn away from evil (Psalms 34:15) out of respect for Hashem and His commandments. Therefore He set the world in their hearts, without man being able to find out the work that God does (Ecclesiastes 3:11) with regard to the reward of the righteous or the punishment of the wicked. And so there come to be evildoers who prosper and wicked men who are praised in public for what they have done, while Hashem's Providence remains concealed and hidden from the sight of most people. And the impulse toward heresy leads the mind astray, to deny Providence and to declare that the world simply follows its accustomed course (TB Avodah Zarah 54b); that everything depends on heredity, nature, and the constellations; that Hashem is exalted above the heavens in His glory (Psalms 113:4) and does not attend to those below; and other such charges made by deniers — all of whom cite as proof the disorder in the world's governance, namely, that the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. But this is the test and the trial, meant to distinguish between one who serves God in truth and wholeheartedly and one who does not serve for His sake alone. For one who serves God without expectation of reward (TB Avodah Zarah 19a) — the righteous who live by their faith (Habakkuk 2:4) — will not be shaken from his place; he will then receive his reward in the world of recompense, an eternal spiritual reward in shimmering Paradise, for he has been tested and found whole. And for the scorners, too, judgments are readied in the world of souls (Proverbs 19:29); for God brings every hidden thing into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14), a faithful God without iniquity (Deuteronomy 32:4), all of whose work is done in faithfulness (Psalms 33:4). In this way he sets up and re-establishes (Ezra 2:68) his original approach: • Among them: his view that the reason for the suffering of the righteous is to punish them in this world for some minor sin they committed, so as to earn them merit in the World to Come, • and his view regarding the prosperity of the wicked, that despite all this their prosperity is not complete, for their heart is filled with fear of the punishment that awaits them; even though for the most part it will only come to them in the world of souls, their own heart already forebodes evil for them. In this he also justifies his rebuke of Job at the beginning of his first speech, when he said, 'Is not your fear of God your confidence?' (Job 4:6) — for the essence of proper worship is that it not be motivated by hope of reward or fear of punishment, and in this Job had sinned; therefore his steps faltered (Psalms 37:31), and therefore Hashem poured out His wrath upon him (Lamentations 4:11). This reply also encompasses all of Job's objections to Eliphaz's earlier statements: namely, that it was necessary for the governance of beings endowed with free will, and for the trial by which their service is tested (Isaiah 32:4) — to determine whether it is complete and wholehearted, for the sake of Hashem and His love alone.

Eliphaz’s reply Does a man benefit God Will a man avail and benefit for the need and the benefit of the Creator when he teaches the people knowledge and wisdom? The first יִסְכָּן is an expression of benefit [or pleasure], like (I Kings 1:2), “and she shall be to him a warmer (סֹכֶנֶת).” The second is an expression of teaching [or accustoming], like (Num. 22:30), “Have I ever been in the habit (ההסכן הסכנתי)?” The former may also be interpreted as an expression of teaching, thus: Does a man learn for the good of the Creator and for His need when he learns wisdom?

‘Can a man be profitable to God’ — [the word] ‘yiskon’ means ‘to benefit,’ as in ‘a reproof that brings no benefit’ (Job 15:3). Some say it means ‘rely’: the sense being, does a person rely on God through his own deeds, or does a wise person rely on God, and [does God rely] on man, only according to his deeds? But the more likely reading is that it means something like ‘yochiach’ [‘to reprove’]; related to it is ‘agree now with Him, and be at peace’ (Job 22:21). And the sense would then be: can a man dispute with God? Or does a wise man arbitrate between the two of them?

'Be profitable' [yiskon] — meaning: benefits, profits.

'Can a man be profitable to God' — does a man's righteousness benefit and delight God? Rather, the wise man benefits and delights only himself. And since this is so, what would it matter to Him to answer you, merely so that you could stand firm in your righteousness? What does it matter to Him in this?

'Profitable' — an expression of benefit and usefulness, as in, "shall one reason with unprofitable talk" (above, 15).

‘Can a man be profitable to God’ — he tells him that it would not have been possible for Hashem to repay the righteous their reward and the wicked their punishment immediately in this world; for if so, people would not serve Hashem for His own sake, but only in order to receive a reward, and likewise they would refrain from doing evil only out of fear of punishment — and such service, motivated by love of reward or fear of punishment, is not desired in Hashem’s eyes. This is what he means by ‘Can a man be profitable to God’ — does Hashem derive benefit from man’s service? — ‘Or can he who is wise be profitable to Him’ — if Hashem were to grant a person understanding and make him grasp the benefit of such service, by his seeing that he receives reward and punishment at once — even so, Hashem would take no satisfaction from that service. And so he goes on to explain—

Does the Almighty care Like (above 21:21), “For what does He care (חפצו) about his house after him?” What pleasure or concern does He have if you are righteous in your deeds, that you reason with Him that He come with you to contest your words? or...any gain i.e., monetary gain for Him if you perfect your ways?

'Advantage' [betza] — meaning: benefit. 'That you make blameless' [tatem] — related to the terms 'tam' (blameless) and 'yashar' (upright).

'Is it any advantage' — does the Almighty gain any need from your being righteous, and does it profit Him if you walk a blameless path? The matter is stated twice in different words.

'Advantage' — an expression of need, as in, "a vessel in which there is no need [of it]" (Jeremiah 22:28). 'Gain' — an expression of monetary benefit, as in, "what profit is it if we slay our brother?" (Genesis 37).

‘Is it any advantage to the Almighty, that you are righteous?’ — would there be an advantage if you were to receive profit through your making your ways blameless — that is, if you received profit, gain, and reward for your righteousness, and it was for the sake of that profit and reward that you acted righteously and did good deeds — would Hashem take any satisfaction in such service of yours? For then you would not be serving Hashem at all, but only yourself, for the sake of the profit.

Will He reason with you because He fears you? Or, out of fear, that He fears you, will He come and reason with you?

'Is it for your fear' — is it because He fears that you might act wickedly that He argues with you and enters into judgment with you? What would it matter to Him if you were to act wickedly?

‘Is it for your fear of Him’ — or is it that you act righteously out of fear that He will reprove and punish you should you transgress His commandments, or out of fear that He will enter into judgment with you to judge you for your evil deeds — and it is because of this fear, the fear of punishment, that you act righteously? Would Hashem take any satisfaction in such service, which is not for His own sake but out of love of self? For this reason it was not possible for Him to grant the righteous their reward immediately, since then you would serve and act righteously for the sake of profit and reward; and likewise it was not possible to punish the wicked person in this world immediately, since then he would refrain from evil only out of fear of punishment — and in this Hashem takes no satisfaction, for His essential desire and will is that service be for His own sake, and not for any external, ulterior motive.

Is not [Is it not so] that He knows that your evil is great?

'Is not, etc.' — as if to say: rather, I will answer you with words on His behalf, [to show] that He is in the right regarding the suffering that has come upon you; for is not your wickedness great? Meaning: for a great man like yourself, every deed is counted as great, since many will learn from you; and so too, your iniquities are without end, for everything stems from you and depends on you.

‘Is not your wickedness great? And are not your iniquities without end?’ — meaning: and therefore Hashem ordered the order of His governance so that He does not repay evildoers according to their evil immediately; rather, sometimes a person does great evil and He is patient with him and gives him time, and sometimes He punishes the wicked person at once, if He sees in His wisdom that the matter calls for it according to the circumstance. Through this there is room for the mistaken belief that there is no providence and no reckoning, so that a person would then serve for the sake of Hashem alone, since he neither hopes for reward nor fears punishment. This is what he means: sometimes Hashem conducts Himself so as not to punish immediately — yet your wickedness is great, so great that your iniquities have no end, and you have multiplied iniquities even against your fellow men — and it is—

'Taken pledges' [tachbol] — meaning: you take a pledge.

'For you have taken pledges' — if someone spoke against you, you would punish him with a fine and take a pledge from him, even though this was for nothing, for he had not borrowed anything from you at all. 'And stripped the naked of their clothing' — even from men who owned nothing but a single garment, so that without it they would go naked, you stripped off their clothing, and they were left naked; and Scripture calls them "naked" in light of what they would end up being, just as it says, "I have baked bread on its coals" (Isaiah 44:19).

'Taken pledges' — you have taken in pledge, as in, "no man shall take the handmill... in pledge" (Deuteronomy 24:6).

(Verses 6–7) ‘For you have taken pledges of your brother for nought’ — and you have stripped the poor of their clothing, and likewise you have done no kindness whatsoever — not even giving water to the weary to drink, or bread to the hungry — and despite all this Hashem has not punished you; rather you prosper, and your horn is raised in honor. For—

'You have not given water' — you did not give water to drink to the weary, and you withheld bread from the hungry; for when you locked someone up in prison, bread and water were withheld from him.

Does a strong man own the earth This is a question. Because you were strong, should you inherit the earth? remain therein Is he fit to remain in existence?

'And as a mighty man' — as if to say: behold, toward the poor of the people you acted cruelly and dealt out harsh judgment; but the man who was powerful and strong of arm had the whole land as his own and did in it whatever he wished, and you did not restrain his hand, even though it was in your power to do so. 'And as a man of rank' — one who was shown deference because of his great wealth or the like, he dwelt in the whole of it as though it were his own, and you did not restrain him.

‘And as a mighty man, who has the earth’ — because you are a man of strength and power in the land, everyone submits beneath you; and not only do they refrain from punishing you for your evil deeds, but you are also ‘a man of rank, who dwells in it’ — everyone shows you honor and deference, and glory and majesty crown you. Yet sometimes it also happens that Hashem punishes you immediately, and that is when—

‘And the arms of the fatherless have been broken’ — [the singular verb applies distributively to] each one of the arms.

'And the arms of the fatherless have been broken' — meaning: each one of the arms of the orphans was crushed.

'Widows' — but when you heard of an injustice concerning widows, you did not have pity on them; rather, you drove them away from the land empty-handed, for you also took all that was theirs. And by this, the strength of the fatherless children was crushed as well; for when you drove out their mothers and took all that was theirs, to whom could the orphans turn for help? And you did not have pity on them either.

'Sent away' — an expression of driving off and expulsion. 'Have been broken' — are crushed.

(Verses 9–10) ‘You have sent widows away empty’ — you have robbed widows and orphans, and Hashem hears their outcry and punishes you at once, so that snares surround you on every side, and sudden terror falls upon you and dismays you. And because punishment does not always come upon the wicked immediately — for sometimes Hashem punishes him at once, but many times he commits countless transgressions and nevertheless remains a man of strength and rank, dwelling securely in the land — this gives room for the mistaken belief that Hashem does not attend to human affairs and that the reins have been let loose, and room, too, for choosing evil, since one no longer fears doing it.

'Therefore' — and as recompense for all these things, snares are spread all around you to catch you in them, and sudden terror frightens you, for fear of falling into a snare, out of dread of that terror.

'Snares' — nets.

or darkness so that you do not see That is to say, You shall not put your eyes and your trust in strength, and say...

‘Or darkness, that you cannot see’ — you thought that, being in darkness, you would not be seen. ‘And abundance of waters’ [shif’at mayim] — he explains ‘shif’ah’ as ‘abundance,’ similarly [in] ‘a multitude of camels shall cover you’ (Isaiah 60:6) — just as, [in the first half of the verse,] darkness [covered you].

'Or darkness, etc.' — or darkness comes upon you so that you cannot see the snare in order to guard against it, or an abundance of water covers you. Meaning: behold, as recompense, suffering has been prepared for you: because of the terror sent upon you, your mind has been thrown into confusion so that you cannot be careful; or the Omnipresent has made your mind foolish and darkened your understanding so that you do not know how to be careful; or your pains are as numerous as waters surrounding you, until it becomes impossible to guard against them.

'Abundance' — much, as in, "the abundance of camels" (Isaiah 60).

‘Or darkness, that you cannot see’ — and because you see the disorder in [Divine] governance, that the wicked prosper, other evil thoughts and notions arise in your heart, leading you to deny providence. For you liken Hashem’s seeing and His providence to the seeing and perception of human beings — reasoning that just as, when darkness stands between you and the thing seen, you cannot see it, and likewise, when a flood of water covers you, you cannot see, because the water intervenes between you and the thing perceived — so, you conclude, must Hashem’s sight be as well: that He cannot see from a distant place, or that when darkness or thick clouds intervene between Him and the thing seen, He cannot see it. And so you think to yourself, saying—

Is not God in the height of heaven and will not lower Himself to see. and behold the topmost of the stars, which are lofty Heb. וראה, like (above 10:15), “and seeing (וראה) my affliction” at the end of the fifth reply. That is to say, ‘And You gaze upon the topmost stars because they are lofty.’ Therefore, you said...

'The topmost of the stars' — the uppermost of the spheres in which stars are found, namely the sphere of the constellations; or 'the topmost of the stars' may mean the place in which the fixed stars are always found in their median motion, for that place is at the utmost of loftiness and height, as we explained in the Wars of Hashem. The height of this place establishes for us the true distance of the stars from the earth with the greatest precision possible, minimizing the margin of error, as we explained there.

'Is not God' — as if to say: and if indeed you did all these things and yet deny it, saying, "I am righteous," this can only be because you think: is not God in the height of the heavens? And you see the topmost of the stars, their very summit, soaring on high, and you say, "Surely Hashem is above them all," and so there is a great distance between Him and the earth.

‘Is not God in the height of heaven?’ — for His glory rests upon the heavens, which are high above the earth. ‘And behold the topmost of the stars, how high they are!’ — the outermost stars are exceedingly high above the earth. And because of this—

‘What does God know?’ of what occurs in the dark? Does He judge through the dark cloud? Does He see and judge facing this darkness? Behold...

‘through the dark cloud’ [ba’ad arafel] — from behind a hidden thick cloud.

'And you say' — and because of this you say, "What does God know of the deeds of men?" Is not the distance great, and can He judge man's deeds through the thick cloud that surrounds Him? As if to say: could the intervening cloud possibly be a means by which He would know?

'The dark cloud' — the thickness of the cloud.

‘And you say: What does God know?’ — is there not a vast distance between Him and this lowly earth? ‘Can He judge through the dark cloud?’ — does not the great darkness that stretches across this vast distance, within the realm of the stars, intervene between Him and the earth? And how then could He judge the deeds of men who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death? And also—

Thick clouds are a concealment before Him, and He cannot see. and He walks on the circle of the heavens and does not know what is on the earth. circle Heb. חוג, the circle of the compass of the heavens, like (Isa. 44:13), “and with a compass (ובמחוגה) he rounds it,” compas in French

'The circuit of heaven' - He walks about the circuit of heaven, and does not know what is done below on earth.

'Thick clouds are a covering to Him' — are not the thick clouds a covering to Him, so that He cannot see through them? For does He not walk upon the circuit of the heavens, and so the clouds intervene between Him and the earth?

'The circuit' — an expression of a circle, as in, "He has drawn a circle upon the face of the waters" (below, 26).

‘Thick clouds are a covering to Him, that He sees not’ — for the clouds intervene between Him and the earth, so that it is impossible for Him to see what happens on earth. ‘And He walks in the circuit of heaven’ — this is the second argument: that even though it is observed that punishment sometimes does reach the wicked — as in the generation of the Flood, when they were all wiped out by the waters of the flood because of their sins — they will argue that this cannot have come about through the evil deeds of men. For behold, the heavens and the celestial spheres revolve on their courses, in their fixed arrangement, since the six days of creation, according to a set order that never changes, and they determine what occurs here below according to the order of their arrangement — since every change that happens in the world depends on the arrangement of the stars in their stations. If so, how could it be that, because sinful, wicked men turn their deeds to evil, the order of the works of creation would change, and the stars and heavens would alter their courses to change the order of the world? From this they conclude, of necessity, that even when punishment did come upon the wicked, as in the generation of the Flood, it was not on account of providence and evil deeds, but rather that the arrangement of the constellations and the position of the stars at that time necessitated that a flood occur in the world then — and that this was a natural matter, not a providential one. This is what he means when he quotes them as saying: ‘Is not the circuit of heaven [that] He walks’ — meaning, that the circuit of the heavens and their revolution in their arrangement, on their courses, proceeds always in a fixed order, circling continually on its wheels. And if so—

the old way The way of the ancients who were in days of yore. Will you keep Have you kept in your heart to remember what happened to them?

'Will you keep the old way' - 'the way of the world' refers to those who say the world has always been thus, and it is not new [i.e., they deny that the world was created].

'The old way' — will you keep in your heart the path in which all the people of the world went astray? And he goes on to explain: which men of iniquity have trodden — that is, the men of the generation of the flood.

'Trodden' — walked.

Will you keep the old way which wicked men have trodden? — that is to say: is it possible that the path of the cosmos — the course of the stars in their fixed stations, along which they travel forever — should keep to, and depend upon, the path that wicked men have trodden, so that when wicked men change their path for evil, the cosmic path too would change its course to go a different way, and the order of the works of creation, and whatever is necessitated by the constellations, would change on account of a change in the deeds of the wicked? But is it not plain from observation, to the contrary, that the circuit of the heavens always travels its fixed track, and never changes on account of a change in human deeds?

Who were cut off when it was not their time They were cut off before their time. a river And the river of the Flood or the brimstone and fire of Sodom was poured into their foundation.

'Snatched away' - cut off before their time. 'Whose foundation was poured out as a stream' - these are the people of the generation of the Flood, for the earth - which is the foundation of mankind - became like a river poured out.

'Snatched away' [kametu] — meaning: cut off from the world. 'Whose foundation was poured out as a stream' — meaning: with respect to their foundation and their standing, until they drowned within a mighty river, namely the waters of the Flood.

'Who were snatched away' — who, because of this, grew old and became wrinkled before their time. Meaning: they were cut off from the world before their time, for the river of the flood waters was poured out upon their foundation — that is, upon the ground on which they stood.

'Snatched away' — shriveled up, as in, "You have shriveled me, and it has become a witness [against me]" (above, 16); meaning, they grew old, for it is the way of the elderly to become wrinkled in their faces.

Who were snatched away before their time — accordingly, they [the deniers of providence] say of these, 'who were snatched away and cut off' — meaning the wicked generation that was cut off by the waters of the Flood: but did not the time itself necessitate that a river should pour out their foundation? For the time necessitated this by the nature of the earth and the waters that were upon it in that period, and by the state of the constellations — but this was not a providential matter brought about by the wickedness of the deeds of the wicked of that generation.

'Who said' — who said of God, "Behold, He has turned away from us," and "what can the Almighty do to them?" Meaning: His supervision is removed, and He has handed everything over to the workings of the heavens.

Who said to God, 'Depart from us' — and they bring proof from this that no providential punishment is to be found: for behold, these wicked men say to God, 'Depart from us,' and despite it all, 'what can the Almighty do to them?' He did not, after all, do them any harm or inflict any punishment on account of it. And not only did He not punish them, but more than that —

'Yet He filled' — and even though the Omnipresent, blessed be He, filled their houses with good, why then did they deny His supervision? And in truth, the counsel of those wicked men is far from me — meaning, I cannot understand what led them to such folly; did they lack anything at all? Why, then, did they deny His supervision?

Yet He filled their houses with good things — for according to your view, good comes from His providence, and it would surely have been fitting, at the very least, that good be withheld from them. And from all this the deniers bring proof and demonstration that Hashem does not exercise providence. 'But the counsel of the wicked is far from me' — that is to say, after all the above, the counsel concerning the wicked — meaning Hashem's plan and His governance in the matter of the wicked — is hidden from mankind, for because of this everyone raises questions about this seeming disorder, and no one knows a proper answer. And all this was by design on Hashem's part, so that thereby the righteous — those who serve out of love, and the believers who pay no heed to any of this — would be tested, and would come to believe that Hashem does exercise providence and that He is worthy to be served and feared for His own sake, and thereby —

'The righteous saw it' - referring to Noah and his sons.

'The righteous saw it' — Noah and his righteous sons saw their downfall and rejoiced, for they had followed Hashem fully and had not been drawn after their view. 'And the innocent' — each one of them mocked them on account of the folly of their view.

The righteous saw it, and were glad — the righteous understand from this that there exists yet another world, a world of reward and punishment, where He will bring into judgment everything hidden, whether good or evil, and they rejoice in their service, for through this they are assured of the survival of their souls and the fulfillment of their reward in the eternal world. 'And the innocent laugh them to scorn' — for the innocent know that the wicked are destined to receive eternal punishment in the world of souls.

Whether their substance was cut off Will you watch and see whether their substance was cut off. their substance Heb קימנו, like קומתו, his substance; i.e., of that generation, like (Hosea 12:5), “in Bethel he shall fed Him, and there He shall speak with him (עמנו),” like עִמוֹ. consumed by the fire They were judged with boiling water. Rabbi Tanchuma expounded that they were tall and did not die in the depths. Then boiling water fell upon them from above and this is the meaning of יִתְרָם, their unusually tall height. So I heard.

'Surely their substance is cut off' - most commentators say that the word is 'kimenu,' with a small kamatz - that is, a tzere under the mem [reading it as "those who rose against us"]. But the correct view is that it lacks a dagesh, and it is 'keiymenu' [our survival] - and there are parallel forms of this. [The verse then means:] if the innocent one mentioned above was not cut off, he is our survival in the world - the sense being that we are witnesses that the innocent did not die. 'And their abundance the fire has consumed' - the people of Sodom.

'Surely their substance is cut off' — meaning: in truth, when the man who raised us up and established us — namely Noah — died, fire consumed the remnant of those who held that view, namely the men of Sodom.

'Surely' — in truth, the man who sustained and established us — that is, Noah, from whom the world was reestablished — was he not held back and kept from perishing along with the men of his generation? And the ones who remained of that alien view — did not fire consume them? These were the men of Sodom and its allied cities. It is as if to say: how then can you hold on to that alien view? For from the recompense of the men of that view, [divine] supervision is evident — since all of them perished, and Noah alone was saved, while all the rest of the men of that view were wiped out from the world.

'Surely' — in truth; and this is in the manner of an oath, as if to say, 'if it is not so, may such-and-such befall me,' leaving the consequence unstated; so too, "surely I have stilled and quieted my soul" (Psalms 131:2). 'Is cut off' — is withheld, brought to naught.

Surely their substance is cut off, And their abundance the fire has consumed — the two clauses of this verse stand parallel to the two clauses of the one before it: the righteous rejoice, understanding that what truly endures in us forever — the everlasting soul — is not cut off by the death of the body, but endures forever, prepared to receive its reward in the world of recompense; while the innocent laugh the wicked to scorn, understanding that their 'abundance' — that is, the spiritual soul that raises man above the beast, and that remains after death — will be consumed by the fire of Gehinnom, even though they prospered in this fleeting world. All this becomes clear to them from what they see: that Hashem does not punish the wicked in this world; and since Hashem is righteous and does no wrong, there must necessarily exist another, eternal world, in which He will enter into judgment with His creatures.

Accustom yourself Accustom yourself to be (wholehearted) with him. and you will be complete And you will be complete, lacking nothing. with them With these things.

'Acquaint yourself [with Him]' - become accustomed [to Him], or: reason together [with Him]. 'and be at peace' - you will be at peace. 'thereby' - whether you are among the good or among the wicked, good will come to you.

'Acquaint' [hasken] — meaning: become accustomed, as in the construction 'have I indeed become accustomed' [ha-hasken hiskanti]. 'And be at peace' [ushlam] — meaning: and you shall stand in peace.

'Acquaint now yourself' — therefore, from now on, accustom yourself to Hashem, to believe in His supervision, and be at peace with Him, and complain against Him no more. 'Thereby' — because of these things, good will come to you.

'Acquaint yourself' — an expression of habituation; so too, "and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalms 139).

Acquaint now yourself with Him — accustom yourself now to being with Him, to walk with God; that is, that all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven, not in hope of reward. 'And be at peace' — be whole and complete, and do not divide your thoughts, acting in part in order to receive a reward and for your own benefit. 'Thereby shall your increase be good' — then, through the very deeds of the wicked, good will come to you, for thereby it will be recognized that you serve out of love and not for the sake of reward, and through this you will receive your reward in the world of souls.

'Receive, I pray you' — from now on, take to heart the teaching given from His mouth, in the manner of one who believes in [divine] supervision.

Receive, I pray you, instruction from His mouth — that you should not choose the laws devised by human reason, but rather accept the divine Torah that comes through prophecy. 'And lay up His words in your heart' — for it is your heart that chooses and desires; let it not listen to the dictates of the body and its pleasures, acting for its own benefit and advantage, but let it be as though the words of Hashem dwell in your heart, so that they are the ones that choose and command the limbs to act according to Hashem's commandments, without any ulterior motive.

'You shall be built up' [tibaneh] — meaning: you shall be built up again after your ruin, through these evil mishaps that befell you; or 'tibaneh' may be from the root of 'banim' (sons), meaning that he will have children — in this same sense also, 'that I too may be built up through her' (Genesis 30:3).

‘If you return’ — when you return to Hashem, you will be rebuilt from the ruin you were in. ‘You put far’ — but you must put unrighteousness far from your tents, so that you not be like one who immerses himself [in a mikveh] while still holding an impure creeping creature in his hand.

If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up — that is to say: on one side you bring the Torah down from above to below, until it comes to dwell in your heart; and on the other side you raise your soul up from below to above, to God — as with 'and Hashem came down upon Mount Sinai' and 'Moses went up to God' — meaning that you raise all things and all desires up to a supreme, intellectual plane, whose place is in the all-encompassing Intellect, which is God, blessed be He. Then 'you shall be built up' — you will become a faithful house for Hashem, a dwelling-place for His glory to reside in. And then 'you shall put away unrighteousness far from your tents' — whereas if you act out of self-love, unrighteousness will remain close to your tents, and the [evil] inclination will constantly entice you, whenever it finds some benefit or bodily pleasure, to turn you aside from the straight and upright way.

Then you shall make a fortification on the earth By returning to Him, you will establish on the earth strength and fortifications. and on the rocks of the valleys On the lofty rocks in the deep valleys, you shall have a collection of an accumulation of Ophir. This is the treasure of the kings, for they would gather and store gold that came from Ophir.

'Betzer' [treasure] - like silver. 'and among the rock of the streams' - the gold of Ophir.

'Treasure' [betzer] — meaning: gold. 'And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks' — meaning: just as the rock issues forth streams in abundance and plenty, so will Hashem, may He be blessed, pour forth gold of Ophir for you in abundance.

‘And lay’ — that is, the Omnipresent will be a stronghold for you, as if you had a fortress built for yourself upon the dust of the earth — which is stronger than one built up high above. ‘And the gold of Ophir,’ etc. — that is, your wealth will endure, as if you had placed the gold of Ophir within a strong rock in the valleys, which endures both because of its location and because of its own nature, for the gold of Ophir is the strongest of golds.

'Treasure' — related to mivtzar ('a fortress'), [i.e., something hoarded away like treasure held in a stronghold].

And lay your treasure in the dust — then all the possessions of this world will be as nothing in your eyes, to the point that you will tear down all your fortresses, so that they become no better than dust. 'And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks' — let it remain in the very place from which the gold is drawn out; meaning, put your trust neither in fortified cities nor in wealth.

And the Almighty shall be of your adversaries Heb. והיה שד-י בצריך. If this word is holy [i.e., is a reference to the Almighty], I am bewildered at its interpretation, because its meaning is a curse, that He will be counted with his enemies, as in (Jud. 11:35), “and you have become one of those who trouble me (בעכרי),” with those who trouble me. By necessity, we will adjudge it as one of the elliptical verses, [meaning: And the Almighty shall be the Judge over your adversaries. But if we can interpret it as profane, as an expression of a judge and of strength, the following is its interpretation:] And your fortifications (בצריך) shall be strong (שד-י), like “Then you shall make a fortification (בצר) on the earth.” That is, powerful wealth will be fortified, and according to the context, that is indeed its interpretation, as evidenced by the end of the verse, “and you shall have abundant (תועפות) silver,” an expression of strength, like (Num. 23:22), “his is like the power of (כתועפות) a wild ox.”

'And the Almighty shall be' - He will be mighty, as in 'like the voice of Shaddai' (Ezekiel 1:24). 'your treasure' - your silver. 'and precious silver to you' - the matter is doubled, as is customary; and 'to'afot' [precious/abundant] means might and strength, as in 'and the strength [to'afot] of the mountains are His' (Psalms 95:4), '[whose] strength is like the strength [to'afot] of the wild ox' (Numbers 23:22). And some say: 'And the Almighty shall be your treasure' means literally [that He will be with you] in your distress, as in 'I am with him in distress' (Psalms 91:15); but the first explanation is more correct, since it connects with the end of the verse.

'And the Almighty be your treasure' — the sense is that your gold will be abundant, in the manner of 'like the voice of the Almighty' (Ezekiel 1:24), which denotes strength and an intensified, superlative degree. 'Precious' [to'afot] — a term of strength, as in 'he has, as it were, the strength [to'afot] of a wild ox' (Numbers 23:22); or it may be related to the sense of doubling, as in the Targum's rendering of 'and you shall double it' [ve-chafalta] as 've-ta'uf.'

‘And the Almighty will be your treasure’ — the Omnipresent will be among your fortresses, and silver will come flying and flourishing to you — meaning, it will increase for you at all times.

And the Almighty be your treasure — Hashem will be your fortress; in Him you will find strength and refuge from every foe and enemy. And He will be for you 'precious silver' (literally, 'silver of soarings') — not silver buried in the earth, but silver that soars upward: silver that is truly longed for — for the word kesef ('silver') also carries the sense of kosef, 'to yearn' — a supreme, spiritual silver.

and lift your countenance to God You will not come to lift your face except to ask Him for your needs.

‘For then’ — when you return to Hashem, then you will delight in goodness, leaning upon Hashem — meaning, He will delight your soul. ‘And shall lift up’ — you will be able to lift up your face to Hashem to ask for your needs, for you will be confident that He will fulfill your request.

Then surely you shall have your delight in the Almighty — then your delight will not be a bodily delight, but a spiritual one, coming through the soul's cleaving to its own spirituality and to God, its stronghold. And then you will understand that all the affairs of this world are of no importance whatsoever, and that the essential thing is the reward of the soul and the spirit. 'And shall lift up your face to God' — all your inclinations and your intent you will lift up to God; you will desire nothing for the sake of the body, but only to fulfill God's will and to cleave to Him. And through this —

and you will pay your wows You will be confident that your sacrifices, the payments of your vows, will be accepted.

'And you shall pay your vows' — meaning: nothing that you strive to accomplish will be withheld from you.

‘You shall entreat’ — you will entreat Him, and He will listen to you. ‘And you shall pay your vows’ — it is the way of those who ask the Omnipresent for their needs to make vows conditionally, as it is written, ‘If God will be with me’, etc. (Genesis 28:20). Therefore he says: behold, you will pay your vows, for your requests will be fulfilled.

'Make your prayer' — you shall pray, as in, "he prays to God" (below, 33).

You shall make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you — for then the Divine Presence of Hashem will cling to you, to hear your prayer. 'And you shall pay your vows' — you will always fulfill the vows you vowed in time of trouble, for He will redeem you from all trouble. And not only this, but you will not need prayer at all, for —

and it will be accomplished for you Heb. ויקם, lit. and it will rise, like וְיָקוּם לָךְ.

‘You shall also decree a thing’ — that is, when you resolve in your mind to do something, the Omnipresent will establish that thing for you. ‘Light shall shine’ — the light of success will shine upon you.

'Shall shine' — shall gleam, as in, "at the brightness before Him" (Psalms 18).

‘You shall also decree a thing’ — even what you decree by way of a decree shall be fulfilled for you, for all of nature will become subject to you — like Joshua, who decreed that the sun stand still (Joshua 10:12-13), and like Elijah, who said there would be no dew or rain except by his word (1 Kings 17:1). ‘And light shall shine upon your ways’ — what until now was darkness in your ways, because they were bodily, physical matters, will now become light, for they will become elevated matters, rising from the darkness of matter to the light and radiance of souls.

If they are humble If you see your generation humble, pledge that it be uplifted, and it will be uplifted. a humble person [One who is humbled] by the trouble that befalls [him] because of his iniquity, God will save through your hands and through your prayer.

'When they cast you down' - for behold, you will teach [others]: when the wicked were brought low, you would say 'geivah' [rise, pride], like 'ge'eh' [proud]. The meaning is that pride brought them low, as in the matter of 'before a break comes pride' (Proverbs 16:18). 'and He saves the one with downcast eyes' - [namely,] God. Also, He rescues the innocent coastland. Some say the word is missing a shin [reading it as 'ish naki,' an innocent man], but this is far-fetched. Therefore the explanation is that God saves the downcast-eyed one, who is a single person; He also delivers the innocent coastland, as in 'the inhabitant of this coastland' (Isaiah 20:6) - the opposite of 'when a land sins against Me' (Ezekiel 14:13). 'and it shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands' - it shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.

'You shall say: There is lifting up' — meaning: you shall stand in loftiness and strength, and no evil shall reach you. 'The humble person' [ushach einayim] — meaning: one lowly of eyes.

‘When they cast down’ — if you see people who have been brought down to the dust, you will be able to say with confidence that greatness and exaltation will come to them, for the Omnipresent will fulfill your words. ‘And the humble’ — one whose eyes are downcast because of troubles, the Omnipresent will save through your prayer.

'Lifting up' — [gevah,] like ge'eh, with an alef exchanged for a vav; its meaning is greatness and loftiness, as in, "can the rush shoot up [yig'eh]" (above, 8). 'The humble' — an expression of bending and lowering, as in, "and man is bowed down" (Isaiah 2).

‘When they cast you down’ — until now, your own ways had brought themselves low, for they were occupied with the affairs of this lowly world — fleshly, base concerns. ‘You shall say: “There is lifting up”’ — you will raise them to a lofty, spiritual, heavenly, divine plane, for you will strip away the garment of matter and its desires, and the soul will rise up in flight. For by lessening the desires and pride of the body, you become one of downcast eyes — not lifting your eyes toward the illusory concerns of this world — for it is Hashem who saves the humble, through spiritual deliverance.

He shall deliver one who is not innocent Heb. אי נקי, synonymous with אין נקִי, not innocent, like (I Sam. 4:21), “Ichabod (איכבוד),” meaning, there is no glory (אין כבוד). And so (Prov. 31:4), “neither is drunkenness for rulers (אי שכר),” there is no drunkenness (אין שכר). It does not befit them to become intoxicated. Menachem joined the three into one group (Machbereth Menachem p. 22). Although they are two words (?), they explain them thus. And that one who is not innocent will be delivered because of the purity of your hands. So I heard. I heard another version that was being said in the name of Rabbi Jacob: This is an expression of a man who lives in pain and sighing, and the “yud” is superfluous in the word, like (Ps. 123:1), “Who dwells (הישבי) in heaven.” But I did not hear this from the rabbi’s mouth.

'He delivers him who is innocent' — the innocent one is delivered through his own merit, most abundantly. Explanation of the words of the response: Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: Does man benefit Hashem, the way a prudent person who straightens his own ways benefits himself — such that Hashem would punish the wicked man the instant he commits wickedness, because of the harm it causes Hashem, and reward the righteous man with good the instant he does good, because of the benefit that reaches Hashem? That is not how matters stand. Whatever Hashem does in this regard is only an act of kindness and grace, meant to benefit people and to chasten them until they attain the success of the soul, for whose sake they were created — not for His own need. This is why He sometimes prolongs the wicked man's prosperity a long time, withholding the consequences of the evil he does, so that the wicked man will take it to heart, over this long span of time, to abandon his way and return to Hashem; and He does not extend so long a reprieve to the righteous man, lest he become entrenched in the evil way he has begun to practice. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that you find the wicked prospering for a long time — this is exactly the argument by which you thought to refute our position. Does Hashem desire that you be righteous, so that it benefits Him? And if some benefit reaches Him from your making your ways blameless, does He then reward the righteous with good the instant they do justice and uprightness, because it benefits Him? Is it because He fears you — that you might harm Him by your wrongdoing — that He must reprove you and bring you to judgment? That is not how matters stand; rather, whatever Hashem does is meant to benefit human beings. Since that is so, Hashem prolongs the wicked man's prosperity in order to benefit him, and if he does not repent within the time allotted him, the punishment due him overtakes him. With this, every doubt you raised against our position is resolved — except for your claim that you are blameless and upright, and yet these many evils have come upon you unjustly. To this I answer that in truth your words are not correct. For I grant that, in truth, the calamity Hashem has brought upon you is great, as you say — but there is no injustice in it, for your iniquities are without end, so that your calamity matches the measure of your iniquities; or perhaps the intent is that your calamity and your iniquities are one and the same in measure. You would take a pledge from your brother for nought, and strip the clothing off men who lacked garments, keeping it as your pledge, until they were forced to go about naked and died of the cold — a criminal iniquity. The weary and thirsty man you would not give even water to drink, to revive his spirit; and from the hungry man you withheld your bread, until they died of thirst and hunger. Yet you honored powerful men and lords, men of high station, feeding them and giving them drink as though they were masters in your own house; but the weak — such as widows and orphans — you paid no heed to, giving them nothing and not saving them from those who oppressed them. These iniquities are overwhelming, without end. That is why snares surround you on every side, to trap you, and why the sudden dread of this calamity terrifies you; or the darkness of your pains so overwhelms you that you cannot see, and an abundance of many troubles covers you over. So do not complain if such numerous troubles reach you, for the iniquities I have mentioned, which you could not escape, are what brought these upon you. In truth, Hashem is in the height of the heavens, for it is there that His activity is most visible, in keeping with the rank of the beings that dwell there — behold the highest of the spheres that contain stars, for they are exceedingly lofty. He says this because, from the fact that the spheres partly conceal one another, we can tell which of them is higher; and from the difference in the stars' apparent positions as they move, we can determine how great the distance of this celestial body must be — this being the sphere that is first, at the very least, among all the spheres that contain stars. And when we have examined the matter from this angle, we find the height of these stars to be immense. Or perhaps by "the topmost of the stars" he means the height of the sphere governing motion in longitude among the wandering stars, next to which a given star is always found because of its constant motion in longitude — for these upper spheres are exceedingly lofty, as we explained in the Fifth Treatise of the Wars of Hashem. Do you imagine that, because of this immense distance between us and the heavens, where the glory of Hashem resides, whatever happens down here is hidden from Him? And do you reckon that God knows nothing of man's deeds — that, from behind the thick darkness dividing Him from them, He cannot judge them or see their deeds? Do the clouds not separate between us and Him, so that our deeds are of no consequence to Him, but He merely goes about the circuit of the heavens, and it is there that His providence remains? Why would you say such things? Will you keep the old way — the way that the men of the world trod in the days of the Flood? It is called "the age-old path," because at that time all the people of the world went astray in this very matter — all but Noah and his household, who was saved through his righteousness — who were snatched away before their time, whose very foundation was poured out like a river, until all of them drowned. Did they not sin in this exact sin: saying to God, "Depart from us," claiming that He does not watch over them and that Hashem does nothing at all for them — even though He had filled their houses with good and granted them great prosperity, and for all that they did not thank Him for the good He lavished upon them? The counsel of these wicked men, and the way they walked in, is very far from me. Or perhaps his statement "the counsel of the wicked is far from me" refers back to what Job himself had said — "the counsel of the wicked is far from me" — and the sense is: how can you say that the counsel of the wicked is far from you, when you choose the very way of these wicked men and their counsel, who thought that Hashem had abandoned the earth? When the righteous — Noah and his sons — saw their punishment, they rejoiced, since these men had never turned away from following Hashem; and the innocent one, namely Noah, laughed them to scorn. Indeed, in truth, when the man who raised us up and established us — namely Noah — passed from the world, fire promptly consumed the remnant of the people who held this same view, namely the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. This itself confirms that these calamities came as punishment; for had they come merely from the constellations, how could it happen that so vast a multitude would be struck together, all of them wicked alike, and how could it happen that Noah and his sons alone were spared, he alone being righteous among them? Given this, I advise you to accustom yourself to Hashem — that is, to walk in His ways — and then you will have peace; indeed, if you walk in His ways, your harvest will be good. Take, then, from His own mouth the code of conduct by which a man who walks in Hashem's ways ought to live, and lay up Hashem's words in your heart, and let your eyes and heart be set on walking by them all your days. If you return to the Almighty, you will be rebuilt — after Hashem has torn you down and demolished you through these troubles He brought upon you — you will put unrighteousness far from your tents, if you hold anything unlawfully. And Hashem will multiply your wealth on account of this, until you lay gold upon the dust from the sheer abundance of your riches; and just as the rock pours forth streams in force and plenty, so will Hashem pour out for you gold of Ophir. Your gold will be abundant and weighty, and silver will come to you doubled over what you had before. Now, had you conducted yourself this way, you would delight yourself in Hashem, through your attachment to Him; and when you lift up your face to God and plead with Him, He will hear you in all that you ask of Him, and you will pay your vows — meaning, nothing that you strive for will be withheld from you. This is also the sense of his words, "you shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you, and light shall shine upon your ways" — the very opposite of what Job had complained of when he said, "He has fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and He has set darkness upon my paths." Had you conducted yourself this way, you would find that, when other men are brought low and fall into the depths of trouble, you will say, "There is lifting up" — meaning, you will rise above them and be spared — for Hashem saves one whose eyes are downcast, like yours. Such prosperity will come to you that even one deserving great punishment will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands, exceedingly — for the innocent man is delivered through his own merit, most abundantly. The general principle that emerges from all this is that Job's argument, drawn from the fact that the wicked are seen to prosper for a long time, does not prove that everything is not bounded and ordered by Hashem. It would indeed be necessary for the wicked man to be punished the instant he does wickedness only if his wickedness caused harm to Hashem, such that Hashem needed to save Himself from that harm; but since it is clear that no harm whatsoever reaches Hashem from the wickedness a wicked man does, it follows that what Hashem does in this regard — namely, judging man for his deeds — serves only to benefit human beings. Given this, there is no reason the wicked man's prosperity should not persist for a long time, since Hashem has already prolonged his punishment so that he might return to Him within that time and abandon his evil way. That no harm reaches Hashem from the wickedness a wicked man does is something Eliphaz demonstrated by inverting the converse proposition — even though it is self-evident in its own right: namely, that if no benefit reaches Hashem from the righteousness of the righteous man, then no harm reaches Him from the wickedness of the wicked man either, since benefit and harm are two opposites sharing a single subject; and it is indeed clear that no benefit reaches Hashem from the righteousness of the righteous man. It therefore follows that no harm reaches Him from the wickedness of the wicked man either. Eliphaz demonstrated it this way because it was self-evident to him that no benefit reaches Hashem from the righteousness of the righteous man, since a righteous man's righteousness benefits only himself; but regarding the wickedness of the wicked man, one might have entertained the doubt that it does harm Hashem in some way, since it corrupts and destroys Hashem's works by harming other people, and an agent may be thought to suffer when his works are destroyed. It is possible, too, that Eliphaz did not actually prove either one of these two propositions, but simply relied on each as self-evident. As for Job's argument, drawn from the astonishing blows and afflictions that came upon him without any transgression on his part, Eliphaz answers that Job had in fact committed extraordinary sins, even if he was unaware of them. For Job used to take as pledge the garments of men who lacked clothing, leaving them naked to die of the cold; he gave no water to the thirsty poor to drink, nor bread to the hungry to eat, so that they died of hunger and thirst; yet he honored the rich and the powerful, feeding them and giving them drink. This was utterly disgraceful — for had Job given nothing at all of his wealth to anyone, he would have had some excuse for not benefiting the poor, namely, that love of his own money was the restraining cause, not hatred of the poor and of charity. But since he lavished gifts on the rich while giving nothing to the poor, it was clear that he withheld from the poor out of hatred for them and for charity itself. Among his sins, too, was that he showed no favor to widows who sought his help to save them from those who oppressed them, and he left orphans in the hands of their oppressors without helping them. And among his sins was that he had claimed Hashem had abandoned the earth — a criminal iniquity, for it was in this very matter that the people of the generation of the Flood, and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, sinned, and it was for this that the punishment which in fact came upon them, came upon them. Eliphaz then brought proof that Hashem holds man accountable for his deeds from what happened to the generation of the Flood, none of whom were spared except Noah and his household — since he alone was righteous in that generation — and from what happened to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah: for if the matter depended on the constellations, it would be utterly bizarre that so vast and extraordinary a number of people should, by mere chance, coincide in wickedness matching a wicked constellation. For this reason, Eliphaz counseled Job to return to Hashem, so that Hashem would grant him a wondrous goodness beyond all reckoning.

‘He shall deliver him who is innocent’ — the Omnipresent will deliver from trouble even one who is not clean of sin, and his deliverance will come about through the cleanness of your hands, for your merit will shield him. (The upshot of this speech, which he directs back to Job: why do you complain that He does not answer you? For whether you are righteous or wicked, what is it to Him — so why, then, should He answer you? So that you not go on to condemn Him, he goes on to justify against Job the judgment of the Omnipresent, saying: behold, such and such you have done, and for a man like you it is counted for much, for everyone learns from you. He further reproaches him, saying: if indeed you did such things, yet you deny it by claiming, ‘I am righteous,’ it is because you hold to the view of the generation of the Flood, who denied providence — yet is it not from the punishment they received, from the rescue of Noah, and from the overthrow of Sodom and its sister cities, who held to that same view, that providence is made known? And he conveys to him his counsel: to return to Hashem, to believe in providence, and to be silent from his complaints — and then his end will be greatly increased.)

'Him who is innocent' — [i naki is] like ein naki ('there is no innocent one', i.e. one who is not innocent); so too, i-khavod, "there is no glory" (I Samuel 4). 'Through the cleanness' — an expression of bar ('pure') and clean.

‘He delivers’ — provided that the one of downcast eyes delivers and expels from his body and his thoughts ‘the impure’ [Malbim reads the phrase (transliterated: i naki) not as “the innocent one” but as “that which is not clean”]: the evil traits, the guardians and baseness of the body, and the wicked imaginings — all of which are befouled and unclean things — he shall drive them out and expel them from within himself, and so he shall be delivered. All of this shall be released and expelled from you ‘through the cleanness of your hands’: if you purify your deeds, you will find within yourself nothing unclean, whether an evil trait or impure, unclean thoughts.