Job 15:18
in Job 15what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hid it;
KJV
Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Which wise men have told from their fathers - Which they have received from their ancestors and communicated to others. Knowledge among the ancients was communicated chiefly by tradition from father to son. They had few or no written records, and hence, they embodied the results of their observation in brief, sententious maxims, and transmitted them from one generation to another. And have not hid it - They have freely communicated the result of their observations to others.
This site's exposition
Listen to me and I will inform you
on Job 15:17-19
Eliphaz moves from the private vision of chapter 4 to tradition, "what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers". The line claims an unbroken line of wisdom, which Delitzsch places in the patriarchal age.
This site's exposition
declared by wise men
Eliphaz appeals to what wise men declared from their fathers. Barnes explains that the ancients had few written records and passed their observations down in short maxims from father to son. Henry warns that such wisdom is lost when one generation grows careless.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Besides, I will not be embarrassed to tell you what I have heard from others, putting them forward as my authority, because "Wise men confess and do not hide their fathers," from whom they learned wisdom. It is truly the lot of the ignorant and …
Ver. 18. Wise men confess, and do not hide their fathers. And at once they leap out in praise of them, and boast that they had been as it were the only rulers of the Church. Hence it is yet further added, Unto whom alone the earth was given, and the stranger passed not among them. They think that 'the earth was given to their fathers alone,' in that the masters of their erroneous teaching alone really had rule in the Church. And who is termed 'the stranger,' but the Apostate Angel?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If the thread of the knowledge of many ages be cut off by the carelessness of one, and nothing be done to preserve it pure and entire, all that succeed fare the worse. The authorities Eliphaz vouched were authorities indeed, men of rank and figure (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Which wise men have told from their fathers,....
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חֲכָמִ֥ים | chakhamim | wise [people] | H2450 → | 138 times |
| יַגִּ֑ידוּ | yagidu | they have told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כִֽ֝חֲד֗וּ | khichadu | they have hidden | H3582 → | 32 times |
| מֵאֲבוֹתָֽם׃ | meavotam | from ancestors their | H1 → | 1212 times |
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
חֲכָמִ֥יםwise [people]
chakhamimH2450 →138 times
יַגִּ֑ידוּthey have told
yagiduH5046 →370 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
כִֽ֝חֲד֗וּthey have hidden
khichaduH3582 →32 times
מֵאֲבוֹתָֽם׃from ancestors their
meavotamH1 →1212 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 71:18Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and…
- Psalms 78:4
We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
- Psalms 71:9
Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.
- Psalms 145:4–5
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
- Psalms 78:6
that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children
- Isaiah 46:4
Through
Job 8:8Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:7
Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:32
Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this…
- Deuteronomy 32:7
Through
Isaiah 38:19The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Deuteronomy 6:7
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.