Job 15:3
in Job 15Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
KJV
Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied
on Job 15:1-3
Eliphaz opens his second speech with scorn, where his first speech in chapter 4 began with courtesy. The verb in "argue with useless words" is Job's word for pleading his case at 13:6. Henry notes that Eliphaz's three speeches grow more severe as Job keeps answering instead of yielding.
This site's exposition
useless words
The question answers Job's wish at 13:3 to argue his case with God. Barnes hears a verdict that Job's speeches serve no purpose. Clarke hears a charge of speaking to God without reverence.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He next reproves him for saying, "I want to dispute with God," (13:3) and again, "Spare me in only two things and then I will not hide myself from your face and so on." (13:20) In this reproach he cites him for many things. First, …
Whence Eliphaz adds; Thou reprovest with words him that is not equal to thee, and thou speakest what is not expedient for thee. Now they suppose that no one has the fear of the Lord, saving him whom they can draw into the foolishness of their own confession.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Bildad began thus ( ch. viii. It is common for angry disputants thus to represent one another's reasonings as impertinent and ridiculous more than there is cause, forgetting the doom of him that calls his brother Raca, and Thou fool. That there is in the world a great deal of vain knowledge, science falsely so called, that is useless, and therefore worthless.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Should he reason with unprofitable talk?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Should he reason with unprofitable talk? - Should a man talk disrespectfully of his Maker, or speak to him without reverence? and should he suppose that he has proved any thing, when he has uttered words of little meaning, and used sound instead of sense?
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Should he reason with unprofitable talk? - It does not become a man professing to be wise to make use of words that are nothing to the purpose. The sense is, that what Job said amounted to just nothing.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הוֹכֵ֣חַ | hokheach | does he argue? | H3198 → | 59 times |
| בְּ֭דָבָר | bedavor | with a word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסְכּ֑וֹן | yiskon | it is of use | H5532 → | 12 times |
| וּ֝מִלִּ֗ים | umilim | and words | H4405 → | 38 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יוֹעִ֥יל | yoil | anyone profits | H3276 → | 23 times |
| בָּֽם׃ | bam | by them |
הוֹכֵ֣חַdoes he argue?
hokheachH3198 →59 times
בְּ֭דָבָרwith a word
bedavorH1697 →1440 times
לֹ֣א[which] not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִסְכּ֑וֹןit is of use
yiskonH5532 →12 times
וּ֝מִלִּ֗יםand words
umilimH4405 →38 times
לֹא־[which] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יוֹעִ֥ילanyone profits
yoilH3276 →23 times
בָּֽם׃by them
bam
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Colossians 4:6Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
- 1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and…
- Ecclesiastes 10:12
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.
- Mark 9:50
Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Ephesians 4:29
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.