Job 22:10
in Job 22Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore snares are round about thee, And sudden fear troubleth thee,
KJV
Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
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This verse in Job 22
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
snares surround you
on Job 22:10-11
Eliphaz reasons backward from Job's condition to the charges just made. The suffering is offered as proof of the sin, while the sin has no evidence apart from the suffering it is meant to explain. Barnes notes that the book's opening frame has already shown this reasoning false.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He then states that punishments have come upon him because of these faults, and so he says, "On that account you are surrounded with snares," for you are oppressed on all sides with adversities so that no place is open for you to escape after …
Therefore snares are round about thee; and sudden fear troubleth thee. That man 'sudden fear doth trouble,' who neglects to consider what there is hanging over his head from the severity of the Judge, when He comes. Therefore, whereas heretics look upon the faithful people as borne down by sins of misbelief, they make it a charge that 'snares are round about them.' And because they believe that it does not foresee the future, they suppose this people under the smiting to be 'troubled with sudden fear.'
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
No sin makes a louder cry there than unmercifulness; and, accordingly, sudden fear troubles thee; and, though thou wilt not own it, it is guilt of this kind that creates thee all this terror." Zophar had insinuated this, ch. xx.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Therefore snares are round about thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Therefore snares - As thou hast dealt with others, so has God, in his retributive providence, dealt with thee. As thou hast spoiled, so art thou spoiled. Thou art taken in a net from which thou canst not escape. There is an allusion here to the hunting of the elephant: he is driven into an inclosure in the woods, passing from strait to strait, till brought into a narrow point, from which he cannot escape; and then his consternation is great, and his roaring terrible. God hath hunted thee down, as men hunt down those wild and dangerous beasts.
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
Therefore snares are round about thee - “Snares” were used for catching wild animals and birds, and the word then came to denote any sudden calamity; see Job 18:8-10. Eliphaz here says, that it “must be” that these calamities came upon Job in consequence of such sins as he had specified. About that he took it for granted there could be no dispute. And sudden fear - The calamities of Job came upon him suddenly Job 1. It was to this, doubtless, that Eliphaz alluded.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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..
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֭ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| סְבִיבוֹתֶ֣יךָ | sevivoteikha | [are] around you | H5439 → | 336 times |
| פַחִ֑ים | fachim | snares | H6341 → | |
| וִֽ֝יבַהֶלְךָ | vivahelkha | and it terrifies you | H926 → | 39 times |
| פַּ֣חַד | pachad | dread | H6343 → | 49 times |
| פִּתְאֹֽם׃ | pitom | suddenly | H6597 → | 25 times |
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֭ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
סְבִיבוֹתֶ֣יךָ[are] around you
sevivoteikhaH5439 →336 times
פַחִ֑יםsnares
fachimH6341 →
וִֽ֝יבַהֶלְךָand it terrifies you
vivahelkhaH926 →39 times
פַּ֣חַדdread
pachadH6343 →49 times
פִּתְאֹֽם׃suddenly
pitomH6597 →25 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
Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
it leads to
- Psalms 38:2
For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
- Job 30:15
Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
- Psalms 88:15–16
From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
- Proverbs 18:14
The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but who can survive a broken spirit?
- Mark 15:34
At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- Psalms 38:2
Through
Proverbs 1:27when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:25–26
Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
- Proverbs 3:25–26
Through
Job 19:6then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
it leads to
- Job 18:8–10
For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.
- Job 18:8–10
Through
Job 13:21Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
it leads to
- Psalms 39:10
Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
- Psalms 39:10
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.