Job 22:14
in Job 22Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he seeth not; And he walketh on the vault of heaven.
KJV
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
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This verse in Job 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis is gross absurdity, as well as gross impiety, which Eliphaz here fathers upon Job; for it supposes that the administration of government is a burden and disparagement to the supreme governor and that the acts of justice and mercy are a toil to a mind infinitely wise, holy, and good.
This site's exposition
Is not God as high as the heavens
on Job 22:12-14
Eliphaz next puts in Job's mouth a God too remote to see: "What does God know". Job has said nothing of the kind, and at 21:22 he affirmed the opposite. The same pattern of a charge without ground runs through the whole speech.
This site's exposition
Thick clouds veil Him
Eliphaz puts these words in the mouth of the man he accuses, as Barnes notes: thick clouds veil God from seeing men below. Wesley calls it the opinion of many heathen philosophers, a God content with heaven. Henry calls it gross impiety.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Eliphaz pronounces a serious accusation of impiety and madness against Job. "In fact," he says, "you committed iniquities, as if [God] did not realize they were [committed] in the land of the Lord, but as if he judged in darkness. That is, as if, in …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Dost thou bethink thee that God is in the height of heaven, and high above the height of the stars? And thou sayest, How doth God know? and, He judgeth as in the dark. Thick clouds are a covering to Him, that He seeth not our matters; and He walketh in the circuit of heaven. There are very many so dull that they cannot dread aught, saving what they see in a bodily form. Whence it is brought to pass that they do not fear God, in that they cannot see Him.
He shows this to be analogous to what happens with men, among whom one who hides in some place is not seen by those who are outside the place, and he does not see them. "The clouds are his hiding place and he does not …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Walketh - His delight is in heaven, which is worthy of his care, but he will not burden himself with the care of earth: which was the opinion of many Heathen philosophers, and, as they fancied, was Job's opinion also.
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He walketh in the circuit of heaven - He confines himself to those infinitely exalted regions and cares nothing for the inhabitants of the earth.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thick clouds are a covering to him - This is to be understood as expressing what Eliphaz regarded as the sentiment of Job - that so thick clouds intervened between him and man that he could not take cognizance of what was going forward on earth. And he walketh in the circuit of heaven - Upon the arch of heaven, as it seems to be bent over our heads. He walks above that cerulean, so high, that he cannot see what occurs on earth, and to punish mortals. This was not an uncommon sentiment among the ancients, though it is here, with the greatest injustice, attributed to Job. A similar sentiment is expressed by Lucretius, as quoted by Rosenmuller and Noyes: Omnis enim per se Divum natura necesse est Immortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur, Semota a nostris rebus, sejunctaque longe. Nam privata dolore omni, privata periclis, Ipsa suis pollens opibus, nihil in liga nostri, Nec bene promeritus capitur, nec tangitur ira. Compare Isa 29:15.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Thick clouds are a concealment before Him, and He cannot see.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָבִ֣ים | ʾavim | clouds | H5645 → | 31 times |
| סֵֽתֶר־ | seter- | [are] a hiding place | H5643 → | 36 times |
| ל֭וֹ | lo | of him | ||
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִרְאֶ֑ה | yireh | he will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְח֥וּג | vechug | and [the] circle of | H2329 → | |
| שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם | shamayim | heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| יִתְהַלָּֽךְ׃ | yithalakh | he walks about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
עָבִ֣יםclouds
ʾavimH5645 →31 times
סֵֽתֶר־[are] a hiding place
seter-H5643 →36 times
ל֭וֹof him
lo
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִרְאֶ֑הhe will see
yirehH7200 →1300 times
וְח֥וּגand [the] circle of
vechugH2329 →
שָׁ֝מַ֗יִםheaven
shamayimH8064 →421 times
יִתְהַלָּֽךְ׃he walks about
yithalakhH1980 →1546 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
Jeremiah 23:24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Psalms 139:7
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
- Psalms 90:8
You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
- Isaiah 29:15
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
- Psalms 139:11–16
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
- Proverbs 15:3
Through
Psalms 97:2Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
it leads to
- Psalms 89:14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
- Exodus 19:9
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in…
- Proverbs 16:12
Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
- Psalms 89:14
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
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 XVI; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 22:13-14 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.