Job 22:15
in Job 22Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wilt thou keep the old way Which wicked men have trodden?
KJV
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
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This verse in Job 22
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? - Hast thou seen what has happened in former times to wicked people? Job had maintained that God did not deal with people in this world according to their character. To meet this, Eliphaz now appeals to ancient facts, and especially refers to the deluge, when the wicked were cut off by a flood for their sins.
This site's exposition
the ancient path that wicked men have trod
on Job 22:15-18
Eliphaz points to the ancient path of men who "were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood". Henry and Gill tie it to Genesis 7. The words "Depart from us" render the same Hebrew as the defiance Job cited at 21:14.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
These words mean, "You imitate the actions of the ancestors." [The author] is alluding to the Cainites, those who lived at the time of the deluge, to the Sodomites, etc.; these are those whom he calls "the way of the world."
Wouldest thou mark the old way, which wicked men have trodden? LITERAL INTERPRETATION As the 'way' of our Redeemer is humility, so the way of the world is pride. And so wicked men tread the way of the world, in that by the desires of this world they walk in self-exaltation.
In the words above, Eliphaz seems to have imposed the charge on Job that he did not believe that God had providence in human affairs. Now as a consequence he seems to impose on him the effect of this lack of faith. For those who …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Note, There is an old way which wicked men have trodden. Religion had but newly entered when sin immediately followed it. But though it is an old way, a broad way, a tracked way, it is a dangerous way and it leads to destruction; and it is good for us to mark it, that we may not dare to walk in it.
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He gives him very good counsel, assuring him that, if he would take it, God would return in mercy to him and he should return to his former prosperity,
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Antiquity is, moreover, no excuse for sin. It may be that men have long transgressed, but use in rebellion will not mitigate the treason before the eternal Throne. If you know better, it will not stand you in any place that God winked at the ignorance of others in former ages. If you have had more light than they, you shall have severer judgment than they—therefore plead not the antiquity of any evil custom as an excuse for sin.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
marked--Rather, Dost thou keep to? that is, wish to follow (so Hebrew, 2Sa 22:22). If so, beware of sharing their end. the old way--the degenerate ways of the world before the flood (Ge 6:5).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Antiquity is, moreover, no excuse for sin. It may be that men have long transgressed, but use in rebellion will not mitigate the treason before the eternal Throne. If you know better, it will not stand you in any place that God winked at the ignorance of others in former ages. If you have had more light than they, you shall have severer judgment than they—therefore plead not the antiquity of any evil custom as an excuse for sin. It was an old way, but they who ran in it perished in it just as surely as if it had been a new way of sinning entirely of their own invention. Antiquity will be no consolation to those who perish by following evil precedents. It will serve no purpose to lost souls that they sinned as thousands sinned before them! And if they shall meet long generations of their ancestors lost in the same overthrow, they shall by no means be comforted by such grim companionship. Therefore, it becomes all of us to examine whether those religious dogmas which we have accepted on account of their apparent venerableness of age and universality of custom are, indeed, the Truth of God. We are not among those who believe that the traditions of the fathers are the ultimate tests of the Truth of God. We have heard the voice which says, "To the Law and to the Testimony. If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." We would not affect novelty for its own sake—that were folly—neither will we adore and venerate antiquity for its own sake, for that would lead us into idolatry and superstition. Is the thing right? Then follow it, though you have discovered it but yesterday. Is it wrong? Then, though the road were trod by sinners of the first ages, yet do not pursue it unless you desire to meet with the same end as they.
Hast thou marked the old way - This is supposed to be another accusation; as i! he had said, “Thou hollowest the same way that the wicked of old have walked in.” Here is an evident allusion to the Flood, as is particularly noted in the next verse.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַאֹ֣רַח | haorach | ¿ a path of | H734 → | 58 times |
| עוֹלָ֣ם | olam | antiquity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| תִּשְׁמֹ֑ר | tishmor | will you keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דָּרְכ֣וּ | darekhu | they have trodden | H1869 → | 62 times |
| מְתֵי־ | metei- | men of | H4962 → | 22 times |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | ʾaven | wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
הַאֹ֣רַח¿ a path of
haorachH734 →58 times
עוֹלָ֣םantiquity
olamH5769 →438 times
תִּשְׁמֹ֑רwill you keep
tishmorH8104 →468 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
דָּרְכ֣וּthey have trodden
darekhuH1869 →62 times
מְתֵי־men of
metei-H4962 →22 times
אָֽוֶן׃wickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 times
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
Genesis 6:5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
it leads to
- Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- Romans 1:28–31
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Jeremiah 4:14
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Matthew 15:19
About Job
This page draws on 10 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 (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 859: “The Old Way of the Wicked” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 22:15; Jamieson, Fausset & 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.