Job 22:2
in Job 22“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Can a man be profitable unto God? Surely he that is wise is profitable unto himself.
KJV
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
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This verse in Job 22
Commentary
11 notes on this verseCan a man be profitable unto God?.... Eliphaz imagined that Job thought so, by his insisting so much on his integrity, and complaining of his afflictions; and that God was beholden to him for his holiness and righteousness, and that instead of afflicting him, should have heaped honours and happiness upon him; whereas there is not anything a man can do, or does, by which God can be profiled; which is a very great truth, though misapplied to Job through a wrong construction of his words and meaning.
This site's exposition
Eliphaz the Temanite replied
on Job 22:1-3
Eliphaz opens with a premise that removes any divine self-interest: "Can a man be of use to God". So God needs nothing from Job, which clears the way for Eliphaz's conclusion that the suffering traces to Job's guilt. Chapters 1 and 2 have shown another cause of the suffering.
This site's exposition
Can a man be of use to God
Eliphaz answers Job with a question about God. Barnes explains that Eliphaz supposes Job claims God's favor as if his righteous life were of use to God. Clarke puts it plainly: a man may benefit a man, and no man can benefit God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The things that are administered by the Holy Spirit are worthy of description. Therefore, they are described, so that the reader may take advantage of the things being read.
"Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 'Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge?' " After being defeated, Eliphaz eventually agrees with this. Then, since what had been said allowed everyone to come to the conclusion that Job was not impious and that the conduct of a person could not be judged on the basis of his punishments, notice the perfidy at which he almost arrives to suppress the role of Providence.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Can a man be compared unto God, even when he has perfect knowledge? By comparison with God, our knowledge is ignorance, for it is by participation, and not by comparison, with God that we become imbued with wisdom. What wonder then when that is said, as if in the way of instruction, which might have been known, even if it had been kept silent?
When blessed Job had finished speaking, Eliphaz did not understand his words according to the intention with which they were spoken. Indeed, when Job had spoken first about the exalted character of the matter, he said "Is my debate against man," (21:4) Eliphaz takes this …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), that he ought not to contend with God (it is his folly if he does), and that we ought always to address ourselves to God with very great reverence; for when we behold the height of the stars, how high they are, we should, at the same time, also consider the transcendent majesty of God, who is above the stars, and how high he is.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Much less when it is so far short of being perfect. It is no pleasure to him. God has indeed expressed himself in his word well pleased with the righteous; his countenance beholds them and his delight is in them and their prayers; but all that adds nothing to the infinite satisfaction and complacency which the Eternal Mind has in itself.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Can a man be profitable unto God - God does not afflict thee because thou hast deprived him of any excellency. A man may be profitable to a man, but no man can profit his Maker. He has no interest in thy conduct; he does not punish thee because thou hast offended and deprived him of some good. Thy iniquities are against justice, and justice requires thy punishment.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Can a man be profitable unto God? - Can a man confer any favor on God, so as to lay him under obligation? Eliphaz supposes that Job sets up a “claim” to the favor of God, because he was of service to him, or because God had something to fear if he was cut off. He maintains, therefore, that a man can confer no favor on God, so as to lay him under obligation. God is independent and supreme. He has nothing to gain if man is righteous - he has nothing to apprehend if he is punished. He is not dependent at all on man. As he that is wise - Margin, or, “if he may be profitable, doth his goodness depend thereon.” The meaning of the passage is, a wise man may promote his own advantage, but he cannot be of advantage to God. All the result of his wisdom must terminate on himself, and not on God; compare Psa 16:2. Of the correctness of this sentiment there can be no doubt. It accords with reason, and with all that is said in the Scriptures. God is too great to be benefited by man. He is infinite in all his perfections; he is the original fountain of blessedness; he is supremely wise; he has all resources in himself, and he cannot be dependent on his creatures. He cannot, therefore, be deterred from punishing them by any dread which he has of losing their favor - he cannot be induced to bless them because they have laid him under obligation. Eliphaz meant this as a reply to what Job had said. He had maintained, that God did “not” treat people according to their character in this life, but that, in fact, the wicked were often prospered, and suffered to live long. Eliphaz at once “infers,” that if this were so, it must be because they could render themselves “serviceable” to God, or because he must have something to dread by punishing them. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַלְאֵ֥ל | halel | ¿ to God | H410 → | 241 times |
| יִסְכָּן־ | yiskon- | will he be of use | H5532 → | 12 times |
| גָּ֑בֶר | gaver | a man | H1397 → | 65 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִסְכֹּ֖ן | yiskon | will he be of use? | H5532 → | 12 times |
| עָלֵ֣ימוֹ | ʾaleimov | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מַשְׂכִּֽיל׃ | maskil | a wise [person] | H7919 → | 62 times |
הַלְאֵ֥ל¿ to God
halelH410 →241 times
יִסְכָּן־will he be of use
yiskon-H5532 →12 times
גָּ֑בֶרa man
gaverH1397 →65 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִסְכֹּ֖ןwill he be of use?
yiskonH5532 →12 times
עָלֵ֣ימוֹon him
ʾaleimovH5921 →5755 times
מַשְׂכִּֽיל׃a wise [person]
maskilH7919 →62 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
Luke 17:10So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
it leads to
- Job 22:2–3
“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 9:16–17
Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- 1 Peter 5:5–6
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:9–10
For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
- Job 35:6–7
If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?
- Job 22:2–3
Through
Psalms 16:2I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.”
it leads to
- Psalms 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.
- Psalms 31:14
But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
- Psalms 89:26
He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
- Psalms 73:25
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 on the Book of Job; 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; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 22:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 16.4 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.