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NASB | Job 22:23 "If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Job 22:23 "If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored]; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents, |
Bible Question: In Job 22:28 it states "When they make you low. Who makes you low? |
Bible Answer: Job 22:5,23 helps. (btw: I believe you meant verse 29, not 28?) I believe the key to understanding this statement is the context. Job 22:5 (The Amplified Bible) includes this statement: "... There is no end to your iniquities. [sins]" Note however, the advise in Job 22:23 "If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up; if you put unrighteousness far from your tents." Verse 29 contains some similar thoughts about being built up (if we humbly return to the Almighty God). So, "they" could represent Job's sins that brought him low. However, here's the twist. Hearing of Job’s vexations, three acquaintances came to him. “Where have the upright ever been effaced?” asked Eliphaz, who assumed that Job must have acted wickedly. (Job, chapters 4, 5) He accused Job of secret sins, even of denying bread to the needy and having oppressed widows and orphans. (Job, chapters 15, 22) The two other sham comforters also berated Job as though he were responsible for his sufferings. Were they correct? Not at all. The book of Job helps to identify the root cause of Job’s suffering and to see why God allowed it. (Start with Chapters 1 and 2, which nicely introduces the book of Job.) So, the counsel found in Job 22:29 is not from God, but from Eliphaz who was expressing his personal thoughts on the matter - in an improper and harshly judgement manner. (Compare Job 32:3) |