Bible Strands
Job 22:10
Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz the Temanite speaks to Job, transitioning from an accusation of social oppression in verse 9 to a declaration of immediate divine retribution. This occurs within the third cycle of the friends' dialogues, where Eliphaz shifts from general wisdom to specific indictment.
The words — The Hebrew סְבִיבוֹתֶיךָ פַחִים (seviwotekha pachim) literally renders "snares around you," while פַּחַד פִּתְאֹם (pachad pit'om) translates to "sudden dread." These terms frame the impending judgment as both inescapable and abrupt.
The thread — The motif of divine snares and terror appears in Job 6:4 with the arrows of the Almighty, in Job 13:21 where Job pleads for God to withdraw His terror, and in Job 18:8 where a man's feet lead him into a net. Each reference treats terror and entrapment as direct consequences of divine action or moral failure.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that the accused's actions have triggered an inescapable and abrupt judgment. It requires the reader to accept that moral corruption produces immediate, unyielding consequences rather than delayed or abstract retribution.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
Cross-references
- Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
- Job 13:21 Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
- Job 18:8 For his own feet lead him into a net, and he wanders into its mesh.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Proverbs 1:27 when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.
- Job 19:6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
- Proverbs 3:25 Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,