Bible Strands
Job 22:3
Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz speaks to Job in the third cycle of their debate, immediately following his rhetorical question about human utility to God. He confronts Job’s implied assumption that his personal righteousness holds any weight in the divine council.
The words — The text uses חֵפֶץ (che.fetz) to ask if the Almighty takes pleasure, and בֶצַע (be.tza') to ask if He gains profit. These verbs literally measure divine satisfaction and material gain against Job’s blameless conduct.
The thread — This pairing of divine delight and human conduct appears in Proverbs 15:8 and Psalm 147:10, where God’s pleasure is tied to obedience rather than human strength. The principle of cleansing from defilement in response to divine promises is later applied in 2 Corinthians 7:1.
Why it lands — The verse states that human righteousness cannot benefit or satisfy God, removing any transactional basis for faith. It requires the reader to abandon a merit-based relationship with God and recognize divine independence from human performance.
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
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
Cross-references
- Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Psalms 147:10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
- Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.
- 1 Chronicles 29:17 I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.
- Job 23:10 Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
- Psalms 39:1 For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
- Psalms 119:3 They do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
- Psalms 119:59 I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.