Job 15:16 emphasizes humanity’s inherent corruption in contrast to God’s perfect holiness, illustrating the universal need for divine mercy.
Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends from Teman who sought to explain Job’s suffering, presses his case in this verse by highlighting the frailty and moral corruption of humanity. Earlier in his discourse, he points to God’s perfect majesty and insists that if even celestial beings and the heavens are not entirely pure before the Almighty, then mortal man must be all the more flawed. In his view, no human can stand righteous on their own merit before a completely holy God. Thus he declares, “How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!” (v.16). For Eliphaz, this description of “drinking iniquity like water” captures a sense that humans instinctively and endlessly absorb wrongdoing, much like a person naturally and frequently consuming water to survive.
By framing mankind in such stark terms, Eliphaz pushes Job to consider that his misfortunes might indeed be the result of sin. From his perspective, Job’s protests of innocence and his unwillingness to “confess” any wrongdoing are contrary to the undeniable reality of humanity’s depravity. This thinking aligns with a broader ancient assumption that suffering springs directly from guilt. In the larger biblical context, however, God later rebukes Eliphaz and the other friends for failing to grasp that Job’s predicament is permitted by God to prove Job’s genuine faith, rather than to punish him. Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament likewise reveal that suffering may serve redemptive or faith-building purposes, and not always proceed from divine wrath.
Humanity’s inclination toward sin, nonetheless, is a profound theme that resonates throughout Scripture, culminating in the arrival of Jesus as the one who can restore right relationship with God. Eliphaz’s description underscores our need for divine intervention, foreshadowing the biblical promise that only by God’s grace and power can people break the cycle of corruption and receive redemption.
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Job 15:16 meaning
Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends from Teman who sought to explain Job’s suffering, presses his case in this verse by highlighting the frailty and moral corruption of humanity. Earlier in his discourse, he points to God’s perfect majesty and insists that if even celestial beings and the heavens are not entirely pure before the Almighty, then mortal man must be all the more flawed. In his view, no human can stand righteous on their own merit before a completely holy God. Thus he declares, “How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!” (v.16). For Eliphaz, this description of “drinking iniquity like water” captures a sense that humans instinctively and endlessly absorb wrongdoing, much like a person naturally and frequently consuming water to survive.
By framing mankind in such stark terms, Eliphaz pushes Job to consider that his misfortunes might indeed be the result of sin. From his perspective, Job’s protests of innocence and his unwillingness to “confess” any wrongdoing are contrary to the undeniable reality of humanity’s depravity. This thinking aligns with a broader ancient assumption that suffering springs directly from guilt. In the larger biblical context, however, God later rebukes Eliphaz and the other friends for failing to grasp that Job’s predicament is permitted by God to prove Job’s genuine faith, rather than to punish him. Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament likewise reveal that suffering may serve redemptive or faith-building purposes, and not always proceed from divine wrath.
Humanity’s inclination toward sin, nonetheless, is a profound theme that resonates throughout Scripture, culminating in the arrival of Jesus as the one who can restore right relationship with God. Eliphaz’s description underscores our need for divine intervention, foreshadowing the biblical promise that only by God’s grace and power can people break the cycle of corruption and receive redemption.