God’s transcendence is so immense that not even the best or most spiritual parts of creation can match His purity.
When Eliphaz addresses Job and states “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight” (v.15), he underscores the profound holiness of God and the corresponding insignificance of created beings. Even the very angels—described here as “holy ones”—cannot fully contain His majesty, implying that no creature, regardless of station, stands on equal moral ground with the Almighty. By declaring that “the heavens are not pure in His sight,” Eliphaz intensifies the idea that God’s standard of righteousness is infinitely higher than all else, a concept found throughout Scripture (Romans 3:23). In context, Eliphaz is trying to impose on Job the idea that even if Job is righteous by human standards, he still falls short of God’s absolute purity.
Because Eliphaz hails from Teman, a region often identified with Edom to the southeast of the Dead Sea, his words reflect a viewpoint shaped by ancient wisdom traditions, dating perhaps to the patriarchal era (circa 2000-1700 BC). Within this cultural and historical setting, the statement that God does not place His trust even in heavenly beings reveals an understanding that ultimate sovereignty over the created order belongs to the Lord alone. Eliphaz’s attempt, however, shifts from exalting God’s holiness to wrongly concluding that Job’s suffering must indicate hidden guilt—a theology of suffering that the book of Job ultimately refutes in its conclusion (Job 42:7).
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Job 15:15 meaning
When Eliphaz addresses Job and states “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight” (v.15), he underscores the profound holiness of God and the corresponding insignificance of created beings. Even the very angels—described here as “holy ones”—cannot fully contain His majesty, implying that no creature, regardless of station, stands on equal moral ground with the Almighty. By declaring that “the heavens are not pure in His sight,” Eliphaz intensifies the idea that God’s standard of righteousness is infinitely higher than all else, a concept found throughout Scripture (Romans 3:23). In context, Eliphaz is trying to impose on Job the idea that even if Job is righteous by human standards, he still falls short of God’s absolute purity.
Because Eliphaz hails from Teman, a region often identified with Edom to the southeast of the Dead Sea, his words reflect a viewpoint shaped by ancient wisdom traditions, dating perhaps to the patriarchal era (circa 2000-1700 BC). Within this cultural and historical setting, the statement that God does not place His trust even in heavenly beings reveals an understanding that ultimate sovereignty over the created order belongs to the Lord alone. Eliphaz’s attempt, however, shifts from exalting God’s holiness to wrongly concluding that Job’s suffering must indicate hidden guilt—a theology of suffering that the book of Job ultimately refutes in its conclusion (Job 42:7).