Job 22:19

The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) The righteous see it.—That is, the destruction of the wicked, as in the days of Noah.

Benson Commentary

Job 22:19. The righteous see it — Whom God often spares in common calamities, and gives them to see the destruction of the wicked; as Noah, Lot, &c. And are glad — Not that they insult over, or rejoice in, the ruin of any men, but because they delight in the vindication of God’s honour, and justice, and holiness, which is connected with the destruction of his enemies, and which is, and ought to be, dearer to them than all the interests of men. And the innocent laugh them to scorn — Justly deride them, for their vain and strong confidences, which are now destroyed; for their profane contempt of God’s wrath and judgments, which they now feel; and for their deep and crafty counsels, which are now frustrated and turned against themselves.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:15-20 Eliphaz would have Job mark the old way that wicked men have trodden, and see what the end of their way was. It is good for us to mark it, that we may not walk therein. But if others are consumed, and we are not, instead of blaming them, and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we ought to be thankful to God, and take it for a warning.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The righteous see it, and are glad - see the destruction of the wicked; compare Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7; Revelation 19:1-2. This is designed by Eliphaz, probably, not only to state a fact about the righteous of other times who saw the wicked punished, but, also, to vindicate his own conduct and that of his two friends in regard to Job. If the righteous of other times had rejoiced when the wicked were punished, they inferred that it was not improper for them to manifest similar rejoicings when God had overtaken one who was so signally depraved as they supposed Job to be. Their lack of sympathy for him, therefore, they would defend by a reference to the conduct of the people of other times. There is a sense in which good people rejoice when the wicked are detected and punished. It is not:

(1) that they rejoice that the sin was committed; nor

(2) that they rejoice in misery; nor

(3) that they would not rejoice more if the wicked had been righteous, and had escaped suffering altogether.

But it is the kind of joy which we have when a murderer, a robber, or a pirate is seized - when a counterfeiter is detected - when a man who prowls around the dwelling at night to murder its inmates is brought to punishment. It is joy, not that the sin was committed, but that the laws are executed; and who should not rejoice in that? We have joy in the character of an upright judge when he impartially and faithfully administers the laws; and why should we not rejoice in God when he does the same? We rejoice in the manifestation of truth and justice among people - why should we not in the exhibition of the same things in God? We rejoice in a police that can ferret out every form of iniquity, and bring offenders to justice; and why should we not rejoice in that government which is infinitely more perfect than any police ever was among people?

And the innocent laugh them to scorn - This is another way of saying that they exult or rejoice; compare Proverbs 1:26-27. No consideration can justify people in deriding and mocking those who are subjected to punishment; and it is by no means certain that the speaker meant to refer to such derision.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. Triumph of the pious at the fall of the recent followers of the antediluvian sinners. While in the act of denying that God can do them any good or harm, they are cut off by Him. Eliphaz hereby justifies himself and the friends for their conduct to Job: not derision of the wretched, but joy at the vindication of God's ways (Ps 107:42; Re 15:3; 16:7; 19:1, 2).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The righteous see it; whom God oft spares in common calamities, and makes them to survive and see the destruction of the wicked; as Noah, Lot, &c.

Are glad; not that they insult over or rejoice in the ruin of any men, but because they delight in the vindication of God’s honour, and justice, and holiness, which is conjoined with the destruction of his enemies, and which is and ought to be dearer to them than all the interests of men.

The innocent laugh them to scorn; they justly deride them, for their vain and yet strong confidences, which are now destroyed; and for their profane contempt of God and of his judgments, which now they feel; and for their deep and crafty counsels, which are now frustrated and turned against themselves.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The righteous see it, and are glad,.... Not the counsel of the wicked, nor their outward prosperity, but their ruin and destruction, which is sure and certain; though it may sometimes seem to linger, it is often public and visible to the view of every man, being made public examples, see Psalm 91:8; and which is matter of joy and gladness to truly good and righteous men; who have the righteousness of Christ on them, his grace in them, and in consequence of that live soberly, righteously, and godly; these rejoice at the vengeance of God on wicked men, Psalm 52:5; not that the misery of their fellow creatures is pleasing to them as such; this would be brutish and inhuman, as well as contrary to the grace of God, and to their character as good men, and also would be displeasing to God, Proverbs 24:17; but partly because they themselves, through the grace and goodness of God, have been kept from such sins as bring to ruin and destruction; and partly because they are delivered out of the hands of these wicked men, who were distressing to them; and chiefly because of the glory of the divine perfections, particularly the holiness and justice of God displayed herein; for God is known and glorified by the judgments which he executeth, see Psalm 9:16;

and the innocent laugh them to scorn; such as are upright and sincere, live holy and harmless lives and conversations, though not entirely free from sin; these deride them for their impieties, and observe to them the justness of the divine judgments upon them. The Jewish writers, many of them (f), restrain these words to Noah and his sons, who saw with their eyes the flood that destroyed the world of the ungodly, and rejoiced at it, and in their turn had them in derision, who had made a mock at Noah's building of the ark, and at his exhortations to them; but though the characters of righteous and innocent agree with Noah, who was just and perfect in his generation, yet not with all his sons; and it is best to understand this of good men in general; though it must be observed and owned, that the destruction of the wicked by the flood is before spoken of, and their character described. The word "saying" is by some supplied at the close of this verse, and so the following words are what the righteous are represented as saying, upon sight of the destruction of the wicked.

(f) Aben Ezra, Ben Gersom, Sephorno, et alii.

Geneva Study Bible

The righteous see it, and are glad: {n} and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

(n) The just rejoice at the destruction of the wicked for two reasons, first because God shows himself judge of the world and by this means continues his honour and glory: secondly because God shows that he had care over his in that he punished their enemies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19.  The righteous see it and are glad,

And the innocent laugh them to scorn,

20.  Saying, Surely our adversaries are cut off,

And that which they have left the fire hath consumed.

The “remnant” of the wicked, or “that which they leave,” is their substance and possessions.

19, 20. These two verses are connected together,

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - The righteous see it, and are glad; i.e. "the righteous see both the short-lived prosperity (ver. 18) and the ultimate destruction (ver. 16) of the wicked, and rejoice over them. especially over the latter" (comp. Psalm 58:10; Psalm 107:40-42; Proverbs 11:10). And the innocent laugh them to scorn (comp. Psalm 2:6). Scorn and derision are the just portion of the wicked, and in Old Testament times even saints did not scruple to pour them out on those who deserved them. But the gospel spirit is different. Job 22:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

19 The righteous see it and rejoice,

And the innocent mock at them:

20 "Verily our opponent is destroyed,

And the fire hath devoured their abundance."

This thought corresponds to that expressed as a wish, hope, or anticipation at the close of many of the Psalms, that the retributive justice of God, though we may have to wait a long time for it, becomes at length the more gloriously manifest to the joy of those hitherto innocently persecuted, Psalm 58:11. The obj. of יראוּ, as in Psalm 107:42, is this its manifestation. למו is not an ethical dative, as in Psalm 80:7, but as in Psalm 2:4 refers to the ungodly whose mocking pride comes to such an ignominious end. What follow in Job 22:20 are the words of the godly; the introductory לאמר is wanting, as e.g., Psalm 2:3. אם־לא can signify neither si non, as Job 9:24; Job 24:25; Job 31:31, nor annon, as in a disjunctive question, Job 17:2; Job 30:25; it is affirmative, as Job 1:11; Job 2:5; Job 31:36 - an Amen to God's peremptory judgment. On נכחד (he is drawn away, put aside, become annulled), vid., supra, p. 398. קימנוּ (for which Aben-Ezra is also acquainted with the reading קימנוּ with קמץ קטן, i.e., צירי) has a pausal springing from , as Job 20:27, מתקוממה for מתקוממה; Ruth 3:2, לרמותנו; Isaiah 47:10, ראני (together with the reading ראני, comp. 1 Chronicles 12:17, לרמותני). The form קים is remarkable; it may be more readily taken as part. pass. (like שׂים, positus) than as nom. infin. (the act of raising for those who raise themselves); perhaps the original text had קמינו (קמינוּ). יתרם is no more to be translated their remnant (Hirz.) here than in Psalm 17:14, at least not in the sense of Exodus 23:11; that which exceeds the necessity is intended, their surplus, their riches. It is said of Job in b. Megilla, 28a: איוב ותרן בממוניה הוה, he was extravagant (prodigus) with his property. The fire devouring the wealth of the godless is an allusion to the misfortune which has befallen him.

After this terrible picture, Eliphaz turns to the exhortation of him who may be now perhaps become ripe for repentance.