Job 22:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Yet to the strong man You granted land, and to the honorable man You established a dwelling. He perceives Job as a proud oppressor, governing his subjects not with righteousness and fairness, but burdening them with a yoke of oppressive chains based on his severe principles, as if by the might of his own hand. You drove away widows in their destitution. When they, forsaken, tormented and demeaned, sought refuge with You, instead of offering them solace, You sent them away without what they needed. The orphans, too, were left wanting. If they possessed any resilience, You stripped it away, leaving their spirits bereft of hope, without safeguarding them from wicked individuals. You shattered the promise of their hope, which they sought in You, by permitting their persecution.

You have left widows destitute and shattered the hands of orphans, as noted in Job 22:9. Those who are ensnared by the teachings of heretics, which stem from a worldly understanding, carry the perishable seeds of their misguided beliefs and become complicit in their own condemnation. However, when the Holy Church embraces preachers of false doctrine—either through reasoned argumentation or the restraints of her discipline—the heretics find themselves, metaphorically, in a wasteland, lamenting that the Holy Church has left the community without spiritual guides. In their absence, they claim that the faithful are weakened in their devotion, bemoaning that the Holy Church has incapacitated the orphans.

Eliphaz issues his final rebuke to Job, attempting to demonstrate that since human righteousness holds no value to God, the afflictions from the Almighty should be seen as expressions of His impartial justice (22:1-4). In this context, failing to assist a neighbor when one has the opportunity is regarded as sin (5-9). It is for such transgressions that Job suffers (10-11). He futilely reassures himself with the notion that God, in His vastness, does not concern Himself with the trivial matters of earthly existence (12-14). In doing so, he mirrors the ancient wicked, who shared a similar view of God and met with sudden calamity through water and fire (15-20). Thus, Job is advised to approach God with humility and repentance, promising that the Lord will restore His favor and grant him joy (21-30). These passages suggest a connection to the flood and the devastation of Sodom.