Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 22:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 22:20 closes the thought unit with the words “Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.” Eliphaz states “Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth” as one poetic claim in Eliphaz Invokes the Ancient Path of the Wicked.
Read It With
- Job 22:15–22:20
Read Job 22:20 with 22:15–22:20. Read alone, “Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Eliphaz describes people swept away before their time despite secure homes and identifies the righteous as rejoicing at their destruction.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Eliphaz continues from Job 22:5–22:14: Eliphaz accuses Job of exploiting debtors, withholding water and bread, favoring the powerful, dismissing widows, and crushing orphans, then says darkness follows. Job 22:15–22:20 now develops the next distinct movement: Eliphaz describes people swept away before their time despite secure homes and identifies the righteous as rejoicing at their destruction. Within that relationship, Job 22:20 closes the thought unit through “Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.”
Read Job 22:15–20 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 22:15–22:20 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Eliphaz Invokes the Ancient Path of the Wicked.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 15. 15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Verse 16. 16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
Verse 17. 17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
Verse 18. 18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Verse 19. 19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
Verse 20. 20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
What Remains True
Eliphaz describes people swept away before their time despite secure homes and identifies the righteous as rejoicing at their destruction. The speech must be tested against evidence, the prose frame, Job's counterevidence, and the closing verdict before it becomes enduring counsel. Job 22:20 carries that bounded truth through “Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Test Eliphaz's speech in Job 22:15–22:20 against the narrated evidence, Job's countercase, and the final verdict before repeating it to a person who suffers. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: The speech should not license delight in suffering or turn disputed ancient examples into a map of Job's character. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 22:15–22:20 — Eliphaz Invokes the Ancient Path of the WickedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 22:15–22:20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 22:15–22:20
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 22:15–22:20.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 22:15–22:20
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗