Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Thou hast not given water - It was esteemed a great virtue in the East to furnish thirsty travelers with water; especially in the deserts, where scarcely a stream was to be found, and where wells were very rare. Some of the Indian devotees are accustomed to stand with a girbah or skin full of water, on the public roads, to give drink to weary travelers who are parched with thirst.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Thou hast not given water to the weary - That is, thou hast withheld the rites of hospitality - one of the most grievous offences which could be charged on an Arabian; compare the notes at Isaiah 21:14. In all the Oriental world, hospitality was regarded, and is still, as a duty of the highest obligation.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,.... To a weary thirsty traveller, to whom in those hot countries cold water was very refreshing, and which in desert places was not to be had in common, or any where; rich men were possessed of their wells and fountains, and were kept for their own use, and it was a kindness and favour to obtain water of them; and yet a cup of cold water is one of the least favours to be given to a poor man, and to deny it him in distress was very inhuman, and was very far from Job's character:

and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry: bread, which strengthens man's heart, and is the staff of life, without which he cannot support; and this is not to be withheld from, but given even to an enemy when hungry; and to deny it to a poor neighbour in such circumstances is very cruel; the charge is, that Job would not give a poor hungry man a morsel of bread to eat; which must be false, being directly contrary to what he strongly asserts, Job 31:17.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Hospitality to the weary traveler is regarded in the East as a primary duty (Isaiah 21:14).

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Job 22:7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

Ver. 7. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink] But hast slain him with thirst, when thou mightest have saved him with a cup of cold water. Qui non, cum potest, servat, occidit: Who when able did not serve, and died. Not to do good (when it is in the power of a man’s hand) is to do evil; and not to save a life is to destroy it, Mark 3:4. Not robbing only, but not relieving the beggar, was the rich man’s ruin, Luke 16:24, who, for a cup of cold water, duly given, might have had heaven, Matthew 10:42. But what meant Eliphaz to charge innocent and munificent Job with such a cruelty? 1. The man was angry; and,

Impedit ira animum ne possit cernere verum (Horat.).

Anger hinders the soul so that it is not able to know the truth. 2. He seems not directly to charge him with these crimes, but to urge him to consider and confess, that he could not be but a grievous sinner who was so great a sufferer. Surely God would never handle thee so hardly unless thou wert deeply guilty of these or the like enormities, Necesse est, ut fatearis te aut hoc, aut illud, aut omnia commisisse, &c. (Junius).

Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry] Bread thou hadst enough and to spare; but, like a greedy-gut Pamplagus, thou wouldst part with none, though it were to save the life, not of thine enemy (which yet thou shouldest have done, Proverbs 25:21; Elisha feasted his persecutors, 2 Kings 6:22-23; Isaac his wrong doers, Genesis 26:30-31, by a noble revenge), but of thy fellow friend and brother by race, place, and grace. Thou hast hidden thine eyes from thine own flesh, when thou shouldest have dealt thy bread to the hungry, Isaiah 58:7; yea, drawn out thy soul (and not thy sheaf only), famelico to the hunger starved, and satisfied the afflicted soul, Job 22:10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Surely thou hast been so hard-hearted as to deny a cup of cold water to those that needed and desired it. Water was ofttimes scarce and precious in those hot countries, and was appropriated to particular persons, without whose leave other persons might not take it.

To the weary, i.e. to him who by reason of hard labour or travel is weary and thirsty. So this word is used Proverbs 25:25.

From the hungry, to whom it was due by God’s law, Proverbs 3:27, which also was known to Job by the light of nature. Hereby he intimates the greatness of this sin of uncharitableness, by ranking it with heinous crimes; whereas Job (as he thought) esteemed it but a small fault, if any.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

7.Not given water — That which we do not do is made at the last day quite as much a test of character as what we do. Matthew 25:42-43. The Egyptian Book of the Dead represents a soul before Osiris as saying. “I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked,” (ch. 125.) The same sentiment appears so frequently on stelae and tombs, that Mariette thinks that it must have been a part of a daily prayer among the ancient Egyptians.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Water. Job's disposition was the reverse, chap. xxix. 15. Such inhumanity would hardly be conceived possible among us. But he Idumeans were guilty of it; (Numbers xx. 18., and Isaias xxi. 14.) and if it had not been probable, Eliphaz would not have dared to speak thus. (Calmet)

Mark Dunagan Commentary on the Bible

Job is accused of refusing to care for weary travelers or give a meal to the hungry.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. Hospitality to the weary traveler is regarded in the East as a primary duty (Isaiah 21:14).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

not given

31:17; Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Psalms 112:9; Proverbs 11:24,25; 19:17; Isaiah 58:7,10; Ezekiel 18:7,16; Matthew 25:42; Romans 12:20