Job 15:5

For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity,.... Which was in his heart, and so was an evidence against him, and proved him perverse, and made good the above charges exhibited against him: or "thine

For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. The sophistry of thine own speeches proves thy guilt. The sophistry of thine own speeches proves thy guilt.

i.e. Thy words discover the naughtiness of thy heart, and justify my charge against time, that thou castest off fear, &c. Thou speakest wickedly, but craftily; thou coverest thy impious principles and passions with fair pretences of piety and respect to God, wherewith thou endeavourest to mock God, and deceive men.

Job 15:5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.Ver. 5. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity] Heb. Thy crooked, wry disposition, that standeth across to God and goodness, Psalms 51:5, Homo est inversus decalogus. Solomon speaketh of perverse lips, as if the upper lip stood where the nether should, Proverbs 4:24. And St Jude speaketh of hard speeches, uttered by ungodly sinners, Judges 1:15, such as Job was none, whatever Eliphaz, by misinterpreting, made of him, wresting his words to a wrong sense, as Psalms 54:5, and, by a spiritual unmannerliness, making the worst of what he spake; there being not anything that may not be taken with the left hand. Now, if this befell Job from his friends and those godly persons, what wonder though the like, and worse, be done to us by wicked enemies? Qui id quod boni est excerpunt, dicunt quod mali est. Nihil est quin male narrando possit depravarier. - (Terent. Phorm.) And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty] Than the which nothing is a greater enemy to piety, saith an interpreter. Politicians formalize and enervate the power of truth, till at length they leave us a heartless and sapless religion, saith another. Such a one Eliphaz makes Job to be: q.d. Thou wast wont to speak prayer, but now thou speakest policy, yea, Thou choosest to do it, thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak right, Psalms 52:3. Thou hast as many turnings and windings in thy mind as the serpent hath in his body (so the Hebrew word seemeth to signify, Genesis 3:1). Thus he heighteneth his charge, and layeth on yet more load.

(5) Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity.—These words may mean either “Thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity,” or “Thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth,” and the second clause must be taken adversatively or otherwise according as we understand the meaning, “Thy mouth proclaimeth thine iniquity, though thou choosest the tongue of the crafty, and so contrivest in some degree to conceal it;” or, “Thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth its eloquence, and by consequence thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.” We incline to the latter, though it is fair to say that the next verse seems rather to favour the other meaning.

Verse 5. For thy mouth uttereth] In attempting to justify thyself, thou hast added iniquity to sin, and hast endeavoured to impute blame to thy Maker. The tongue of the crafty.] Thou hast varnished thy own conduct, and used sophistical arguments to defend thyself. Thou resemblest those cunning persons, ערומים arumim, who derive their skill and dexterity from the old serpent, "the nachash, who was ערום arum, subtle, or crafty, beyond all the beasts of the field;" Genesis 3:1. Thy wisdom is not from above, but from beneath.

5. for thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity] Rather, for thine iniquity (or, guilt) teacheth thy mouth; the meaning being that his mouth was prompted by his iniquity, used as its instrument. His inquity taught his mouth what to say. choosest the tongue of the crafty] i. e. choosest and makest use of,—speakest as the crafty do. The charge of Eliphaz is that Job’s complaint of unrighteousness in God’s treatment of him and his assertions of his own innocence, and such words as those in ch. Job 12:6, were mere crafty pretences put forward to cover his own wickedness. If the first clause have precisely the same sense as the latter, the word “iniquity” must be translated “guilt.”

For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity - Margin, “teacheth.” That is, “your whole argument shows that you are a guilty man.

5. Uttereth — ιΰμ�, (yealleph,) teacheth. Iniquity is the grammatical subject of the sentence, which should read, For thine iniquity teacheth thee.