What is the meaning of Job 15:5? For your iniquity instructs your mouth Eliphaz claims that Job’s own sin is the “teacher” behind his words. Scripture consistently ties the condition of the heart to the speech that follows. • Luke 6:45 reminds us that “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks,” showing how inner corruption can guide conversation just as Eliphaz alleges. • Proverbs 10:19 warns that “when words are many, transgression is not lacking,” matching Eliphaz’s sense that unchecked speech signals underlying wrongdoing. • Psalm 36:1-3 pictures “transgression…speaking” within a person until it spills out in flattery and deceit—precisely the principle Eliphaz applies to Job. Though Eliphaz misreads Job’s situation, the broader truth stands: sin instructs the tongue unless surrendered to God’s transforming grace. And you choose the language of the crafty Eliphaz moves from inner cause to conscious choice, accusing Job of deliberately adopting deceptive speech. • Genesis 3:1 introduces “the serpent…more crafty than any beast,” framing cunning words as the hallmark of evil influence and suggesting Job has joined that pattern. • Ephesians 4:14 cautions against being “tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching…in the craftiness of deceit,” echoing Eliphaz’s charge of calculated manipulation. • 2 Corinthians 4:2 contrasts righteous ministry with those who “practice cunning or distort the word of God,” underscoring that craftiness is a chosen path, not a passive accident. Eliphaz’s rebuke therefore insists Job has stepped from mere frustration into intentional misrepresentation—a serious warning about where suffering-fed bitterness can lead speech if unchecked. summary Job 15:5 records Eliphaz’s sharp assessment: sinful attitudes inside a person instruct their speech, and deliberate choices can steer that speech toward deceitful cleverness. While Eliphaz misjudges Job’s heart, his words still spotlight a timeless principle affirmed across Scripture—the mouth reveals the soul, and we are responsible for whether sin or truth shapes our tongue. |
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