Job 4 18

Job 4:18 kjv

Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

Job 4:18 nkjv

If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error,

Job 4:18 niv

If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,

Job 4:18 esv

Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error;

Job 4:18 nlt

"If God does not trust his own angels
and has charged his messengers with foolishness,

Job 4 verses

Job 4 18 Meaning

Job 4:18 asserts God's absolute and peerless righteousness, highlighting that no created being, not even His highest servants or angels, are without fault or shortcoming when compared to His infinite holiness. It states that God does not fully rely on His servants because even they possess imperfections in His sight, and He finds error even in His angels.

Job 4 18 Context

Job 4:18 is part of Eliphaz the Temanite's initial response to Job's profound lamentations. Job, having lost everything, expressed his despair and questioned why he had been born, proclaiming his blamelessness before God (Job 3). Eliphaz, intending to offer counsel, speaks from a traditional, experiential theology common among Job's friends. He recounts a fearful vision he had (Job 4:12-16) as the basis for his profound theological pronouncements. In essence, Eliphaz asserts that suffering is a direct consequence of sin, implying Job's suffering must indicate his hidden transgression. Verse 18 contributes to this argument by elevating God's absolute purity and authority to such a degree that even celestial beings are found imperfect in His sight, thereby aiming to convince Job of his inherent impurity and unworthiness to challenge divine wisdom or justice. Eliphaz employs a "greater to lesser" argument: if God finds fault with angels, how much more so with mortal humans (implied in verses 17 and 19)? This ultimately forms the foundation for his flawed theology that will be critiqued by the end of the book.

Job 4 18 Word analysis

• Behold (הֵן - hēn): An emphatic interjection meaning "look," "lo," or "surely." It signals an important or surprising declaration to follow, drawing the listener's immediate attention.
• he puts no trust (לֹא יַאֲמִין - lō ya’ămîn):
  • לֹא (lō): The negative particle, meaning "no" or "not."
  • יַאֲמִין (ya’ămîn): From the root אָמַן (’aman), meaning "to be firm, faithful, sure," and in the Hiphil stem, "to believe, trust, rely on, cause to be firm." The phrase indicates that God does not give complete reliance, absolute confidence, or unwavering faith in these beings as possessing inherent, perfect stability or loyalty compared to Himself. It suggests that He alone is ultimately trustworthy and stable.
• in his servants (בַּעֲבָדָיו - ba’ăvādāw):
  • בַּ (ba): A preposition meaning "in," "among," or "with."
  • עֲבָדָיו (‘ăvādāw): From עֶבֶד (‘eved), "servant, bondservant, worshiper," with a possessive suffix "his." While ‘eved can refer to human servants or prophets, in parallelism with "angels" and the subsequent mention of "dwellings of clay" (Job 4:19), it points more directly to higher created beings or heavenly hosts. It could also broadly encompass all of God's created agents in the celestial realm.
• and charges (וּבִמַלְאָכָיו יָשִׂים - ūvimal’ākhāyw yāsîm):
  • וּ (ū): Conjunction "and."
  • בִמַלְאָכָיו (bimal’ākhāyw): "Among His angels" or "to His angels." מַלְאָךְ (mal’ākh) means "messenger," typically translated "angel" when referring to divine beings. This specific reference to angels reinforces the celestial context of the "servants" in the previous clause.
  • יָשִׂים (yāsîm): From שׂוּם (śûm), meaning "to put, place, set, appoint, establish." Here, it signifies to "impute," "attribute," "assign," or "lay upon" an accusation. God assigns error to them.
• with error (תָּהֳלָה - tāhŏlâ): This word is a hapax legomenon, appearing only here in the entire Bible. It denotes "folly," "error," "mistake," "perversion," or "fault." It underscores the idea of imperfection, blemish, or moral shortcoming. God, being perfectly righteous, detects imperfection even in those created beings considered most pure.
• Words-group analysis:
  • "he puts no trust in his servants and charges his angels with error": This forms a poetic parallelism (synthetic or staircase parallelism), where the second clause expands or specifies the idea of the first. "Servants" are identified with or paralleled by "angels," emphasizing the high spiritual status of those beings God finds fault with. The non-reliance/distrust of God in His servants corresponds to His finding of error in His angels. The inherent message is the vast chasm between God's absolute perfection and the created perfection of even the most exalted spiritual beings.

Job 4 18 Bonus section

The Hebrew word for "error," tāhŏlâ, while a unique biblical occurrence, could be interpreted by some scholars as conceptually related to toledot (generations) or having an implied sense of instability, or deviation from an original intended order. Its singular use here reinforces the profound gap between the Creator and the purest of His creation. This verse, combined with Job 15:15-16 and Job 25:5-6, showcases a recurring theme in the friends' speeches: their inability to conceive of a perfectly righteous God interacting with suffering outside a simple sin-punishment framework. The implicit polemic in this verse, therefore, is not against the angels themselves, but against any system of thought—whether human-centric or based on created beings—that presumes a moral perfection or self-sufficiency outside of God's absolute being. Even in ancient Near Eastern religions where gods might exhibit flaws, the God of Job is infinitely separate and perfect.

Job 4 18 Commentary

Job 4:18 is a core tenet of Eliphaz's argument, stemming from his reported divine revelation. The verse powerfully asserts God's transcendent holiness and the inherent imperfection of all created beings, even those of the highest spiritual order like angels. God's standard of purity is so absolute that His most trusted agents and heavenly messengers are still seen as flawed in comparison. The use of "trust" (from aman, firm) implies that even angels are not unchangeably firm or stable in themselves, but their faithfulness is a derived quality sustained by God. The unique word for "error" (tāhŏlâ) signifies a blemish or moral defect detectable by God's omniscient, holy gaze. While the theological statement about God's absolute purity and creaturely fallibility is orthodox (supported by verses like 2 Pet 2:4 or Jude 1:6 concerning fallen angels, and implying the contingent purity of elect angels), Eliphaz misapplies this truth. He uses it to condemn Job, inferring that Job's profound suffering must be a manifestation of God identifying sin within him, thereby reducing the complex nature of suffering to a simplistic retribution theology. This verse thus functions to demonstrate Eliphaz's profound understanding of God's majesty, but simultaneously illustrates the limitation and flawed application of his theology concerning human suffering.