“They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.”
"They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepares deceit." The final verse of Eliphaz's second speech describes the generative process of wickedness: conception of mischief, birth of iniquity, preparation of deceit. Wickedness is self-perpetuating, breeding more wickedness. The verse suggests that once someone enters the cycle of unrighteousness, reproduction of evil becomes involuntary, almost biological. Eliphaz concludes his speech by presenting the logic of retribution as seemingly inexorable and cosmic in scale.
Church Fathers on Job 15:35
They conceive woe, and bring forth iniquity, and their womb prepareth deceit. For he conceives ‘woe,’ when he devises wicked things; he ‘brings forth iniquity,’ when he has begun to fulfil what he has devised; by entertaining envy, he ‘conceives woe;’ by uttering slanders, he ‘brings forth iniquity.’ For it is grievous wickedness when he who is wicked strives to make others appear wicked, that he may himself thereby appear as holy, because he has shewn that others are not…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!