“Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?”
My Notes
What Does Job 22:17 Mean?
"Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?" Eliphaz quotes the ancient wicked — people who explicitly told God to leave and dismissively asked what the Almighty could offer them. The two statements capture the dual rejection of God: they don't want His presence (depart from us) and they don't value His provision (what can you do for us?).
The phrase "Depart from us" (sur mimmennu — turn away from us) is a deliberate banishment of God: the wicked don't just drift from God passively. They command Him to leave. The departure is demanded, not gradual. They want God gone — His standards, His expectations, His interference with their autonomy.
The question "what can the Almighty do for them?" is the practical dismissal that follows the relational rejection: even if God stayed, what would He offer? The question assumes God has nothing worth receiving. The Almighty is irrelevant to their interests. His power doesn't translate into anything they want.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you evaluating God by what He can do for you — or do you value His presence for its own sake?
- 2.What does 'depart from us' reveal about the human desire for autonomy from God?
- 3.How does 'what can the Almighty do for them' reveal the consumer mentality applied to faith?
- 4.What are you asking God to provide while simultaneously rejecting the primary thing He offers — Himself?
Devotional
Depart from us. What can You do for us anyway? The ancient wicked didn't just ignore God — they dismissed Him. They told Him to leave. And then they questioned whether He had anything worth offering. The rejection is complete: we don't want Your presence, and we don't value Your provision.
The 'depart from us' is the scariest prayer in Scripture: it's the opposite of every psalm that cries 'don't leave me.' The wicked actively want God gone. His presence is inconvenient. His standards interfere with their plans. His expectations limit their freedom. So they say what most people only think: go away.
The 'what can the Almighty do for them' is the rational calculation that follows: if God's presence doesn't translate into what I want — wealth, power, pleasure, autonomy — then what's the point? The question evaluates God by consumer logic: what are you offering me? If the answer isn't satisfying by my criteria, I'm not interested. The Almighty is judged by the standards of the person who dismisses Him.
The irony is devastating: the people who ask 'what can God do for us' have already answered the question by rejecting the only thing God primarily offers — Himself. God's greatest gift is His presence. They've told His presence to depart. The commodity they've rejected IS the answer to the question they're asking.
Are you evaluating God by what He can do for you — and missing that His presence IS the doing?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Yet he filled their houses with good things,.... With temporal good things, with this world's good, with plenty of…
Which said unto God, Depart from us - Notes, Job 21:14. A very correct description of the old world. They had no wish to…
Eliphaz, having endeavoured to convict Job, by setting his sins (as he thought) in order before him, here endeavours to…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture