22:5 thy wickedness. In his third discourse, Eliphaz becomes desperate, accusing Job of many specific sins, for which he has no evidence whatever except Job’s sufferings. Probably he is beginning to realize that he himself might someday be called on to suffer in like manner, if, indeed, suffering is not necessarily punishment for sin, as Job has been contending.

22:12 height of the stars. Even in these ancient times, monotheists like Eliphaz did have a least some understanding of the vastness of the starry heavens.

22:16 overflown with a flood. This is not the Hebrew word used for the great Flood (mabbul), possibly suggesting that even believers in God in Job’s day were beginning to lose sight of the awful magnitude of that terrible judgment of the past.

22:22 lay up his words. Eliphaz, like Job (see Job 23:12), was aware that God had revealed his divine laws to men, even though they were unacquainted with the Mosaic laws given later at Sinai.

22:30 island of the innocent. Some translations render this phrase as “one who is not innocent.” However, the word here translated “island” is uncertain in meaning, possibly better understood as something like “query.” The context might suggest that God will eventually answer the unanswered questions of those who are innocent.