Eliphaz (22:1–30)
You demanded security (22:6). In the Old Testament a creditor could demand security in the form of clothing, but he was supposed to give back a cloak at night (Ex. 22:26–27; Deut. 24:12–13, 17; cf. Amos 2:8). A Hebrew letter on an ostracon from Yavneh Yam may refer to this custom, where someone complains that his garment was taken and he wants it back.218
Sent widows away (22:9). In 24:3 the orphan’s donkey and the widow’s ox are taken. In the ancient Near East and the Old Testament widows and orphans were supposed to be taken care of (see comments on 29:16; 31:13–18).
Vaulted heavens (22:14). In the ancient Near East heaven was seen as a dome and a kind of disk (see sidebar on “Creation and World Pictures” at 9:7). Isaiah 40:22 has a “circle.” According to Egyptian cosmology, the sky was the goddess Nut, who formed an arch above.219
Detail from the coffin of Nespawershepi, chief scribe of the Temple of Amun. Creation scene: the air god Shu separating the sky goddess Nut from the earth god Geb, assisted by two ram-headed gods.
Werner Forman Archive/Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Gold of Ophir (22:24). An eighth-century B.C. ostracon found at Tell Qasile mentions “gold of Ophir,”220 but its location is still unknown (East Africa, Arabia, India?); it may have been reached via the harbor of Ezion Geber at Elath in the Red Sea.221
Ostracon referring to the gold of Ophir found at Tel Qasile
Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com