In his translation and commentary of the book of Job, Michael L. Brown rendered Job 4:18 and 15:15-16 thusly (Eliphaz is the speaker in both passages):
He doesn't even trust his own servants and he
charges his angels with error. (Job 4:18)
Look, he doesn't even trust his holy ones and the
heavens are not pure in his sight. How much more someone repulsive and
corrupt—man who drinks iniquity like water! (Job 15:15-16)
Brown
offers the following commentary on these passages:
4:18—The overall sense of this verse is clear: Even in
his servants, God puts no trust, and he attributes error (or folly) to his
angels. Yet there are some ambiguities in the Hebrew text.
The LXX, along with most modern versions
(e.g., NJPS, NET, NKJV, NIV), renders the opening word with “If”; other modern
versions (e.g., ESV, NRSV) render with “Even,” while the KJV has “Behold.” In
almost all cases, however, the general understanding of the passage is not
affected either way, with almost all translators understanding the opening word
of v. 19 to mean, “How much more/less …?”
As to the identity of “his servants,” this
could either mean the righteous (so Rashi), thus providing the earthly
counterpart of v. 18b’s “his angels,” or it could mean these same angels,
simply being restated with parallel emphasis. While the former can be defended
in terms of Eliphaz’s message, that is, that not even the most righteous human
being is truly righteous before God, the contrast with vv. 19–21, which clearly
speak of human beings, here today and gone tomorrow, suggests that v. 18a
speaks of angelic servants.
Regarding the meaning of taholah, “error” in my translation, there is little to go on in
terms of cognate evidence, with suggestions including error (Gray); folly
(Gordis); error (Driver-Gray); blame (Alter); deceit (Tur-Sinai); criticism
(Schwab); sin (Mitchell); contrariness (Seow); and craziness (Barr). (Michael L. Brown, Job—The Faith to Challenge God: A New
Translation and Commentary [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Academic, 2019],
59)
15:15–16—Eliphaz refers to the holy ones in 5:1 as exalted beings
to whom Job might appeal. He mentions them again here, stating that God doesn’t even trust his holy ones,
exalted though they are, and not even the heavens, part of his glorious
physical creation (and his very own abode?), are pure (or innocent, guiltless)
in his sight. How much less a despised one, a corrupt one—a man who drinks iniquity (or injustice)
like water. NJPS captures the force
of the Hebrew: “What then of one loathsome and foul, Man, who drinks wrongdoing
like water!” The NLT is quite wide of the mark, with, “How much less pure is a
corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!” To the contrary,
Eliphaz’s point is that every human being,
by their very nature, is corrupt and sinful with a thirst for wickedness. (Ibid., 126)
