What Does Job 22:21 Mean in the King James?
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew root behind “acquaint” also names profit, so familiarity with God is presented as the human good.
THE MEANING
The verse joins nearness to God with wholeness, and describes good as coming into your life from that settled relationship. Its language points beyond a passing calm to a life made whole in his presence.
THE ROOT
וּשְׁלָם
u-shelam
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
to be whole or complete; to make whole or settle
The verb rendered “be at peace” shares its root with שָׁלוֹם (shalom, peace and wholeness) and שָׁלֵם (shalem, whole or complete). The verse therefore presents peace as wholeness in relationship, not just the absence of conflict.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: peace, wholeness
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch shows that the verse’s peace belongs to a wider language of becoming whole.
shalem: whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
It reveals the completeness carried beneath the English phrase “be at peace.”
shillem: repay, make good
שִׁלֵּם
This branch gives the root a sense of settling or restoring what is due, adding depth to peace as a restored state.
הַסְכֶּן
hasken
GROWS FROM
סכן
s-k-n
to become familiar or accustomed; to be useful or profitable
The word translated “acquaint” comes from a root that also speaks of being useful or profitable. Just one verse earlier, the same root appears in a question about whether a person can profit God; here, familiarity with God is linked to the person’s own good.
ALSO GROWS
yiskan: be useful or profitable
יִסְכָּן
In Job 22:2, this form uses the same root in the question “Can a man be profitable unto God,” echoing the word for “acquaint” in this verse.
eskhon: I profit or gain
אֶסְכֹּן
In Job 35:3, the root again asks what a person gains, keeping benefit and familiarity close in the language of Job.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness takes shape where a person turns toward God and seeks peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:THE THREAD
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?Job 22:2 uses the same Hebrew root behind “acquaint” for “profitable.” The echo links the question of whether a person can benefit God with this verse’s picture of the good that comes through becoming familiar with him.
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