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Job 5

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The Consequences of Folly and Wrath 1–7

1
Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? ​
2
For vexation killeth the foolish man, And jealousy slayeth the silly one. ​
3
I have seen the foolish taking root: But suddenly I cursed his habitation. ​
4
His children are far from safety, And they are crushed in the gate, Neither is there any to deliver them: ​
5
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, And taketh it even out of the thorns; And the snare gapeth for their substance.
6
For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; ​
7
But man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward. ​

Eliphaz Counsels Seeking God 8–16

8
But as for me, I would seek unto God, And unto God would I commit my cause; ​
9
Who doeth great things and unsearchable, Marvellous things without number: ​
10
Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth waters upon the fields;
11
So that he setteth up on high those that are low, And those that mourn are exalted to safety.
12
He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
13
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; And the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong. ​
14
They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.
15
But he saveth from the sword of their mouth, Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16
So the poor hath hope, And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

The Blessings of Divine Discipline 17–27

17
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. ​
18
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
19
He will deliver thee in six troubles; Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. ​
20
In famine he will redeem thee from death; And in war from the power of the sword.
21
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22
At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh; Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
23
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. ​
24
And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; And thou shalt visit thy fold, and shalt miss nothing.
25
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, Like as a shock of grain cometh in in its season. ​
27
Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it for thy good. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 5

Verse 1

to which of the saints — Qedoshim, 'holy ones', the word also used in Job 15:15 and in Ps 89:5, 'the congregation of the saints', and 89:7. Eliphaz tells Job that no one will answer him. The answer comes in the book from the LORD himself: 'Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind' (38:1).

Verse 2

wrath killeth the foolish man — Evil is the fool of Prov 1:7, and kaas, the 'wrath', is vexation or anger. 'Envy' (qin'ah) is jealousy: 'envy the rottenness of the bones' (Prov 14:30). 'The silly one' (pathah) is the open, easily led person of Hos 7:11, 'a silly dove without heart'. Eliphaz speaks of fools in general, and Job is not named.

Verse 3

taking root — Shorash, to strike root, as of the wicked in Jer 12:2, 'yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit'. 'Foolish' (evil) is the word of v.2. Eliphaz says he 'cursed his habitation' (naveh, a dwelling) 'suddenly'. Ps 37:35–36 describes the same sight: 'spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away'.

Verse 4

crushed in the gate — Daka, to crush, as in Job 4:19, 'crushed before the moth'. The gate was where cases were heard (Ruth 4:1). 'Far from safety' is yesha, deliverance or salvation; the related yeshuah is in Ps 119:155, 'Salvation is far from the wicked'. 'None to deliver' uses natsal, the verb of v.19, 'He shall deliver thee in six troubles'.

Verse 6

affliction cometh not forth of the dust — Aven, trouble, and amal, toil or labour, the word repeated in v.7. The 'dust' (aphar) and 'ground' (adamah) recall the curse of Gen 3:17, 'cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it'. Eliphaz says trouble does not simply grow out of the ground, and yet man is born to it (v.7).

Verse 7

born unto trouble — Amal again, the word of v.6. 'Sparks' is literally 'sons of the flame' (bene resheph), which fly 'upward'. Job says the same of man in 14:1, 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.' Trouble came to man with the curse (Gen 3:17–19).

Verse 8

seek unto God — Darash, to resort to, and 'commit my cause' is literally to set a matter (dibrah) before him, a word found in Job only here. The verse names God twice, as El and Elohim. Job also wants to bring his case: 'I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God' (13:3). The LORD invites the same in Ps 50:15.

Verse 9

great things and unsearchable — Cheqer, a searching out, is the word of Job 9:10, where Job says almost the same line, and of 11:7, 'Canst thou by searching find out God?' 'Marvellous things' (pala) are wonders, and 'without number' means 'no number'. Ps 40:5 says the LORD's wonders 'cannot be reckoned up'.

Verse 13

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness — Lakad, to catch, as in a net; orem is cunning. Paul quotes the line in 1 Cor 3:19, 'For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness'. 'Froward' (pathal) is the twisted one, as in Ps 18:26. 'In the net which they hid is their own foot taken' (Ps 9:15).

Verse 17

happy is the man whom God correcteth — Ashre, 'happy', the word of Ps 1:1 and 94:12. 'Despise not the chastening' uses the two words of Prov 3:11, 'despise not the chastening of the LORD', which Heb 12:5–6 quotes. 'The Almighty' is Shaddai. Eliphaz's words apply it to Job; the LORD later says the friends 'have not spoken of me the thing that is right' (42:7).

Verse 19

in six troubles: yea, in seven — The pattern of a number and the next number appears in Prov 6:16, 'These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven'. 'Troubles' is tsarah, distress, and 'deliver' is natsal, as in v.4. 'There shall no evil befall thee' is the promise of Ps 91:10; the verb here is naga', to touch.

Verse 23

in league with the stones of the field — Berith is a covenant, the word of Hos 2:18, 'in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field'. The beasts 'shall be at peace' (shalam) with the one corrected by God. 'I will rid evil beasts out of the land' is the promise of Lev 26:6, and Job 5:22 has already said, 'neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth'.

Verse 26

a full age — Kelach, mature age, found only here and in Job 30:2. The 'shock of corn' is gadish, a stack of cut sheaves, brought in 'in his season'. The promise matches the end the book gives Job: 'So Job died, being old and full of days' (42:17), and God's word to Abram, 'thou shalt be buried in a good old age' (Gen 15:15).

Verse 27

we have searched it — Chaqar, to search out, from the same root as cheqer, the 'unsearchable' of v.9. Eliphaz rests on what he and his friends have found, 'so it is', and tells Job to 'know thou it for thy good'. The LORD's verdict in 42:7, 'ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath', applies to Eliphaz and his two friends.