Job5

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¹“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.

³I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.

⁵The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.

⁷Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.

⁹He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

¹⁰He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.

¹¹The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹²He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

¹⁴Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.

¹⁵He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

¹⁸For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.

¹⁹From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.

²⁰In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

²¹You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.

²²You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.

²³For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

²⁴You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.

²⁵You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

²⁶You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.

²⁷“We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 5.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Eliphaz urges that the sin of sinners in their ruin. (1–5). God is to be regarded in affliction. (6–16). The happy end of God's correction. (17–27).

vv1-5

Eliphaz here calls upon Job to answer his arguments. Were any of the saints or servants of God visited with such Divine judgments as Job, or did they ever behave like him under their sufferings? The term, “saints,” holy, or more strictly, consecrated ones, seems in all ages to have been applied to the people of God, through the Sacrifice slain in the covenant of their reconciliation. Eliphaz doubts not that the sin of sinners directly tends to their ruin. They kill themselves by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt, Job has done some foolish thing, by which he has brought himself into this condition. The allusion was plain to Job's former prosperity; but there was no evidence of Job's wickedness, and the application to him was unfair and severe.

vv6-16

Eliphaz reminds Job, that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be placed to second causes. The difference between prosperity and adversity is not so exactly observed, as that between day and night, summer and winter; but it is according to the will and counsel of God. We must not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they are from God; nor our sins to fate, for they are from ourselves. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. There is nothing in this world we are born to, and can truly call our own, but sin and trouble. Actual transgressions are sparks that fly out of the furnace of original corruption. Such is the frailty of our bodies, and the vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles arise thence as the sparks fly upward; so many are they, and so fast does one follow another. Eliphaz reproves Job for not seeking God, instead of quarrelling with him. Is any afflicted? let him pray. It is heart's ease, a salve for every sore. Eliphaz speaks of rain, which we are apt to look upon as a little thing; but if we consider how it is produced, and what is produced by it, we shall see it to be a great work of power and goodness. Too often the great Author of all our comforts, and the manner in which they are conveyed to us, are not noticed, because they are received as things of course. In the ways of Providence, the experiences of some are encouragements to others, to hope the best in the worst of times; for it is the glory of God to send help to the helpless, and hope to the hopeless. And daring sinners are confounded, and forced to acknowledge the justice of God's proceedings.

vv17-27

Eliphaz gives to Job a word of caution and exhortation: Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. Call it a chastening, which comes from the Father's love, and is for the child's good; and notice it as a messenger from Heaven. Eliphaz also encourages Job to submit to his condition. A good man is happy though he be afflicted, for he has not lost his enjoyment of God, nor his title to heaven; nay, he is happy because he is afflicted. Correction mortifies his corruptions, weans his heart from the world, draws him nearer to God, brings him to his Bible, brings him to his knees. Though God wounds, yet he supports his people under afflictions, and in due time delivers them. Making a wound is sometimes part of a cure. Eliphaz gives Job precious promises of what God would do for him, if he humbled himself. Whatever troubles good men may be in, they shall do them no real harm. Being kept from sin, they are kept from the evil of trouble. And if the servants of Christ are not delivered from outward troubles, they are delivered by them, and while overcome by one trouble, they conquer all. Whatever is maliciously said against them shall not hurt them. They shall have wisdom and grace to manage their concerns. The greatest blessing, both in our employments and in our enjoyments, is to be kept from sin. They shall finish their course with joy and honour. That man lives long enough who has done his work, and is fit for another world. It is a mercy to die seasonably, as the corn is cut and housed when fully ripe; not till then, but then not suffered to stand any longer. Our times are in God's hands; it is well they are so. Believers are not to expect great wealth, long life, or to be free from trials. But all will be ordered for the best. And remark from Job's history, that steadiness of mind and heart under trial, is one of the highest attainments of faith. There is little exercise for faith when all things go well. But if God raises a storm, permits the enemy to send wave after wave, and seemingly stands aloof from our prayers, then, still to hang on and trust God, when we cannot trace him, this is the patience of the saints. Blessed Saviour! how sweet it is to look unto thee, the Author and Finisher of faith, in such moments!

Key Words

CallH7121Hebrew

קָרָא: to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)

nowH4994Hebrew

נָא: 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'; added mostly to verbs (in the Imperative or Future), or to interjections, occasionally to an adverb or conjunction

thereH3426Hebrew

יֵשׁ: there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be, as may suit the connection)

answerH6030Hebrew

עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce

whichH4310Hebrew

מִי: who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix

holy onesH6918Hebrew

קָדוֹשׁ: sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary

turnH6437Hebrew

פָּנָה: to turn; by implication, to face, i.e. appear, look, etc.

SurelyH3651Hebrew

כֵּן: properly, set upright; hence (figuratively as adjective) just; but usually (as adverb or conjunction) rightly or so (in various applications to manner, time and relation; often with other particles)

vexationH3708Hebrew

כַּעַס: vexation

killsH2026Hebrew

הָרַג: to smite with deadly intent