Job 5:1 “Call out now; is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn? 2 For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one. 3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. 4 His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer. 5 Because the hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and a snare snatches their substance. 6 For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground; 7 Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. “‘Call out now; is there anyone who will answer you?’ Eliphaz, having boasted that he had produced a divine revelation in his favor Job 4, now calls upon Job to produce, if he can, something of the same kind in his defense...” (Albert Barnes), as later, when the prophets of Baal were proven false by the inability to bring down fire from heaven to consume their sacrifices. (1 Kings 18) "If God does not help thee, no creature can help thee; for he who complains and chafes at his lot [as you have] brings down upon himself the extremest destruction.” (Keil & Delitzsch) “‘And to which of the holy ones will you turn?’ - All prayers to them [dead saints] must be foolish and absurd, not to say impious. Can the channel afford me water, if the fountain cease to emit it?” (Adam Clarke) “The Popish commentators think they have here an unanswerable ground for their doctrine of invocation of saints and angels. But did not the buzzards take notice of an irony here, and that Eliphaz assureth Job that it would be in vain for him to call to any saint? etc. Is it not plain, or probable, at least, that he here meaneth the saints living in this world? or if not, yet is Gregory the Great of no authority with them, who acknowledgeth none other to be called upon, here meant, but God; and that the saints are mentioned to Job in derision, as if it were a ridiculous thing to call to them departed out of this life, who cannot hear us…” (John Trapp)— for they are sleeping in the grave, awaiting the resurrection. “‘For wrath”- as poor Job exhibited in his words— “kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one,’ For ‘wrath’ and ‘envy’ others suggest ‘vexation’ and ‘impatience’ (Lee), or “’vexation' and "jealousy’” (Revised Version). The connection of thought seems to be, ‘For thou art quite foolish enough to let thy vexation and impatience prompt thee to such a [dis]course, which could only lead to [actions and thus] thy destruction.’” (The Pulpit Commentary)— “‘I have seen the foolish taking root,’ etc.- I have seen wicked men for a time in prosperity, and becoming established in the earth; but I well knew, from God's manner of dealing with men, that they must soon be blasted.” (Adam Clarke) — But suddenly; rather, immediately, without hesitation. I cursed his habitation; i.e. ‘pronounced it accursed,’ declared that the curse of God rested upon it?" (Pulpit Commentary)— “Not so much by a malediction as a prediction.” (John Trapp) “It was easy to understated that he meant that this should be applied to Job, who, though he had been favored with temporary prosperity, was now revealed to be at heart a wicked man.” (A. Barnes) “‘His sons- "Job‘s children” (Jamieson, Faussett, Brown)- "'are far from safety.’ They stand no chance, according to Eliphaz, in the eternal judgment. He does not imply that Job’s sons will pay for his sins, but that his sins were visited upon them and took root. They will not stand on their father’s merits or lack thereof. “Upon the children of the household disaster falls at the gate or place of judgment.” (The Expositor’s Bible) “The Targum says, ‘They shall be bruised in [the head at] the gate of hell, in the day of the great judgment. There is reference here to a custom which I have often had occasion to notice: viz., that in the Eastern countries the court-house, or tribunal of justice, was at the Gate of the city; here the magistrates attended, and hither the plaintiff and defendant came for justice.— ‘there is no deliverer.’” (Adam Clarke) “‘Because the hungry (Sabeans) eat up his harvest,’ which they confidently expect to reap after all their cost and labour, but are sadly and suddenly disappointed.” (Wesley) “The Sabeans..., ran away with it, and swallowed it and this, says he, I have often observed in others. What has been got by spoil and rapine has been lost in the same way. The careful owner hedged it about with thorns, and then thought it safe but the fence proved insignificant against the greediness of the spoilers (if hunger will break through the stone walls, much more through thorn hedges), and against the divine curse, which will go through the thorns and briers, and burn them together, Isaiah 27:4.” (Matthew Henry) “‘Affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground;’(6) - They spring “not up by chance, as herbs which grow of their own accord out of the earth; or, it comes not from men or creatures here below; but it comes from a certain and a higher cause, even from God, and that for man’s sins.” (Matthew Poole) “Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.’ As naturally, and as generally, as the sparks of fire fly upward...“ (Wesley) from an open fire. “Job’s friend did not deny that the wicked fool (cf. Psalm 14:1) prospers temporarily (Job 5:3), but he believed that before a person dies, God will punish him for his sins. But Jesus disagreed ( Luke 13:4).” (Dr. Thomas. B. Constable) In contrast, the son of man said- “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?” A falling tower “may kill people who were no more sinful than the survivors.” (Mark Dunagan) “Great truths misapplied only hurt more those who are already hurting." (Smick) “You do not heal a broken heart with logic; you heal a broken heart with love."(Wiersbe)
Job 5:8 “But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause— 9 Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. 10 He gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields. 11 He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot carry out their plans. 13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noontime as in the night. 15 But He saves the needy from the sword, from the mouth of the mighty, and from their hand. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
Since affliction is ordered by Yahweh, "and does not spring out of the ground, therefore he would commit his cause to God, etc.’" (Barnes) But we know that this is not chastisement but rather testing of the righteous.
“‘But as for me, I would seek God,’— Him who does all things well, "were I in your place, instead of wasting my time, and irritating my soul with useless complaints.” (Clarke)— “and to God I would commit my cause’— put my case and condition, by self resignation, and humble supplication.” (Trapp)— “who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.’ He did not think Job had a legal case as one who had been wronged (cf. 9:2-3). Eliphaz has already said there is no one to whom Job can appeal (5:1). He now begins a doxology extolling the marvelous providence of God for his creation. Eliphaz’s message: Job should rest in the assurance that God does everything right.” (Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs By August H. Konkel, Tremper Longman III)
“In contrast to Job, who appeared to be following false or futile wisdom, Eliphaz described how he himself would approach God. In doing so, he showed how little he understood Job. Eliphaz began with the typical theme of the unfathomable works of God (5:9). Job, of course, accepted this; Job will ironically repeat this exact line in his own speech (9:10). But for Job these great works of God have a destructive side [-the first death, appointed even for the righteous]. As Eliphaz contemplated the works of God, he saw two complementary aspects: God sustains and restores creation (5:10), and in the same way he maintains moral and social order by redressing evil (5:11-16). In the arid east, rain is the greatest of wonders (5:10); it has the power to transform the world (cf. 36:27-28; 38:26-27; Ps 147:8). The former and the latter rains are the mark of the changing seasons and the sign of divine providence (Joel 2:23). Just as rain transforms the ground, God reverses the situation of the poor (5:11). The crafty are taken in their own cunning (5:12-13); they are caught in their own trap—a sentiment expressed elsewhere in Scripture (Pss 7:14-15; 10:2; 35:7-8; Prov 26:27). Though their tongues are sharp swords (5:15)—a reference to the calumny of the unscrupulous—their mouths will be silenced in astonishment (5:16). Eliphaz intended his view of God to be a source of hope for Job, just as it was for himself.” (Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs By August H. Konkel, Tremper Longman III)
Job 5: 17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 18 For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole. 19 He shall deliver you in six troubles, Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. 20 In famine He shall redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. 21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. 22 You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 23 For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. 24 You shall know that your tent is in peace; you shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss. 25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth. 26 You shall come to the grave at a full age, as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season. 27 Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear it, and know for yourself.”
“‘Behold, happy is the man whom God chastises,’ etc. Corrects intending “to produce righteousness (Dt 21:18; Jb 5:17; 2 Tm 2:25).” (William Tyndale) “Let him confess [his sins] and be restored!” (F.B. Meyer) — “‘therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. (17b) For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.’ (18) "For though He make a wounde, He giveth a medicyne agayne; though He smyte, His honde maketh whole agayne.” (Coverdale) “‘From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.’ (19) The number seven is put here for perfection— complete disaster. From all disasters, during this life, according to Eliphaz.
Job’s faith was being tried, but Eliphaz was sure that sin was the root of the matter. "Thus Eliphaz augmented Job’s grief and affliction, by a misapplication of the wise rules of providence, being totally ignorant of the extraordinary nature of his friend’s case.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) “The sentiment in this verse, if not expressly quoted, is probably alluded to by the apostle Paul in Hebrews 12:5. The same thought frequently occurs in the Bible: see James 1:12; Proverbs 3:11-12. The sense is plain, that God confers a favor on us when he recalls us from our sins by the corrections of his paternal hand - as a father confers a favor on a child whom he restrains from sin by suitable correction.” (Albert Barnes)
“Eliphaz does not perceive that he is stating a mere doctrine; he has, like the vast majority of both cultured and uncultured men, continually found in life his own opinions confirmed, because he has always presupposed them, and has finally taken them for experiences’ (Duhm). Thus he cannot enter into Job's problem. His prejudices prevent him from understanding his friend's perplexity.” (Arthur Peake)
“‘In famine— acts of God— ‘He shall redeem you’ - That is, will deliver thee from death. “‘and in war— manmade perils— ‘from the power of the sword.’—- Margin, as in Hebrew ‘hands.’ That is, he should not be slain by armed men.... The meaning is that God would protect those who put their trust in him, in times of calamity and war.” (Albert Barnes) In truth, two men die…, “or lie dying on a battlefield, shattered by the same shell, and the one receives the fulfilment of the promise, ‘there shall no evil touch thee,’ and the other does not. For the evil in the evil is all sucked out of it, and the poison is wiped off the arrow which strikes him who is united to God by faith and submission.” (Alexander MacLaren)
“Thou shalt have no cause to fear it [death], because God will secure thee in it and from it.” (Matthew Poole) Thus, “the grave is robbed of its terrors. Around it gather associations, not of defeat but of victory; not of humiliation but of honour. Through its portals the weary pilgrim passes to his home. Paganism, conscious only of the presence of decay, kindled for the dead the funeral pyre; but Christianity, expectant of the resurrection, lays their bodies reverently in the dust, and inscribes upon their sepulchre, 'In Christ he sleeps in peace.'" (W. Lindsay Alexander, D. D.)
Yea- “‘You shall be hidden, from the scourge of the tongue,’ i.e. from false accusations and virulent slanders and reproaches [for Christ's sake]...by clearing thy integrity [at the Judgment]. — ‘and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes,’ (21) [that is, in truth, the first death.] “The destruction of the whole world at the last day, when the heavens and earth, and all therein, shall be burnt up: for then good and righteous men will be safe with Christ, and dwell with him in the new heavens and the new earth, which shall be prepared for them; see 2 Peter 3:10.” (John Gill) Or perhaps the second [eternal] death that follows.
“‘You shall laugh and not be afraid, come what may. (22) “For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,’ That is, they will not hinder Job from sowing his (perhaps spiritual) crops.” (Mark Dunagan)— “‘and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.’ (23) Nay, they shall befriend thee, as being at peace with thee. Our covenant with God is a covenant with all the creatures, that they shall do us no hurt, but serve and be ready to do us good.” (Joseph Benson) These promises belong “to the picture of the Messianic age (Isaiah 11:6-9; Isaiah 65:21-25).” (Arthur Peake)— when “the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat.” “‘You shall know that your tent is in peace; you shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss. You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth.’ (24-25) This applies to the world to come. And it is not natural but spiritual offspring promised to the righteous man or woman.
“‘You shall come to the grave at a full age,— The text does not say ‘old age,’ but ‘full age.’ A ‘full age’ is whenever God likes to take His people home.“ (C. H. Spurgeon)— “‘as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.’ (26 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.” (Matthew Henry)
“Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.’ (27a)— Search the Bible for examples. And we know it by experience “that God does not punish the innocent, that man cannot compare in justice with him, that the hypocrites will not prosper for long, and that the affliction which man sustains comes for his own sin.” (Geneva Study Bible) “Though a number of troubles should come upon thee all at once, and there should be no hope, humanly speaking, yet God would rid thee out of them all; for He saves as well from many as from few.” (Adam Clarke) Not true in this life.
“‘Hear it, and know for yourself,’ (27b) my dearest friend, Job, says he. This is the truth, “so you might as well face up to it, and act accordingly." (Zuck) “Satan love to quote the truth, but if we ‘kill the patient’ that is not God’s way! Christians can rip each other to shreds with the ‘truth’.” (John Brown) “It is a dangerous conclusion to infer that a fellow Christian is under God's wrath just because he is suffering misfortunes.” (Paul E. Kretzmann) “Can we so depend on another person's word as to know it is fact? No: we need more than another person's observation, we need the Word of God to be certain as to any serious matter.” (L. M. Grant)