Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:11
To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
11. to set up ] If this construction be adopted, the watering of the earth, Job 5:10, must be regarded as the means to this which is effected in Job 5:11. He watereth the fields, giving abundant pasture and harvest, that the humble may be set on high. God’s operations in the lower creation, though instances of goodness to it, have the wider end of blessing man in view. The words, however, may mean, setting up, and be another operation of benevolence parallel to that in Job 5:10. This view is rather confirmed by the second clause of the verse.
that those which mourn may be ] Or, and those which mourn are.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To set up on high – That is, who sets up on high; or God exalts those who are low. From the works of nature, Eliphaz passes to the dealings of God with people, as designed to show that he was worthy of confidence. The first proof is, that he showed himself to be the friend of the humble and the afflicted, and often exalted those who were in lowly circumstances, in a manner which evinced his direct interposition. It is to be remembered here, that Eliphaz is detailing the result of his own observation, and stating the reasons which he had observed for putting confidence in God; and the meaning here is, that he had so often seen this done as to show that God was the friend of the humble and the poor. This sentiment was afterward expressed with great beauty by Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus:
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,
And exalted them of low degree;
He hath filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
Luk 1:52-53.
That those which mourn may be exalted to safety – Or rather, they who mourn are exalted to a place of safety, The sense is, that God did this; and that, therefore, there was ground of confidence in him. The word rendered those which mourn qoderym is from qadar, to be turbid or foul as a torrent, Job 6:16; hence, to go about in filthy garments, like mourners, to mourn. The general sense of the Hebrew word, as in Arabic, is to be squalid, dark, filthy, dusky, obscure; and hence, it denotes those who are afflicted, which is its sense here. The Septuagint renders it, apololotas, the lost, or those who are perished. The sense is plain. God raises up the bowed down, the oppressed, and the afflicted. Eliphaz undoubtedly referred to instances which had come under his own observation, when persons who had been in very depressed circumstances, had been raised up to situations of comfort, honor, and safety: and that in a manner which was a manifest interposition of his Providence. From this he argued that those who were in circumstances of great trial, should put their trust in him. Cases of this kind often occur; and a careful observation of the dealings of God with the afflicted, would undoubtedly furnish materials for an argument like that on which Eliphaz relied in this instance.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 5:11
That those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
The exaltation and safety of the penitent
I. Of the character which God approves. That of the lowly and contrite.
1. He is not adverting to those who are low and depressed in outward circumstances. Divine lowliness is the effect of grace.
2. There can be no true humiliation for sin which does not express itself in godly sorrow.
II. How he expresses that approbation. He resisteth the proud; He giveth grace to the humble. God expresses His approbation of His saints, not only by their elevation to exalted privileges and honours, but by their security. (Stephen Bridge, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. To set up on high those that be low] He so distributes his providential blessings without partiality, that the land of the poor man is as well sunned and watered as that of the rich; so that he is thus set upon a level with the lords of the soil.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These words contain either,
1. A declaration of Gods end in giving rain, which is to enrich those who were poor, or mourning for the drought, by sending rain, and making their lands fruitful; or rather,
2. Another example of Gods great and wonderful works. And the infinitive verb is here put for the indicative, he setteth up, &c., which is very frequent in the Hebrew, as Psa 56:13; Zec 3:4; 12:10. He giveth this instance to comfort and encourage Job to seek to God, because he can raise him out of his greatest depths, and useth to raise others in the like condition.
That those which mourn may be exalted to safety, notwithstanding all the craft and power of their enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Connected with Job5:9. His “unsearchable” dealings are with a view toraise the humble and abase the proud (Lu1:52). Therefore Job ought to turn humbly to Him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To set up on high those that be low,…. Not the low plants, which, through rain, are made to run up on high, though there is a truth in that; but husbandmen and gardeners, and such like persons, in low circumstances, who, by means of showers of rain, which make their gardens, fields, and lands fruitful, are raised to enjoy good estates, and large possessions:
that those which mourn may be exalted to safety; or “are black” l, that are clothed in black, as a token of mourning; or whose faces are black with famine, see La 4:8; or are in very distressed circumstances, and black through poverty, as the Targum, and mourn over and grieve at their sad and deplorable case; those, through rain and fruitful seasons, are brought out of such an uncomfortable situation, and put into a better condition of life, where they are as in a fortress, out of the reach of such sad calamities: some connect the words with the following, that in order to do this, to raise up the humble and exalt mourners, “he disappoints the devices of the crafty”, c. Job 5:12.
l “denigrati”, Montanus, Bolducius “atrati”, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis; “pullati”, Pagninus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Beza “sordidati”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(11) To set up on high those that be low.Thus his doctrine is that mans exaltation must come from God, and not from his own vain strivings. (Comp. Psa. 75:4-10, and the prayer of Hannah, 1Sa. 2:6-8; also Psa. 113:7, &c.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Eliphaz naturally passes to the moral world, in mysterious grandeur so far transcending that of nature. He who, for the sake of the arid and barren wastes connects with each tiny raindrop transforming power, can change sorrow into joy. The change produced by the autumnal rains, Dr. Russel, in his “History of Aleppo,” calls “a sudden resurrection of vegetable nature.”
Second strophe Human arrogance and human wisdom God alike overwhelms and brings to shame, Job 5:12-16.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 5:11. That those which mourn, &c. That the obscure may be put in a place of safety. See 2Sa 22:3 and Heath.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 5:11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
Ver. 11. To set up on high those that be low ] By those rich rains whereby he fatteneth the earth, and makes it fruitful, giving them a whole country of corn, as he did that vir divitiarum qui animam etiam habuit triticeam, a man of wealth who moreover a spirit of grain. Luk 12:16 . But God hath more ways than this to prefer men to riches, honour, and authority, as he did Joseph, David, Daniel, Mordecai, &c. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill, “that he may set him with princes,” &c., Psa 113:6-7 . Let Job hear this, and know it for his good, as Job 5:27 .
That those which mourn
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
set up: 1Sa 2:7, 1Sa 2:8, Psa 91:14, Psa 107:41, Eze 17:24, Luk 1:52, Luk 1:53
those: Luk 6:21, Jam 1:9, Jam 4:6-10, 1Pe 5:10
exalted: Deu 33:27, 1Pe 1:3
Reciprocal: Deu 11:14 – General 1Sa 23:17 – shall not Psa 65:9 – greatly Psa 68:10 – thou Psa 113:7 – raiseth Ecc 4:14 – For out Ecc 9:11 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 5:11. To set up on high those that be low The consequences which proceed from the fore-mentioned happy change, from Gods sending a refreshing rain upon the earth, after a long drought are inexpressibly great and beneficial. Those who had been reduced to straits and difficulties, and, by the pressing necessities arising therefrom, had been brought very low, and obliged to submit to mean and laborious employments, are now enabled to lift up their heads with joy, and appear in a very different condition. That those who mourn may be exalted to safety That through the blessings of Providence flowing in upon them, like a plentiful stream of water upon a barren and thirsty land, they may be raised from their former state of extreme poverty and want, and may find themselves placed in a comparatively safe and comfortable situation, without any apparent reason to fear a relapse into their former difficulties and distresses. Thus he gives Job another example of Gods great and wonderful works, to comfort and encourage him to seek unto him, forasmuch as he could easily raise him from the depth of his distress, however great, as he was wont to raise others in the like condition.