Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:1
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
1. Call now, if there be any ] Rather, call then, is there any ? The imperative call then is not ironical, but merely a very animated way of putting a supposition: if thou appeal then against God is there any that will hear thee or aid thee?
which of the saints ] Better, the holy ones, that is, the angels, as ch. Job 15:15; Psa 89:6-7; will any of these exalted beings receive thy complaint against God? In ch. Job 33:23 the angels are interpreters, conveying the meaning of God’s providences to men. But the converse idea that they convey men’s representations to God or intercede for them with Him is not found here, because the reference is to a complaint against God. There underlies the passage the idea that the angels are helpful to men, and the question is asked, If Job appeals to any of them against God will they hear his appeal and aid him? The question is only a vivid way of saying that they would turn away from him, abhorring his folly. Being holy, they know, for that very reason, the unapproachable holiness and rectitude of God, and the distance of all creatures from Him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ch. Job 5:1-7. Having laid this broad ground, Eliphaz proceeds to apply the principle to Job.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
12 5:7. Turning to Job’s murmurs against heaven, Eliphaz points to the unapproachable purity of God and the imperfection of all creatures, and warns Job against such complaints
Having expressed his wonder that a righteous man like Job should fall into such utter despair under afflictions, forgetting that to the righteous affliction is but a discipline, Eliphaz seeks to draw Job back to consider what is the real cause of all affliction. This is the imperfection of man, an imperfection which he shares indeed with all created beings, in the highest of whom to God’s eye there is limit and possible error. And this being so, murmuring can only aggravate his affliction by provoking the anger of God.
The passage falls into two divisions. In the first, Job 4:12-21, Eliphaz contrasts the holiness of God with the imperfection of all creatures, even the pure spirits on high, and much more a material being like man, and thus indirectly suggests to Job the true secret of his troubles. In the second, ch. Job 5:1-7, having laid this broad foundation, he builds on it a warning to Job against his murmurs. Only the wicked resent God’s dealing with them, and by doing so bring increased wrath upon themselves till they perish.
With great delicacy and consideration Eliphaz, instead of impressing the imperfection of man on Job directly, narrates how this truth was once impressed upon himself by a voice from heaven. It was in the dead of night, when all around were in deep sleep. His mind was agitated by perplexing thoughts arising out of visions of the night. Suddenly a great terror fell upon him. Then there passed before his face a breath. And there seemed to stand before him a form, too dim to discern, from which came forth a still voice, which said, Can man be righteous with God? Or, Can a man be pure with his Maker? Even to the holy angels He imputeth error, how much more to frail and earthly man? Job 4:12-21.
Applying to Job this truth, so impressively taught to himself, Eliphaz asks, If Job appeals against God, whether any of the holy beings, who minister between God and men, will listen to his appeal? (ch. Job 5:1). Nay, it is only the wicked who resent the afflictions of God, and by their rebellious impatience increase their afflictions till they are destroyed. Such an instance he had himself seen. He saw a fool, a rebellious murmurer against Heaven, spreading forth his roots and giving promise for a moment of prosperity. But suddenly destruction came upon him. His harvest was seized by the hungry robber; the rights of his children were trampled upon; and his home was broken up and desolate ( Job 4:2-5). And finally, Eliphaz condenses into a vivid aphorism his teaching in this section: for trouble springs not out of the ground it is not accidental nor a spontaneous growth of the soil. But man is born unto trouble it is his nature so to act that by his evil deeds he brings trouble upon himself. Out of his heart rises up evil as naturally as the fire sends forth sparks ( Job 4:6-7).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Call now – The expressions used here, as Noyes has well observed, seem to be derived from the law, where the word call denotes the language of the complainant, and answer that of the defendant. According to this, the meaning of the words call now is, in jus voca: that is, call the Deity to account, or bring an action against him: or more properly, enter into an argument or litigation, as before a tribunal; see the notes at Isa 41:1, where similar language occurs.
If there be any that will answer thee – If there is anyone who will respond to thee in such a trial. Noyes renders this, See if He will answer thee; that is, See if the Deity will condescend to enter into a judicial conroversy with thee, and give an account of his dealings toward thee. Dr. Good renders it, Which of these can come forward to thee; that is, Which of these weakly, ephemeral, perishing insects – which of these nothings can render thee any assistance? The meaning is probably, Go to trial, if you can find any respondent; if there is any one willing to engage in such a debate; and let the matter be fairly adjudicated and determined. Let an argument be entered into before a competent tribunal, and the considerations pro and con be urged on the point now under consideration. The desire of Eliphaz was, that there should be a fair investigation, where all that could be said on one side or the other of the question would be urged, and where there would be a decision of the important point in dispute. He evidently felt that Job would be foiled in the argument before whomsoever it should be conducted, and whoever might take up the opposite side; and hence, he says that he could get no one of the saints to assist him in the argument. In the expression, if there be any that will answer thee, he may mean to intimate that he would find no one who would be willing even to go into an investigation of the subject. The case was so plain, the views of Job were so obviously wrong, the arguments for the opinion of Eliphaz were so obvious, that he doubted whether anyone could be found who would be willing to make it the occasion of a set and formal trial, as if there could be any doubt about it.
And to which of the saints wilt thou turn? – Margin, as in Hebrew look. That is, to which of them wilt thou look to be an advocate for such sentiments, or which of them would be willing to go into an argument on so plain a subject? Grotins supposes that 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, or to see if there were any of the heavenly spirits who would give a similar revelation in his favor. The word here rendered saints ( qodeshym) means properly those who are sanctified or holy; and it may be either applied to holy men, or to angels. It is generally supposed that it here refers to angels. So Schultens, Rosenmuller, Noyes, Good, and others, understand it. The word is often used in this sense in the Scriptures. So the Septuagint understands it here – e eitina angelon hagion opse. Such is probably its meaning; and the sense of the passage is, Call now upon anyone, and you will find none willing to be the advocate of such sentiments as you have urged. No holy beings – human beings or angels – would defend them. By this, probably, Eliphaz designed to show Job that he differed from all holy being, and that his views were not those of a truly pious man. If he could find no one, either among holy angels or pious men, to be the advocate of his opinions, it followed that he must be in error.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 5:1-7
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee.
Moral evil as viewed by an enlightened natural religionist
How does Eliphaz appear to view sin?
I. As excluding the sinner from the sympathy of the good. He may mean here, either, Who will sympathise with thy opinions as a sinner? or, Who will sympathise with thy conduct as a sinner? Call now, if there be any that will answer thee. Thy conduct is such that none of the holy will notice thee. This was all untrue as applied to Job, yet it is perfectly true in relation to sin generally. Sin always excludes from the sympathy of the good.
II. As by its own passions working out the destruction of the sinner. Wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. His own wrath and his own envy. The malefic passions, in all their forms, are destructive.
III. As enjoying prosperity only to terminate in ruin.
1. Sinners often prosper in the world. They take root.
2. The prosperity must come to a termination. It is only temporary. It often vanishes during life.
3. At the termination the ruin is complete.
IV. As fated to produce misery wherever it exists.
1. Misery follows sin by Divine ordination.
2. A sinful man, so sure as he is born, must endure trouble. Such was this old Temanites view of moral evil, and, in the main, his view is true. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER V
Eliphaz proceeds to show that the wicked are always punished by
the justice of God, though they may appear to flourish for a
time, 1-8;
extols the providence of God, by which the counsels of the
wicked are brought to naught, and the poor fed and supported,
9-16;
shows the blessedness of being corrected by God, in the
excellent fruits that result from it; and exhorts Job to
patience and submission, with the promise of all secular
prosperity, and a happy death in a mature and comfortable
old age, 17-27.
NOTES ON CHAP. V
Verse 1. Call now, if there be any] This appears to be a strong irony. From whom among those whose foundations are in the dust, and who are crushed before the moth, canst thou expect succour?
To which of the saints wilt thou turn?] To whom among the holy ones, ( kedoshim,) or among those who are equally dependent on Divine support with thyself, and can do no good but as influenced and directed by God, canst thou turn for help? Neither angel nor saint can help any man unless sent especially from God; and all prayers to them must be foolish and absurd, not to say impious. Can the channel afford me water, if the fountain cease to emit it?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Call now, i.e. invite, or make proclamation, as this word is oft used, as Deu 20:10; Jdg 12:1; Jer 2:2; 3:12; 7:2. Call them all as it were by their names; consult the whole catalogue of them all, which thou didst ever know or hear of.
If there be any, to wit, of the saints, as it follows.
That will answer thee, i.e. comply with thee, answer thy desires or expectations; try if there be any one saint that will defend or allow thee in these bold expostulations with God; or, as it is in the Hebrew,
if there be any that doth answer thee, i.e. whose opinion or disposition and carriage is answerable or like to thine. So answering is sometimes used, as Pro 27:19; Ecc 10:19. Thou wilt find many fools or wicked men, as it follows, Job 5:2, to answer or imitate thee in their speeches and carriages, but not one of the saints like thee; which deserves thy serious consideration, and gives thee just cause to question thine integrity.
The saints; either,
1. The angels, who are sometimes called saints, as Job 15:15; Dan 8:13; Zec 14:5, because they are eminently and perfectly holy; or rather,
2. Holy men, as appears both from the word, which most commonly is so used, and from the opposition of the foolish man to these, Job 5:2, and because the example of men was more proper and effectual for Jobs conviction than of angels.
Wilt thou turn, or look? look about thee, view them all, and see if thou canst find one like thee.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. if there be any, &c.Rather,”will He (God) reply to thee?” Job, after the revelationjust given, cannot be so presumptuous as to think God or any of theholy ones (Da 4:17, “angels”)round His throne, will vouchsafe a reply (a judicialexpression) to his rebellious complaint.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee,…. That is, call upon God, which, if seriously, and not ironically spoken, was good advice; God is to be called upon, and especially in times of trouble; and invocation is to be made in faith, in sincerity, and with fervency, and to be accompanied with confession of sin, and repentance for it; and sooner or later God hears and answers those that call upon him; but Eliphaz suggests, that if Job did call upon him, it would be in vain, he would not hear him, he going upon the same maxim that the Jews did in Christ’s time, “God heareth not sinners”: Joh 9:31; or call upon him to give him an oracle from heaven, to favour him with a vision and revelation, and see if he could get anything that would confront and confute what he had delivered as coming that way; which, if it could be done by him, would appear to be a falsehood and an imposture, since one revelation from God is not contradicted by another: or else the sense is, “call” over the catalogue and list of good men that have been from the beginning of the world, and see if there be any that “answers to thee” n, whose case, character, and behaviour, correspond with thee; if ever any of them was afflicted as thou art, or ever behaved with so much indecency, impatience, murmuring, and blasphemy against God, as thou hast done; that ever opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth, and reflected upon the providence and justice of God as thou hast, as if thou wert unrighteously dealt with: or rather, “call now”, and summon all creatures together, angels and men, and get anyone of them to be thy patron, to defend thy cause, and plead for thee, to give a reply to what has been said, from reason, experience, and revelation: and shouldest thou obtain this, which is not likely, “lo, there is one that can answer thee” o, as some render the words, meaning either God or himself; thus Eliphaz insults Job, and triumphs over him, as being entirely baffled and conquered by him, by what he had related as an oracle and revelation from heaven:
and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? or “look”, or “have respect” p, that will be of any service to thee? meaning either the Divine Persons in the Godhead, sometimes called Holy Ones, as in Jos 24:19; Pr 9:10; the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit, who may and should be turned and looked unto; God the Father, as the God of providence and grace for all good things; Jesus Christ his Son, as the Redeemer and Saviour for righteousness and eternal life; the blessed Spirit, as a sanctifier to carry on and finish the work of grace; but it is suggested, it would be in vain for Job to turn and look to any of these, since he would be rejected by them as a wicked man, nor would any of them plead his cause: or else the holy angels, as the Septuagint express it, and who are called saints and Holy Ones, De 33:2; and it is asked, which of those he could turn or look to, and could expect relief and protection from? signifying, that none of these would vouchsafe to converse with him, nor take him under their care, nor undertake to plead his cause: or rather holy men, such as are sanctified or set apart by God the Father, to whom Christ is made sanctification, and in whose hearts the Holy Spirit has wrought principles of grace and holiness, and who live holy lives and conversations; and it is insinuated, that should he turn and took to these, he would find none of them like him, nor in the same circumstances, nor of the same sentiments, or that would take his part and plead for him; but that all to a man would appear of the same mind with Eliphaz, that none but wicked men were afflicted by God as he was, and that he was such an one, and that for the reason following: the Papists very absurdly produce this passage in favour of praying to departed saints, when not dead but living ones are meant, and even turning to them is discouraged; and besides, this would contradict another tenet of the Papists, that the Old Testament saints, until the coming of Christ, were in a sort of purgatory, called Limbus Patrum, and therefore incapable of helping saints on earth that should apply unto them.
n “si est correspondens tibi”, Bolducius. o “Ecce est qui respondeat tibi”, Schultens. p , Sept. “obtueberis”, Montanus; “respicies”, Vatablus, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1 Call now, – is there any one who will answer thee?
And to whom of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
2 For he is a fool who is destroyed by complaining,
And envy slays the simple one.
3 I, even I, have seen a fool taking root:
Then I had to curse his habitation suddenly.
4 His children were far from help,
And were crushed in the gate, without a rescuer;
5 While the hungry ate his harvest,
And even from among thorns they took it away,
And the intriguer snatched after his wealth.
The chief thought of the oracle was that God is the absolutely just One, and infinitely exalted above men and angels. Resuming his speech from this point, Eliphaz tells Job that no cry for help can avail him unless he submits to the all-just One as being himself unrighteous; nor can any cry addressed to the angels avail. This thought, although it is rejected, certainly shows that the writer of the book, as of the prologue, is impressed with the fundamental intuition, that good, like evil, spirits are implicated in the affairs of men; for the “holy ones,” as in Ps 89, are the angels. supports the negation implied in Job 5:1: If God does not help thee, no creature can help thee; for he who complains and chafes at his lot brings down upon himself the extremest destruction, since he excites the anger of God still more. Such a surly murmurer against God is here called . is the Aramaic sign of the object, having the force of quod attinet ad, quoad (Ew. 310, a).
Eliphaz justifies what he has said (Job 5:2) by an example. He had seen such a complainer in increasing prosperity; then he cursed his habitation suddenly, i.e., not: he uttered forthwith a prophetic curse over it, which, though might have this meaning (not subito , but illico ; cf. Num 12:4), the following futt., equivalent to imperff., do not allow, but: I had then, since his discontent had brought on his destruction, suddenly to mark and abhor his habitation as one overtaken by a curse: the cursing is a recognition of the divine curse, as the echo of which it is intended. This curse of God manifests itself also on his children and his property (Job 5:4.). is the gate of the city as a court of justice: the phrase, to oppress in the gate, is like Pro 22:22; and the form Hithpa. is according to the rule given in Ges. 54, 2, b. The relative , Job 5:5, is here conj. relativa, according to Ges. 155, 1, c. In the connection , is equivalent to , adeo e spinis , the hungry fall so eagerly upon what the father of those now orphans has reaped, that even the thorny fence does not hold them back. , as Pro 22:5: the double praepos . is also found elsewhere, but with another meaning. has only the appearance of being plur.: it is sing. after the form , from the verb , nectere , and signifies, Job 18:9, a snare; here, however, not judicii laqueus (Bttch.), but what, besides the form, comes still nearer – the snaremaker, intriguer. The Targ. translates , i.e., . Most modern critics (Rosenm. to Ebr.) translate: the thirsty (needy), as do all the old translations, except the Targ.; this, however, is not possible without changing the form. The meaning is, that intriguing persons catch up ( , as Amo 2:7) their wealth.
Eliphaz now tells why it thus befell this fool in his own person and his children.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Address of Eliphaz. | B. C. 1520. |
1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? 2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy 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 robber swalloweth up their substance.
A very warm dispute being begun between Job and his friends, Eliphaz here makes a fair motion to put the matter to a reference. In all debates perhaps the sooner this is done the better if the contenders cannot end it between themselves. So well assured is Eliphaz of the goodness of his own cause that he moves Job himself to choose the arbitrators (v. 1): Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; that is, 1. “If there be any that suffer as thou sufferest. Canst thou produce an instance of any one that was really a saint that was reduced to such an extremity as thou art now reduced to? God never dealt with any that love his name as he deals with thee, and therefore surely thou art none of them.” 2. “If there be any that say as thou sayest. Did ever any good man curse his day as thou dost? Or will any of the saints justify thee in these heats or passions, or say that these are the spots of God’s children? Thou wilt find none of the saints that will be either thy advocates or my antagonists. To which of the saints wilt thou turn? Turn to which thou wilt, and thou wilt find they are all of my mind. I have the communis sensus fidelium–the unanimous vote of the faithful on my side; they will all subscribe to what I am going to say.” Observe, (1.) Good people are called saints even in the Old Testament; and therefore I know not why we should, in common speaking (unless because we must loqui cum vulgo–speak as our neighbours), appropriate the title to those of the New Testament, and not say St. Abraham, St. Moses, and St. Isaiah, as well as St. Matthew and St. Mark; and St. David the psalmist, as well as St. David the British bishop. Aaron is expressly called the saint of the Lord. (2.) All that are themselves saints will turn to those that are so, will choose them for their friends and converse with them, will choose them for their judges and consult them. See Ps. cxix. 79. The saints shall judge the world,1Co 6:1; 1Co 6:2. Walk in the way of good men (Prov. ii. 20), the old way, the footsteps of the flock. Every one chooses some sort of people or other to whom he studies to recommend himself, and whose sentiments are to him the test of honour and dishonour. Now all true saints endeavour to recommend themselves to those that are such, and to stand right in their opinion. (3.) There are some truths so plain, and so universally known and believed, that one may venture to appeal to any of the saints concerning them. However there are some things about which they unhappily differ, there are many more, and more considerable, in which they are agreed; as the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the worth of the soul, the necessity of a holy life, and the like. Though they do not all live up, as they should, to their belief of these truths, yet they are all ready to bear their testimony to them.
Now there are two things which Eliphaz here maintains, and in which he doubts not but all the saints concur with him:–
I. That the sin of sinners directly tends to their own ruin (v. 2): Wrath kills the foolish man, his own wrath, and therefore he is foolish for indulging it; it is a fire in his bones, in his blood, enough to put him into a fever. Envy is the rottenness of the bones, and so slays the silly one that frets himself with it. “So it is with thee,” says Eliphaz, “while thou quarrellest with God thou doest thyself the greatest mischief; thy anger at thy own troubles, and thy envy at our prosperity, do but add to thy pain and misery: turn to the saints, and thou wilt find they understand their interest better.” Job had told his wife she spoke as the foolish women; now Eliphaz tells him he acted as the foolish men, the silly ones. Or it may be meant thus: “If men are ruined and undone, it is always their own folly that ruins and undoes them. They kill themselves by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt, Job, thou hast done some foolish thing, by which thou hast brought thyself into this calamitous condition.” Many understand it of God’s wrath and jealousy. Job needed not be uneasy at the prosperity of the wicked, for the world’s smiles can never shelter them from God’s frowns; they are foolish and silly if they think they will. God’s anger will be the death, the eternal death, of those on whom it fastens. What is hell but God’s anger without mixture or period?
II. That their prosperity is short and their destruction certain, v. 3-5. He seems here to parallel Job’s case with that which is commonly the case of wicked people. 1. Job had prospered for a time, seemed confirmed, and was secure in his prosperity; and it is common for foolish wicked men to do so: I have seen them taking root–planted, and, in their own and others’ apprehension, fixed, and likely to continue. See Jer 12:2; Psa 37:35; Psa 37:36. We see worldly men taking root in the earth; on earthly things they fix the standing of their hopes, and from them they draw the sap of their comforts. The outward estate may be flourishing, but the soul cannot prosper that takes root in the earth. 2. Job’s prosperity was now at an end, and so has the prosperity of other wicked people quickly been. (1.) Eliphaz foresaw their ruin with an eye of faith. Those who looked only at present things blessed their habitation, and thought them happy, blessed it long, and wished themselves in their condition. But Eliphaz cursed it, suddenly cursed it, as soon as he saw them begin to take root, that is, he plainly foresaw and foretold their ruin; not that he prayed for it (I have not desired the woeful day), but he prognosticated it. He went into the sanctuary, and there understood their end and heard their doom read (Psa 73:17; Psa 73:18), that the prosperity of fools will destroy them, Prov. i. 32. Those who believe the word of God can see a curse in the house of the wicked (Prov. iii. 33), though it be ever so finely and firmly built, and ever so full of all good things; and they can foresee that the curse will, in time, infallibly consume it with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof, Zech. v. 4. (2.) He saw, at length, what he had foreseen. He was not disappointed in his expectation concerning him; the event answered it; his family was undone, and his estate ruined. In these particulars he plainly and very invidiously reflects on Job’s calamities. [1.] His children were crushed, v. 4. They thought themselves safe in their eldest brother’s house, but were far from safety, for they were crushed in the gate. Perhaps the door or gate of the house was highest built, and fell heaviest upon them, and there was none to deliver them from perishing in the ruins. This is commonly understood of the destruction of the families of wicked men, by the execution of justice upon them, to oblige them to restore what they have ill-gotten. They leave it to their children; but the descent shall not bar the entry of the rightful owners, who will crush their children, and cast them by due course of law (and there shall be none to help them), or perhaps by oppression, Psa 109:9; Psa 109:10, c. [2.] His estate was plundered, <i>v. 5. Job’s was so. The hungry robbers, the Sabeans and Chaldeans, 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, Isa. xxvii. 4.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JOB – CHAPTER 5
The Conclusion of Eliphaz On the Vision
Verses 1-27:
Verse 1 sounds a note of sarcasm as Eliphaz challenges Job to pray, call to heaven, see if any of the “saints” or band of heavenly angelic servants will reply, look, or come to rescue him from his plight of affliction, divinely purposed or granted, as surely as the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, Job 2:6; Luk 22:42; Mat 16:21.
Verses 2, 3 charge that wrath slays the foolish man and envy stays the silly one. This implies that Job destroyed himself by implying that he was just and righteous, and by supposing that he merited nothing but good from God. He states that he has seen the foolish and envious killed by their own fretting and complaining, such as Eliphaz now charged to Job, Pro 14:30; Psa 37:35-36; Jer 17:8.
Verse 4 adds that his children are far from secure; and they are crushed in the gate, the place of judicial punishment, alluding to the death of Job’s children, as if it had been an act of Divine judgment for Job’s sins, Job 31:21; Psa 127:5; Pro 22:22; Gen 23:10; Deu 21:19.
Verse 5 contends that the foolish and silly man, v. 3, has his harvest eaten up, consumed, even out of the thorns. It is taken by the robbers, who leave nothing. Here Eliphaz classifies Job and his loss of property, children, and health, as a foolish and silly man who holds to his integrity in the midst of his suffering and great loss, much as his wife had done, Job 2:3; Job 2:9-10.
Verses 6, 7 affirm that trouble and affliction does not come out of the dust or the ground like a weed, without a cause, of its own accord. Eliphaz hints that Job’s affliction is because of something sinfully hidden in Job. Rather, truly, or instead, every man is inherently born for sin and trouble, as surely as the sparks of coals or flames of fire fly or swirl upward, Son 8:6; 1Pe 4:12; Isa 43:2.
Verse 8 appeals to Job to “seek to God,” and commit his cause to Him; or Eliphaz said, that is what he would do, if he had sinned, or was in Job’s place, Psa 50:15; Isa 8:19; Isa 9:13; Amo 5:8; 1Ch 22:19.
Verses 9-11 ascribe to God the doing of innumerably great, unsearchable, and marvelous things, sending, repeatedly giving, rain upon the earth and waters upon the fields. He does this to set up (raise on high), or elevate those that be low, and tc cause those who mourn to be exalted to safety, lifted from their depression. Based on this Sovereign God of nature’s works Eliphaz appeals to Job to humbly turn to the Lord for help or relief, Job 5:16; Job 18:14.
Verses 12, 13 certify that the God of nature, the living God, disappoints or entraps the devious plans of the crafty, so that their hands can not successfully perform their enterprise. The Lord seizes or grasps them in the net of their own crafty inventions, to carry them headlong to their own destruction, as illustrated; Psa 9:15; as Haman was hanged on his own gallows, Ezr 5:14; Ezr 7:10; 1Co 3:19.
Verses 14-16 adds that the crafty and deceitful are confronted with darkness or confusion in the daytime so that they grope at high noon as a blind man in total darkness. Judicial blindness is often sent upon keen-minded men of the world, Deu 28:29; Isa 59:10; Joh 9:39. But the Lord saves (secures) the poor from the sword, as described Psa 35:10; Psa 57:4; Psa 59:7.
Verse 16 asserts that the poor has hope of God’s intervention, so that iniquity stops her mouth, or God causes the curses against the poor to be stopped, giving them hope, 1Sa 2:8; Psa 107:42; Mic 7:9-10; Isa 52:15; Jud 1:15; Isa 25:8.
Verse 17 affirms that the men whom God corrects, His own child, is happy (spiritually prosperous) therefore he is not to despise or take lightly the chastening of the Almighty, Psa 94:12; Pro 3:11; 1Co 11:32; Heb 12:5; Jas 1:12; Jas 5:11; Rev 3:19.
Verse 18 declares that the Lord both makes sore or wounds, theca mercifully binds up the chastened one, with His own hands of care. Deu 32:39; 1Sa 2:6; Isa 30:26; Hos 6:1. Such chastening or suffering must not be refused, resented, or despised, Heb 12:5-11.
Verse 19 assures that in six, yea in seven troubles, no evil shall touch, to take the life of any who regards or looks to Him; The seven means that one in trouble, extended to the farthest end, shall find deliverance in the Lord, Psa 34:19; Psa 91:3; Pro 24:16; 1Co 10:13; Psa 19:10.
Verse 20 adds that the Lord will redeem His own in famine and in war, from the sword and from death. For death does not end all for one who trusts in Him, Psa 33:19; Psa 37:19; Exo 14:30; Isa 59:20.
Verse 21 promises that Job should be hid, sheltered, or sheathed from the devastation of the tongue, the smiting of the serpentine tongue of self-righteous men, so that he should not be afraid or tremble when devastating words were thrust at him, Psa 31:15; Psa 73:9; Jer 18:18; Psa 31:20.
Verse 22 pledges that at devastation and famine Job would eventually come to laugh. Nor would he one day have any fear of the beasts of the earth, the vultures and the jackals that often waited to pick the bones of the infirm, the afflicted, and the dying, Hab 3:17-18.
Verse 23 further promises that Job should come to be in league with stones of the field so that beasts would be at peace with him. This is a pledge or future deliverance, and restored prosperity to Job, a symbol of that awaiting both saints and believers in the Lord, Psa 91:12; Hos 2:18; Rom 8:38-39; 2Th 1:10. See also Isa 65:23; Isa 65:25; Isa 11:6-8.
Verse 24 adds that Job will also come to know, as a matter of experience, that peace is his sanctuary. And he will visit his habitation (his flock fold) to find none missing, stolen or destroyed.
Future peace within, and prosperity without, are foretold to be Job’s reward for fidelity to the Lord under afflictions, 1Co 15:58.
Verse 25 assures Job that he would also have seed or children as the grass of the earth, or as herb-bearing seeds increase, though he had his children, Job 42:13; Job 42:16; Psa 72:16.
Verses 26, 27 conclude Eliphaz’s first address with prophecies of future blessings arid better days for Job, even to old age, or an extended age, Gen 47:7; Gen 35:29. His long and mature life before him is compared with corn that has come to full ripeness to be preserved in the barn, Psa 91:16; Psa 111:2; Exo 20:12; Mat 13:30; Psa 1:3. This was to be for his good, his personal pleasure and joy in sunset years, Psa 91:2; Pro 9:11-12; Pro 10:27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE FIRST SPEECH OF ELIPHAZ
Job 4, 5.
THESE two chapters contain the first speech of Eliphaz, and introduce the long and interesting debate between Job, his three visitors, and, finally, with Elihu, Jehovahs defender.
It is interesting to note the characteristics of this debate. They are those common to practically every intense discussion; they begin on high ground and in calm tone, but eventually descend to sharpness of speech and bitterness of spirit, and are not to be found entirely free from personalities. However, none of these were originally intended. These two chapters contain the opening speech of Eliphaz.
THE GENTLE REPROOF
Mark the approach!
It is made by an apology for breaking the silence.
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? (Job 4:1-2).
This is certainly a careful procedure. Eliphaz finds himself in the dilemma of either speaking when silence seems more in harmony with his friends sorrow, or else of keeping silent when his friend suffers from a false philosophy. It is a delicate situation, and is approached with diffidence.
The speech contains a review of his friends ministry.
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees (Job 4:3-4).
There is never a time when a man so much needs to be reminded of his sacrificial service in behalf of others as in that day when he himself is smitten.
Its review, however, paves the way for personal reproof.
But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? (Job 4:5-6).
There is many a man whose philosophy concerning the sufferings of others sound and even comforting; but when grief and pain come to him, he forgets what he taught his fellows, and is even tempted to think in wholly different, channels, and to reach almost adverse conclusions.
THE GOODLY REASONING
It is interesting to trace the reasoning of Eliphaz. His contention takes a course of two or three lines.
He maintains the godly cannot perish.
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? (Job 4:7).
This statement is absolutely true, but while the innocent cannot perish, all history is replete with the fact that they can suffer, and while the righteous are not cut off forever, it is certainly a fact that they are temporarily cut off. Even Christ Himself on the Cross lost the vision of God, and cried, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Whether Eliphaz meant to refer to finalities or merely to possible experiences would determine whether what he said were true. It will be seen when we come to it that Job interpreted him as meaning the innocent could not suffer, and the vision of the righteous could not be obscured. The viewpoint of men often determines their interpretation of words.
The godless cannot escape judgment.
Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed (Job 4:8-9).
Here again, debate seems scarcely necessary. The general principle laid down by Eliphaz is confessedly correct, but Jobs interpretation of that will also prove that one needs to make his meaning very clear, or else seem to approve false conclusions.
Strength cannot oppose the Almighty.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lions whelps are scattered abroad (Job 4:10-11).
Man has reason to fear the roaring of the lion, and the fierceness of his voice, and the breaking, tearing power of his teeth, but not God. There is nothing beyond Him. Even the old lion, crafty in his ways, could not take his prey apart from Divine provision, and his whelps would starve and be scattered; in other words, animal life is dependent upon Divine provision and power.
THE GREAT EXPERIENCE
From 4:12 to 5:27, Eliphaz is reporting an experience and philosophizing upon the basis of the same..
He saw an indefinite something.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof (Job 4:12-16 a).
It is not at all uncommon for men of certain psychical temperaments to have visions. Most of those amount to nothing except a temporary elation or depression of the individual involved.
It is doubtless true that the best poised men who have such visions, if they believe them to be sacred at all, maintain a silence about them. There are some experiences that are spoiled by speech, and in fact, are too sacred for the same, and there are others that doubtless were nothing more than a dream, and are in no wise important with God or the soul.
That there have been exceptional instances, no student of Scripture can doubt, unless he be an unbelieving student of the same; for instance, Isaiahs vision as recorded in chapter six finds the proof of its genuineness in Isaiahs ministry; while Pauls vision on the way to Damascus has its Divinity demonstrated in the marvelous life resulting from the same and the matchless ministry that followed it. However, there was no indefiniteness in either the vision of Isaiah or Paul as there is in this of Eliphaz.
Strange and unwonted experiences are not proofs of inspiration. The facts are that the argument of Eliphaz which follows has its points of weakness, and Job will make them apparent when he replies.
The present tendency is to rest too much upon personal experience; in fact, a recent book contributed to philosophy, in which the author seeks to show that personal experience is the foundation stone on which the Church of God rests, is commonly repudiated by careful students of Scripture, and the whole argument of Modernism now resting upon personal experience as a proof of the saving power of Christ, is only a partial truth, and we know that partial truths, at times, are entire falsehoods.
However, Eliphaz clearly heard. That was not like Pauls attendants, hearing the sound, but not discerning the sense thereof; but like Paul himself, he heard a voice, and what was said follows:
Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom (Job 4:17-21).
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even gut of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night.
But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole.
He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
In famine He shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good (Job 5:1-27).
There is no claim in this text that this vision was certainly divinely given. It is reported as a dream, but Eliphaz evidently believed that in that dream the speaker was the voice of truth, and in fact, there is so much of truth found in these verses that one would be justified in maintaining that it was a special revelation.
However, the next chapter will be devoted to Jobs answer, involving as it does, the power of matter over mind.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
THE FIRST SPEECH OF ELIPHAZ.CONTINUED
I. Application of the Vision (Job. 5:1). Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints (holy onesprobably angels, as Job. 15:15; Dan. 8:13) wilt thou turn? Job to expect no countenance to his language either from holy men or angels.
Learn:
1. Vain for a sinner to appeal against God either to saints or angels. Every angel in heaven will take Gods part against the complaining sinner. Angels already taught the wickedness and woe of rebellion against God. Angels themselves charged with folly; how then dare man open his mouth? The cry of a poor sinner heard in heaven, but not that of an unhumbled self-righteous complainer. That cry heard when directed to God, not to angels.
2. No ground in the text for the doctrine of angelic intercession or prayer to departed saints. God the hearer of prayer; to Him all flesh are to come (Psa. 65:1). To pray to others in trouble or difficulty, an insult to God, as if either unable or unwilling to answer (2Ki. 1:3). An angel presents the prayers of saints to God, but he the Angel of the Covenant (Rev. 8:3-4; Mal. 3:1; Zec. 3:1-8). The only prayer in the Bible addressed to a departed saint, that of the rich man in hell, and then not heard (Luk. 16:24; Luk. 16:27). To intercede for others the part of saints on earth. To apply for that intercession a privilege and duty (ch. Job. 42:8; Jas. 5:15; Jas. 5:18; 1Jn. 5:16). Angels ministering attendants on believers, not interceding priests for them (Heb. 1:14). One Mediator between God and men (1Ti. 2:5). One Advocate with the Father (1Jn. 2:1). One Priest in heaven who makes intercession for us (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; Heb. 9:24). Men to come to God by Him (Heb. 7:25; Joh. 14:6). Angels employed by God for the benefit of his children (Psa. 34:7; Psa. 91:11; Heb. 1:14). Prayer for that ministry to be addressed, not to the servants, but to the Master who sends them (Mat. 26:53).
3. Angels and departed saints to be turned to not for help and protection, but for example (Psa. 103:20; Mat. 6:10). Angels our example:
(1) In obedience;
(2) In submission;
(3) In humility;
(4) In reverence. The prayer oftener uttered than realized,Thy will be done on earth, &c. Gods will done in heaven:
(1) By each of its inhabitants;
(2) Without intermission or deviation;
(3) With promptitude and cheerfulness;
(4) Without murmuring or questioning. Earth converted into heaven when this prayer is fulfilled. A consummation to be expected:
(1) From the prayer itself;
(2) From express promises to that effect (2Pe. 3:13; Isa. 11:9; Zep. 3:9).
II. The folly and effects of fretting against God (Job. 5:2).
For wrath (passion, and displeasure against God for his dealings in Providence) killeth the foolish man, and envy (margin, indignation) slayeth the silly one. Probably one of the traditional sayings of the wise in common use among the sages of Arabia. A specimen of the proverbial poetry of the ancients, and a good example of Hebrew parallelism. Poems instead of written laws,one of the Bedouins boasts. These maxims or wise sayings freely applied by Jobs comforters against him. The present, like others, an important truth. The sentiment extended in the 37th Psalm. An unfeeling application intended by Eliphaz to the case of Job.
Learn:
1. It is the part only of fools to fret against God and his procedure. To complain against God and His dealings as absurd as it is wicked. The extreme of folly for a creature of yesterday to find fault with or sit in judgment on the doings of the Eternal Creator. Rather may a child three years old censure the architects plan of a palace, or an ignorant boor cavil at the complications of a steam-engine.
(2.) Fretting against Gods dealings brings its own punishment. The complainer against Gods Providence is his own executioner. The man that frets in trouble is like the bird which is said to eat its own bowels. Envy, or impatient fretfulness, is rottenness to the bones (Pro. 14:30). Fretting and passionate complaining kills, as
(1.) It robs of peace, which is the spirits life;
(2.) Affects the health, and hastens death;
(3.) Injures the life and prosperity of the soul;
(4.) Brings greater chastening and punishment from God. No greater antagonist to health than a fretful spirit; no greater help to it than a contented and submissive one. Passion and impatience in trouble more hurtful and crushing than the trouble itself. True wisdom, as well as piety, under trial is, to commit our way to God and rest in his wisdom and goodness (Psa. 37:5-7).
III. Testimony from personal observation as to the prosperous wicked (Job. 5:3-5).
I have seen the foolish (ungodly) taking root, &c. The object of Eliphaz to confirm the former statement (ch. Job. 4:7-9). Unfeeling allusion to the case of Job. Crushing language to come from the lips of a professed friend and comforter. The tongue that uttered it as truly guided by Satan as that of Jobs wife. Even Peter, by his carnal though friendly counsel, could earn the title of Satan (Mat. 16:22-23). The truth of a statement no justification of its cruel and uncharitable application. From the statement of Eliphaz, still more or less realized, we learn concerning.
Providence
1. That the ungodly frequently prosper in this life.(Job. 5:3.) I have seen the foolish taking root, not only prospering, but apparently firm in his prosperity. Same sentiment and figure (Psa. 37:35; Jer. 12:2). The prosperity of the wicked often a mystery and stumbling-block to the righteous (ch. Job. 12:6; Job. 21:7; Psa. 73:3-12; Jer. 12:1). The lot of the righteous and the wicked in this life often a contrast to each other, but a contrast the reverse of what might at first sight be expected (Luk. 16:25). Wise reasons with God for allowing the ungodly to prosper.
(1.) It exercises the faith and patience of the godly;
(2.) Teaches the great inferiority of earthly to heavenly blessings;
(3.) Confirms the truth of a judgment to come. Insolvable mystery but for a future state, which clears up all (Luk. 16:25; Jas. 5:1-7). The godly too much beloved to receive their portion in this life. The good things of this world only the bones cast to the dogs [Rutherford].
2. That the prosperity of the ungodly is followed by a speedy and certain, if not a sudden, fall. Suddenly I cursed his habitation,soon had unexpected occasion to mark it as accursed of God and doomed to destruction. The prosperity of the ungodly as insecure and temporary as it appears fair and promising. Thou didst set them on slippery places. The fall often in this life. Examples: Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, Napoleon. Yet not always (Psa. 17:14; Psa. 73:4; Luk. 12:16-20; Luk. 16:19; Luk. 16:22; Luk. 16:25). Nor even generally; maintained by Job against his three friends (ch. Job. 21:7-13; Job. 12:6). If not sooner, the fall certain in death (Luk. 16:23; Luk. 16:25; Luk. 12:20).
3. That the children of the ungodly often participate in their fall.(Job. 5:4). His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate,ruined by a judicial sentence, or dying by the judgment of God (2Ki. 7:20). Veiled allusion to Jobs children. Children often involved in the effects of their parents sin (Lev. 26:39; Isa. 14:20-21). A penalty embodied in the Decalogue (Exo. 20:5). Repeated in the solemn declaration of Jehovahs name and character (Exo. 34:7). Gods face set not only against the ungodly themselves, but against their family (Lev. 20:5). Examples: Israel in the Wilderness (Num. 14:33); Achan (Jos. 7:24); Ahab (1Ki. 21:29); Gehazi (2Ki. 5:27). So general as to have become a proverb in Israel (Jer. 31:29; Eze. 18:2). The children of the ungodly often inherit the fathers punishment while imitating his sin (Isa. 65:7). By repentance, the children escape many, if not all, the effects of their parents conduct (Eze. 18:14-17). No small part of a fathers punishment, that his sin causes his children to suffer both with him and after him. A diseased constitution and a degraded position among the least of these effects. Vicious habits and propensities often the sad inheritance bequeathed by ungodly parents to their children. A powerful motive to such parents to repent.
4. That the wealth of the ungodly often becomes the prey of the rapacious and covetous. (Job. 5:5).Whose harvest (literally; or, what he has gathered, i.e., by a course of iniquity) the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns (though guarded ever so carefully, as by a thick thorn-hedge); and the robber (as the Sabeans and Chaldeans, or the thirsty) swalloweth up their substance. Another cruel thrust at Job (ch. Job. 1:15; Job. 1:17). Crops in Syria and Arabia seldom safe from plundering Bedouin. Backslidden Israel obliged to hide away their grain from the Midianites (Jdg. 6:11). Earthly treasures such as thieves can break through and steal (Mat. 6:19). A frail tenure that by which the ungodly hold their wealth. They often taken suddenly from it or it from them (Luk. 12:20). A canker in an ungodly mans gold and silver (Jas. 5:2). Sometimes, however, unintentionally laid up for the righteous to inherit (ch. Job. 27:17). Happy they on whose treasure no robber can lay his hand (Mat. 6:20). With Christ we have durable riches, and an inheritance laid up for us in heaven (Pro. 8:18; 1Pe. 1:14).
IV. Poetical aphorisms as to the origin and extent of trouble (Job. 5:6-7).
Although (or for), &c Perhaps another example of the traditional sayings of the East. A commonplace, intended partly for Jobs reproof and partly for his comfort. Declares the origin, universality, and unavoidableness of trouble. Foolish to complain so bitterly of what is unavoidable and as universal as the race. A consolation to know that our sufferings are only such as are common to man (1Co. 10:13). Suffering saints reminded that the same afflictions are accomplished in their brethren that are in the world (1Pe. 5:9). Both the reproof and the consolation inapplicable to Jobs case, which was both unprecedented and unparalleled. Implied on the part of Eliphaz a want of sympathy and appreciation of the depth of Jobs trouble. Hence felt by Job to be only an exasperation of his grief (ch. Job. 6:2-7).
The passage suggests concerning
Trouble
1. Its origin. Negatively.(Job. 5:6). Not from the dust or ground.
(1.) Not from mere chance, as a weed springing up from the soil; nor
(2) From anything merely external; not from the ground but from our selves. Positively.(Job. 5:7). Born unto trouble. Trouble is
(1.) From a necessity and law imposed on our existence in this world;
(2.) From sin, which is the ground of that necessity. The origin of suffering is in man himself as a child of fallen Adam. All suffering the consequence of sin. Man is born to trouble, simply because he is born in sin (Psa. 51:5). Sin and suffering linked by bonds of adamant. In the government of a good and righteous God, suffering could exist only,
(1.) As a legal necessity in consequence of disobedience to His laws; or
(2.) As a moral necessity for the discipline of His erring children. Ah suffering in the world the consequence of the first transgression (Rom. 5:12);
Of one mans disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe.
2. Its universality. Man is born unto trouble.(Job. 5:7). Suffering co-extensive with the race. An inmate of the palace as truly as of the prison. Tears moisten the pillow of down as well as the pallet of straw. One of the Hebrew terms for man is enosh, or the miserable. Trouble makes the world akin. Suffering universal, because sin is so. Follows sin as its shadow. Its universality ought to render us
(1.) Patient under our own trouble;
(2.) Sympathizing with that of others.(i.) Terrible evil of sin that has filled a world with suffering, (ii.) Heaven all the more desirable as entirely free from it. (iii.) Precious grace that converts it into a blessing.
3. Its certainty. As the sparks fly upward. This by a law of nature. Suffering in like manner a law of our being. Inseparable from our existence in the present life. The hand that made us has since the entrance of sin, made us sufferers. Man born to trouble as truly as he is born to live. Tears track mans pathway from the cradle to the grave. No wealth can purchase, no power effect, immunity from the common lot. Only through the incarnation and suffering of Gods own Son, our suffering not necessarily eternal. The wages of sin is death,the gift of God eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
V. The counsel of Eliphaz (Job. 5:8-16.
I would seek unto God (El, the mighty One), and unto God (Elohim, plural,denoting totality of Divine perfections, or perhaps plurality of Divine persons), would I commit my cause, &c. This to the end of the chapter the best part of Eliphazs speech. Comes down from the place of a reprover to that of a friendly adviser. His counsel characterized by wisdom, if not by warmth. Its only fault that it implies an uncharitable and unjust reflection, as if Job was a prayerless man (See ch. Job. 16:20; Job. 10:2; Job. 12:4; Job. 13:20; Job. 14:6). At times, however, from darkness and confusion, Job, like other believers, hardly able to pray (Job. 23:3-4; Job. 23:15). Our great comfort in trouble that we can address ourselves to God in it. God to be sought unto in trouble,
(1.) For counsel and direction in it;
(2.) For comfort and support under it;
(3.) For grace so to bear it as to glorify God by it;
(4.) For deliverance in His own time and way out of it;
(5.) For the spiritual benefit and improvement intended through it. True piety, and wisdom to commit our cause into Gods hands (Psa. 37:5). The very hairs of our head all numbered by Him (Mat. 10:30). Makes all things work together for good to them that love Him (Rom. 8:28). To seek unto God in trouble an instinct of nature. Practised even by the heathen according to their knowledge (Jon. 1:5). In ordinary circumstances the Athenians sacrificed to the gods of the Pantheon, but in time of calamity prayed to the Unknown God (Act. 17:23). The attributes of God such as to render Him the proper object of prayer and trust in time of trouble. These attributes described by Eliphaz as exhibited in His works.
Attributes of God
1. His Almightiness.(Job. 5:9). Who doeth great things and unsearchable, &c. A God almighty to help and deliver, our great comfort in trouble (Psa. 46:1; Psa. 62:8; Psa. 65:5). Nothing impossible with God. His almightiness seen in His works of creation, providence, and grace. His works in creation marvellous and unsearchable, both for greatness and minuteness, number and complexity. His works in providence unsearchable,
(1) In the end designed in them;
(2) In the manner of its accomplishment. Deep in unfathomable mines, &c. More now seen in the works of creation than could even be imagined in the days of Eliphaz. The discoveries of the last three centuries give an emphasis to his words undreamt of at that period. Many of the numerous nebul or dusky spots observed throughout the heavens, already resolved by the telescope into innumerable stars, each itself a sun. Reason to conclude the same of the rest, though from their distance as yet unresolved. Millions of suns, probably with systems like our own, found to compose the Milky Way of which our solar system is a part. The microscope, on the other hand, reveals animalcule so minute that a thousand millions of them together do not exceed in size a grain of sand; yet each having perfect and distinct formations and all the functions essential to life. Such a view of Gods almightiness calculated not only to deepen our reverence, but to increase our trust.
2. His goodness and benevolence(Job. 5:10-11). Who giveth rain, &c. Rain a striking display of Gods goodness as well as of his power and wisdom. One of his most common but precious gifts (Psa. 65:9-10; Jer. 14:22; Amo. 4:7; Zec. 10:1; Act. 14:17). One of the most beautiful as well as beneficent operations in nature. The evaporation of moisture, its suspension in clouds, its condensation and descent, carried on by the operation of natural laws of which God is the author and director. The changes of temperature on which this operation depends, all in His hands, and unsearchable to us. Every drop of rain comes to us as a witness-bearer of the Divine benevolence (Psa. 68:9-10).To set up on high those that be low, &c. The change on the part of thousands from wretchedness and despondency to gladness and rejoicing, often, especially in the East, the result of an abundant rain. In this, as in other respects, the natural a beautiful and instructive figure of the spiritual (Isa. 44:3-5; Isa. 55:10-13; Deu. 32:2).
3. His wisdom(Job. 5:12-14). He disappointeth the desires of the crafty, &c. His wisdom displayed in overmatching the crafty and disappointing their schemes.(Job. 5:13.) He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Quoted by the apostle in 1Co. 3:19, to show that the wisdom of men is foolishness with God. The deepest devices of carnal men in Gods view only short-sighted contrivances of little children. Their best laid schemes often suddenly overturned by the slightest incident. Human enterprises, most carefully prepared and likely to succeed, often made to collapse like houses of cards. The splendid Armada, designed by Spain for the overthrow of the Reformation in England, dissipated and destroyed by unfavourable weather. Of the three attempts of the French to effect a landing in Ireland, the first and second failed through the adverse elements, and the third by the influence of the change in Buonapartes counsels. Hamans well laid scheme to crush Mordecai and the Jews ends in his own disgrace and ruin. At Davids prayer and for Davids deliverance, Ahithophels sagacious counsel is turned into foolishness (2Sa. 15:31; 2Sa. 16:20-23; 2Sa. 17:1-14). The Birs Nimroud, on the plains of Babylon, a standing example of the counsel of froward Babel-builders carried headlong. Our affairs safe in the hands of One with whom the wisdom of men is only foolishness.
4. His compassion (Job. 5:14-15). But he saveth the poor from the sword, &c. (or, He saveth the oppressed from their mouth, the poor from the hand, &c.) From their mouth, open to devour, and from their hand lifted up to slay them. Examples: The enslaved Israelites delivered from the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Exo. 18:20); Peter from the hand of Herod and the expectation of the Jews (Act. 12:11); Paul from the mouth of the lion Nero (2Ti. 4:17). Gods goodness exercised towards men in general; His compassion towards the needy and oppressed. The helpless and afflicted especially the objects of His regard (Psa. 72:12-13; Psa. 103:6). An additional reason for Jobs seeking unto God and committing his cause into His hands.The results on others from Gods compassion exercised in the deliverance of the afflicted. (Job. 5:16).
(1.) The poor have hope. Job in his affliction encouraged to hope in God from his dealings with others in a similar condition. The use to be made of all Gods gracious interpositions on behalf of those in trouble (Psa. 22:4-5; Psa. 34:6; Psa. 34:8; Psa. 34:11; Psa. 40:1-3). Hope in God the object of the Scriptures and the examples of delivering mercy recorded in them (Rom. 15:4). Encouragement to hope, the actual result of Gods dealings with Job (Jas. 5:11).
(2.) Iniquity stoppeth her mouth (found also in Psa. 107:42). Persecution and oppression often struck dumb,
(1) by Gods manifest deliverance of the poor that trusted in Him;
(2) by His judgments on the wicked executed along with that deliverance (Exo. 14:25). Gods works will put the ungodly to silence when His words do not. The time of the final deliverance of the godly that of the shame and confusion of the wicked (Dan. 12:2).
VI. The plea of Eliphaz for Jobs repentance (Job. 5:17-18)
Holds out the benevolent object and happy effects of affliction. Job thus addressed as one needing repentance and now under the Divine correction. The statement true and applicable to Jobs case, but not as Eliphaz supposed. Jobs affliction not strictly a correction for sin, but to be employed as such for his spiritual benefit. His captivity to be turned, and that upon his repentance. His repentance, however, not as Eliphaz thought, for sins of life, but for that of cavilling at the Divine procedure. The whole passage a fine specimen of ancient Shemitic poetry. Probably more of the wisdom of the ancients handed down in verse from the earliest times. Contains a highly coloured description of the happiness of the godly in the present life. Generally true, according to the Old Testament platform. In harmony with other Old Testament promises, especially in the Psalms and Proverbs. New Testament promises rather of inward peace with outward trouble; all our need supplied, and all things working together for our good (Joh. 14:27; Joh. 16:33; Php. 4:19; Rom. 8:28). The error of Eliphaz in making earthly prosperity the uniform reward of godliness. That error seen and opposed by Job. Some of the promises held out by Eliphaz felt by Job to be a cruel mockery and an aggravation of his grief. These promises however afterwards fully realised in his experience (ch. 42)Behold, &c. Calls Jobs special attention to what he is now to advance. The thing stated strange in itself and not readily believed. Happy is the man whom God correcteth. Same sentiment in nearly the same words (Psa. 94:12). Two modes of correction employed by God
(1) By His Word and Spirit;
(2) By His work in Providence. The latter here intended Correcteth, or rebukes, viz., with the rod of affliction (Sam. Job. 3:1; Psa. 39:10-11). The text contains:
(1.) A truth stated;
(2.) A lesson drawn from it. The truth: Blessedness found in Divine correction. The lesson: That correction therefore not to be despised.
Divine Correction
1. Its blessedness. Seen
(1) In its origin. Its originDivine love (Pro. 3:12; Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19). Correction the part, not of a. judge but of a father (Heb. 12:7-9). A mercy to be corrected when we might have been destroyed (2Sa. 3:22). Sad token for a man when God will not spend a rod upon him [Brookes].
(2) In its object. Our spiritual benefit (Heb. 12:11);Repentance (Rev. 3:19); Removal of sin (Isa. 27:9); Participation in Gods holiness (Heb. 12:10). Affliction is Gods medicine to heal, and His furnace to purify His children.
(3) In its actual result. Affliction in itself a fruit of sin, but in Gods hand a means of good. When God corrects His children, He(i.) Supports them in the affliction; (ii.) Purifies them by it; (iii.) Delivers them out of it. None more unhappy than he who never felt adversity [Seneca].
2. Its improvement. Here negatively expressed. Despise not thou, &c. So Pro. 3:11; Heb. 12:5. Gods corrections are not to be(i.) Refused as something nauseous; nor, (ii.) Rejected as something hurtful; nor, (iii.) Slighted as something useless. The exhortation implies the opposite duty. Gods corrections are on the contrary to be
(1) Highly prized;
(2) Carefully improved. Prized, as(i.) From a Fathers hand; (ii.) Sent in love; (iii.) Designed for our highest good. Affliction to be improved
(1) By consideration of its object;
(2) By examination into its cause;
(3) By endeavour after its fruit (Lam. 3:39-42). Trials only profitable when we are rightly exercised under them (Heb. 12:11). To be benefited by Gods rod, it is necessary to be taught out of Gods Word (Psa. 94:12).The correction that of the Almighty, or All-sufficient. Indicates
1. His benevolence in the correction; the Almighty under no obligation to sinning creatures.
2. His ability
(1) To sustain us under it;
(2) To sanctify us by it;
(3) To deliver us out of it. Gods corrections are sores which He himself will heal again.
Job. 5:18. He maketh sore and bindeth up. Same truth (1Sa. 2:6; Hos. 6:1). All pains and griefs from God. True even in Jobs case, though not as Eliphaz supposed. This thought an aggravation to Jobs distress. Maketh sore, as a surgeon amputating a limb or cutting out a gangrene. The pain no further inflicted than is necessary (Lam. 3:33). And bindeth up,as a wound or amputated limb (Psa. 147:3). God himself the Physician of souls (Psa. 103:3). Jehovah Rophi (Exo. 15:26). The office assumed and executed by the incarnate Son (Luk. 4:18; Luk. 4:23; Mat. 9:12). The bandages employedthe doctrines, promises, and consolations of the Gospel (Psa. 107:20).He woundeth, as with a surgeons knife or lancet. God wounds to heal. His wounds faithful, as those of a friend (Pro. 27:6; Psa. 141:5). Judicial wounds reserved for the head of obstinate transgressors (Psa. 68:21).And his hands make wholeliterally, sew up, viz., the wound. His own hands; implying
(1) Readiness;
(2) Tenderness;
(3) Skill;
(4) Success in the operation. Learn(i.) Those wounds well and lovingly sewed up that are sewed up by the hands of the Almighty. (ii.) We may well endure wounds that are to be sewed up by such a Physician.
VII. Motive to repentance drawn from the promises (Job. 5:19, &c)
These promises held out on the supposition of repentance and prayer. Most of Gods promises both to saints and princes conditional. The blessings here enumerated both of a negative and positive nature. Most of them, according to the Old Testament dispensation, pertaining to the present life.
The Promises
1. Negatively. Safety and deliverance in times of trouble. In six troubles He shall deliver thee. Six; a definite number for an indefinite: many and manifold troubles (Pro. 6:16; 1Pe. 1:6). Many are the afflictions of the righteous (Psa. 34:19). One woe past, another woe cometh. Lord, how are mine enemies increased (Psa. 3:1). Deliverance promised not in one or two troubles, but in all, however many (Psa. 34:19). Every new trouble needs Divine support and deliverance. In six troubles, viz.the troubles you yourself are in; or, the dangers and calamities prevailing around you. A thousand shall fall at thy side, &c. (Psa. 91:7). The promise is either
(1) to be kept from falling into the trouble; or,
(2) to be preserved from injury by it; or
(3) to be in due time taken out of it. Preservation in trouble, support under it, and deliverance out of it, all in the believers charter. The cross not immediately taken from the shoulder, but strength given to bear it. The time and mode of deliverance best reserved in Gods own hands. Deliverance from troubles either temporary and partial, or final and complete. Only the former usually experienced in this life. Here, trouble succeeds trouble as wave succeeds wave. One past, we are to prepare for another. Final and complete deliverance only at death. Death strikes off every link of the believers chain, except the last one, which is itself. That link, which hinds the body to the grave, struck off at the Lords appearing (1Co. 15:52; 1Co. 15:57).Yea, in seven; however accumulated in number and excessive in severity. Seven the number of fulness. Not one, nor many, but all thy waves and thy billows, &c. (Isa. 42:7). The furnace heated seven times more than usual for the three young captives (Dan. 3:19).There shall no evil touch theeso as really to injure or destroy (Psa. 91:7; Psa. 91:10). The lions in the den lie harmless at Daniels feet. The fire leaves the captives hair un-singed, while it consumes their bonds (Dan. 3:25). Even physical evil not always a real evil. Rutherford, in his exile, dates his letters from his palace at Aberdeen. Such evils often the prevention of greater ones, and the means of obtaining blessings. Bernard Gilpin breaks his leg by an accident, and escapes the fires of Smithfield. Children, we should have been undone, had we not been undone, said Themistocles, when an exile at the Persian Court. Josephs confinement in prison his stepping-stone to the throne of Egypt.Kinds of deliverance promised.
(1) From famine (Job. 5:20). In famine, (arising from failure in the crops) He shall redeem thee from death. Believers may suffer in famine, but, as a rule, not die from it. The righteous not even then forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Psa. 37:25).
(2) From calumny (Job. 5:21). Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongueso as not to be hurt by calumny and false accusation. The tongue often a more mischievous instrument than the sword. Slander the choice weapon of the ungodly against the faithful (Jer. 18:18). Times of spies and informers, when no godly man appears safe. Yet God has a pavilion to hide His people from the strife of tongues (Psa. 31:20). Jeremiah, Daniel, and the three captives assailed by the tongue, but delivered. Stephen, like his Master, falls by it, but only the sooner to gain his crown. Paul smitten with it, but the sooner obtains his desire of being with Christ. God either gives to His people what He promises, or something better.
(3) From foreign invasion. Neither shalt thou be afraid (i.e., have any cause to be afraid) of destruction (desolation from an invading enemy) when it cometh,or is coming, either upon others or near thyself. The believer not taken out of the evil, but kept above it. Preserved from real evil in it, and from fear regarding it. Faith grasping the promises lifts the soul above fear. The name of the Lord a strong tower, &c. Fear not, thou carriest Csar; for Csar substitute Christ. No cause for fear, therefore no place to be given to it. God a wall of fire round about his people (Zec. 2:5). Makes a dense mist or wreath of snow such a wall at his pleasure. The providence of God is my inheritanceinscribed on an old house in Chester, the only one in the street untouched by the plague. (Job. 5:22.)At destruction (the desolation as already come)and famine (scarcity of food as its attendant) thou shalt laugh. The promise rises in a climax,safetyfearlessnesstriumph. Faith enables believers to laugh when others weep. A holy laughter put by God Himself into the mouths of His servants (ch. Job. 8:21; Psa. 126:2). Believers laugh in times of calamity, not from want of sensibility, but from warrant of safety. The godly can laugh from satisfaction as to themselves, while they weep in sympathy for others. To laugh at destruction without faith, is either stoicism or cruelty; to laugh from faith, the highest piety. Abraham laughed piously from faith; Sarah laughed sinfully from the want of it. Faith and fidelity give songs in the darkest night of adversity. Gods sweetest consolations often reserved for the time of sorest tribulations.
(4). From wild beasts. Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earthravaging a country wasted by an invading foe. The incursions of wild beasts often spoken of as a Divine judgment (Deu. 32:24; 1Ki. 17:24; Eze. 5:17; Eze. 14:21). Then a much greater terror in the East than now. Term probably included reptiles (Gen. 3:1). Similar promise of Divine protection against them (Psa. 91:13). Daniels God able to shut the lions mouths. Paul shakes off the viper that fastened on his hand and feels no harm (Act. 28:1, &c.) Yet Polycarp and thousands more found their martyrs crown in the jaws of wild beasts.
(5) From being hurt either by the animate or inanimate creation.(Job. 5:23.) Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. The covenant made with believers includes the beasts of the field as their friends and allies (Hos. 2:18). Man in rebellion against His Maker has all creation at enmity with him. Reconciliation with God through Christ restores man to friendship with the creatures. Dominion over the lower animals lost in Adam but regained in Christ (Psa. 8:6; Heb. 2:8). Neither stones can hurt nor beasts devour against Gods will. Stones and beasts not only not hurtful, but made profitable. The lions that refused to touch Daniel devoured his enemies. The stones of the field afforded Jacob the pillow on which he slept his sweetest sleep.
2. Point of transition to positive blessings. These such as are held most valuable among men. Promised to Israel while faithful to God. Not all of them promised to believers, with the world in its present condition and Satan as its prince. To be enjoyed in that better state, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord (Isa. 65:17-25; Rom. 8:19-22; 2Pe. 3:13). A for eshadowing of that state in Jobs condition after his restoration (ch. Job. 42:10-17.)
(1) Domestic peace and felicity (Job. 5:24). Thou shalt know, &c, i.e., by a Divine assurance and a happy experience. To discern a mercy is itself a new mercy in its bosom [Brookes]. Thy tabernacle shall be in peace, or, be peace,so thoroughly pervaded by it. In safety from others; in harmony with itself; and enjoying a general prosperity. A peaceable habitation, a sure dwelling, and a quiet resting place, among promised blessings (Isa. 32:18). The voice of rejoicing and salvation in the tabernacles of the righteous (Psa. 51:8; Psa. 51:15). Gods presence the only sure foundation of family peace. That peace consistent with trial, sickness, and death in the dwelling 1Pe. 1:6).
(2) Safety and prosperity in our secular calling. Thou shalt visit thy habitation, (or perhaps,thy fold,) and shalt not sin; (or, shalt not miss any of thy property; or, not be disappointed in thy hope,Margin, Shalt not err). Shalt visit thy habitation, after the days journey or toil; or, shalt visit thy fold or pasture, as one looking to the state of his flocks and herds (Pro. 27:23). A great mercy to have a habitation to visit; a still greater one to be made to visit it without sin. Domestic peace a precious blessing; domestic purity a still more precious one, and essential to it. Better to be kept from sinning in our habitation than from suffering in it. Gods blessing on our family and affairs connected with diligence in attending to them. Great mercy to find our dwelling preserved from flames within and foes without. The contrary on one occasion one of Davids great trials (1Sa. 30:1-5). Promises not falsified by trials that seem to run counter to them.
(3) A numerous and happy offspring. (Job. 5:25). Thy seed shall be great, &c. A numerous and powerful family accounted, especially in the East, one of the greatest blessings. The Bible expresses the feelings of humanity in reference to children,Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them (Psa. 127:5). One of the most frequently promised earthly blessings in the Old Testament. The promise supposes godliness in the parents, and, as its consequence, also in the children (Psa. 128:1; Psa. 128:4). In the New Testament, the promise not so much of a great as of a gracious offspring (Isa. 44:3-5). Contrary to his expectation, the text realized in Jobs case, notwithstanding his bereavement (ch. Job. 42:13).
(4) A ripe old age with a peaceful death and burial. (Job. 5:25). Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, &c. Shalt come. indicating
(1) Willingness to die;
(2) A quiet passage. To thy grave,buried in the sepulchres of thy fathers. A peaceful grave and decent burial held, especially in the East, a matter of great importance. The want of it threatened as a Divine judgment (Deu. 28:26; Jer. 22:18-19; Jer. 36:32). Graves in the East usually hewn out in the rock or dug deep in the sand. Bodies otherwise frequently exposed to birds and beasts of prey. The promise generally fulfilled. But the godless rich man died and was buried; while nothing is said of the burial of Lazarus. The promise of a ripe old age especially an Old Testament one. Made first to Abraham (Gen. 15:15). Made generally to the godly (Psa. 91:16). The desire to live to a good old age an instinct of human nature. Premature death often threatened to the ungodly. Length of days in wisdoms right hand (Pro. 3:16). The general result of a holy, peaceful, and temperate life. A course of piety in every respect favourable to it. Long life connected both in the Old and New Testament with obedience to the fifth commandment (Exo. 20:12; Eph. 5:1-3). A blessing to live while we can live to purpose. Life to be measured, not so much by its days as by its doings. More important to live well than to live long. Inward development not necessarily the work of years. The promise rather of ripeness for death than continuance of life. The faithful believer is satisfied with life whenever called to quit it. Ripening for death the result of Divine grace, and found at all ages.
VIII. Application of the foregoing (Job. 5:27).
1. Affirmation of its truth with the grounds of it. Lo thisso it is. Good to speak, with full conviction of the truth of what we advance. Personal conviction, however, not necessarily the proof of truth. Conviction may be more or less enlightened. Inspired utterances always true.We have searched it. Eliphaz the spokesman of the rest. Their discourses probably the result of previous conference. Their minds already made up on the subject of the Divine procedure in reference to the righteous and the wicked. The statements of Eliphaz the result of study and examination. The objects of his search were
(1) The actual experience of men, or Gods visible dealings in Providence;
(2) The traditional maxims of wise men before him. The examination, having little of revealed truth, both partial and limited. The period of Eliphaz the early twilight of the world. All statements in respect to moral and religious truth to be the result of careful examination, according to the means within our reach.
2. Exhortation to. personal self-application of the truth delivered. Know thou it. Truth heard, to become matter of personal experience. In order to this, it is to be
(1) Examined;
(2) Pondered;
(3) Received. The conduct of the Berans (Act. 17:11). The tone of Eliphaz that of a monitor and teacher, as much older than Job (ch. Job. 15:10; Job. 32:6-7; Job. 42:16).For thy good. The hearers good to be the speakers aim (Eph. 4:29). His duty to apply truth heard for his own advantage. The aim of Eliphaz, Jobs repentance and consequent restoration to Divine favour. His motive good, but founded on a mistaken and uncharitable view of Jobs character and the cause of his sufferings. Eliphaz, viewed as an example to preachers
(1) Sincere;
(2) Earnest;
(3) Courteous;
(4) Employs variety of arguments and illustrations;
(5) Adduces authorities;
(6) Appeals to Divine revelation. Fails
(1) In sympathy and warmth of feeling;
(2) In comprehensiveness of view;
(3) In adaptation of his authorities to the case in hand;
(4) In charitable judgment;
(5) In appreciation of the case of his hearer.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
3. The fate of the wicked (the foolish) is certain destruction. (Job. 5:1-7)
TEXT 5:17
5 Call now; is there any that will answer thee?
And to which of the holy ones wilt thou torn?
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.
COMMENT 5:17
Job. 5:1-2None of the holy ones (qedosim) can save man (Hos. 11:12; Dan. 4:10; Dan. 4:14; Zec. 14:5; Psa. 89:7). Eliphaz warns Job against any form of lament. A sinner who refuses to repent cannot be forgiven, thus healed. This verse may be an apologetic against the Mesapotamian idea of a finite but personal god whom a man could rely on to make intercession to the greater gods (Job. 9:33; Job. 16:19; Job. 16:21; Job. 33:23-24). Perhaps Job. 5:2 is a proverbial saying (Pro. 14:30) which suggests that one should not get excited about that over which he has no control. Only the fool will die of indignation (A. V., jealousy).
Job. 5:3-5On center stage Eliphaz says that he himself has seen the fool take root. The unrighteous often strike deep into the earth their strange roots. Prosperity is thus effectively presented by an analogy with a vigorously growing tree. The effect of this experience of Eliphaz was that he immediately cursed (same verb as Job. 3:8) the dwelling of the prosperous fool. In so doing, Eliphaz was merely expressing the prejudices of his cultural ethics. When misfortune visits the head of the family, the entire family suffers. They cannot receive justice at the city gate, which was the administrative center where justice was dispersed and other legal issues were considered (Gen. 23:10; Deu. 21:19-21; Rth. 4:1-11; Amo. 5:15). A helpless unfortunate person was not likely to receive much consideration in the gate (Job. 31:21). The two lines in Job. 5:5 are grammatically impossible,[70] as they stand in the text, but their general sense is clear. Unfortunates, perhaps Bedouins, who function at the edge of cities and lands and seize what they can, are represented in the imagery.
[70] See Dhorme, Job, pp. 5960; and Rowley, Job, p. 58.
Job. 5:6This verse refers to Job. 4:8. Eliphaz commits a logical fallacy by asserting that because a fool meets disaster, all who meet disaster must be fools. He declares that Job is responsible for all of his misery. Sympathy will not be a major preoccupation of anyone who believes that prosperity is proof of Gods blessings.
Job. 5:7A contradiction appears once more in Eliphazs speech. If trouble comes naturally and inevitably to man, then this claim is in conflict with Job. 5:6, which says just the opposite. Perhaps Dahood correctly renders the textit is man who engenders mischief itself.[71] The phrase as the sparks fly upward has generated endless and fruitless discussion. Perhaps the phrasebene resepmight refer to the Resheph the Phoenician god of the lightning,[72] which would be possible if the book is from the patriarchal period. The R. S. V. translation is superior to that of the A. V. As surely as sparks fly upward, man falls into sin, and he is responsible for his own decisions.
[71] M. Dahood, Biblica, XLVI, 1965, p. 318.
[72] A. Caquot, Semitica, VI, 1956, pp. 53ff.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
V.
(1) Call now.The speaker now becomes more personal and direct in his tone and bearing. He insinuates that Job is unwise and silly, and promises swift destruction for all such.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Third double strophe APPLICATION OF THE VISION, Job 5:1-7. First strophe The folly of murmuring, Job 5:1-5.
1. If there be any Literally, Is there he? The Septuagint renders the verse, “But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels.”
The saints , ( the holy.) As this term is employed both of good men and good angels, (Deu 33:2-3; Psa 34:9, etc.,) its meaning must be determined by the context. The idea of Eliphaz is, that Job, in his present mood, need expect no sympathy or help from any quarter. The vision just cited has established the inferiority of all beings in the sight of God, and, as declared in the afflictions of Job, the infinite wisdom of his will. After God has spoken there is none other holy man or angel who will either deign or dare to make reply to his (Job’s) complaints. To reply, even, might foster the spirit of rebellion. Murmuring belongs to man, not to the angels. That there can be no reference, as the Romanists teach, to any intercession of angels, is evident from the comparatively low estimate in which the vision had held them. See Job 5:8; Job 4:18. Nor is it a challenge to Job, as Grotius and others have held, to produce a similar revelation in his own favour. Nor is there any ground for the suggestion of Schultens, that “call” and “answer” are forensic terms, thus versified by Scott:
“Be now complainant, the defendant see;
Which angel will espouse thy daring plea?
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 5:7
Gen 41:51, “And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil , and all my father’s house.”
Psa 127:1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
Notes these insightful words from Frances J. Roberts:
“‘Man is born’, it is written, ‘to trouble, as the sparks fly upward’. (Job 5:7) This is true as surely as rain falls and snow is cold. But it is equally true, and gloriously so, that I have promised, and I will deliver thee out of all thy troubles.” [15]
[15] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 92.
Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Job 5:13
1Co 3:19, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”
Note that this is Job speaking, whom the Lord said was speaking truth, in contrast to the lies that the Lord said were spoken by his friends. Therefore, Paul quotes this verse in which Job is speaking truthfully.
Job 5:19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
Job 5:19
Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Job 5:22
[16] Creflo Dollar, Changing Your World (College Park, Georgia: Creflo Dollar Ministries), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Job’s Dialogue with Three Friends – Job 3:1 to Job 31:40, which makes up the major portion of this book, consists of a dialogue between Job and his three friends. In this dialogue, Job’s friends engage in three rounds of accusations against Job, with him offering three defenses of his righteousness. Thus, Job and his friends are able to confirm each of their views with three speeches, since the Scriptures tell us that a matter is confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses (2Co 13:1). The underlying theme of this lengthy dialogue is man’s attempt to explain how a person is justified before God. Job will express his intense grief (Job 3:1-26), in which his three friends will answer by finding fault with Job. He will eventually respond to this condemnation in a declaration of faith that God Himself will provide a redeemer, who shall stand on earth in the latter days (Job 19:25-27). This is generally understood as a reference to the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind from their sins.
Job’s declaration of his redeemer in Job 19:23-29, which would be recorded for ever, certainly moved the heart of God. This is perhaps the most popular passage in the book of Job, and reflects the depth of Job’s suffering and plea to God for redemption. God certainly answered his prayer by recording Job’s story in the eternal Word of God and by allowing Job to meet His Redeemer in Heaven. I can imagine God being moved by this prayer of Job and moving upon earth to provide someone to record Job’s testimony, and moving in the life of a man, such as Abraham, to prepare for the Coming of Christ. Perhaps it is this prayer that moved God to call Abraham out of the East and into the Promised Land.
The order in which these three friends deliver their speeches probably reflects their age of seniority, or their position in society.
Scene 1 First Round of Speeches Job 3:1 to Job 14:22
Scene 2 Second Round of Speeches Job 15:1 to Job 21:34
Scene 3 Third Round of Speeches Job 22:1 to Job 31:40
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Eliphaz’s First Speech Job 4:1 to Job 5:27 contains Eliphaz’s first speech to Job in which he attempts to answer Job’s question of suffering (Job 3:20-26). He approaches Job’s suffering by saying that God always delivers the poor, but judges the foolish. In Job 4:8 we see that Eliphaz quickly picked up on sowing and reaping as a reason for Job’s suffering.
Job 4:8, “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.”
Eliphaz declares that God always judges the foolish (Job 5:1-7) and delivers the humble (Job 5:8-27).
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Answering A Possible Objection On Job’s Part
v. 1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, v. 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, v. 3. I have seen the foolish taking root, v. 4. His children are far from safety, v. 5. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, v. 6. Although affliction, v. 7. yet man is born unto trouble, v. 8. I, v. 9. which doeth great things and unsearchable, v. 10. who giveth rain upon the earth and sendeth waters upon the fields, v. 11. to set up on high those that be low, v. 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, v. 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, v. 14. They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope in the noonday as in the night, v. 15. But He saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, v. 16. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Job 5:1-27
Eliphaz, having narrated his vision, and rehearsed the words which the spirit spoke in his ear, continues in his own person, first (Job 5:1-7) covertly reproaching Job, and then (verses 8-27) seeking to comfort him by the suggestion that, if he will place himself unreservedly in the hands of God, it is still possible that God may relent, remove his chastening hand, deliver him from his troubles, and even give him back all his former prosperity. The anticipation is in remarkable accordance with the ultimate event (Job 42:10-17), and shows that Eliphaz, if not a prophet in the higher sense, is at least a sagacious interpreter of God’s ways with men, and can very happily forecast the future.
Job 5:1
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; rather, call now; is there any that will answer thee? What aid, that is, wilt thou invoke, if thou turnest away from God, and reproachest him? Thinkest thou to find any one in heaven or earth to answer to the call and come to thy assistance? Utterly vain is any such hope. And to which of the saints wilt thou turn? By “the saints” are meant in this place “the holy angels” (comp. Job 15:15; Psa 89:7; Zec 14:5). The question, “To which wilt thou turn?” seems to imply that there was already in Job’s time some knowledge of individual members of the angelic host, such as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc; though we have no mention of any names of angels in Scripture until the time of Daniel (Dan 8:16; Dan 9:21). That invocation of angels was an actual practice in Job’s age is, however, scarcely proved by this passage.
Job 5:2
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. For “wrath” and “envy “others suggest “vexaation” 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 course, which could only lead to thy destruction.” Eliphaz is quite sure that trust in any other beside God, and appeal to any other against God, is utter folly, sinful infatuation, and must lead to the ruin of whoever indulges in it. Thus the invocation of angels receives no countenance from him, but the contrary.
Job 5:3
I have seen the foolish taking root. The “I” is emphatic. “I myself have seen,” etc. What Eliphaz had seen was that folly, i.e. sinful infatuation, was always punished. It might seem to prosper: the foolish man might seem to be taking root; but Eliphaz was not deceived by appearanceshe saw through them, he knew that there was a curse upon the man’s house, and so pronounced it accursed. And the ruin which he had foreseen, it is implied, followed. But suddenly; rather, immediately, without hesitation. I cursed his habitation; i.e. “pronounced it accursed, declared that the curse of God rested upon it?”
Job 5:4
His children are far from safety. The sins of the fathers arc visited upon the children. Eliphaz makes covert allusion to the death of Job’s children (Job 1:19). Feeling, however, that he is on delicate ground, he goes on into details which in no way fit their case. And (he says) they are crushed in the gate; i.e. they are oppressed, crushed, by litigations. The house once smitten of God, human beasts of prey enter in; claims are made against the children; lawsuits commenced; all the arts of chicanery set in motion; every effort made to strip them of their last penny. (For the sense here assigned to “the gate,” see Job 29:7 and Job 31:21.) Neither is there any to deliver them. No one intercedes on their behalf, undertakes their detente in the courts, or makes any effort to avert their ruin. This picture of legal oppression accords very closely with what we know of the East in all ages (comp. Isa 1:17, Isa 1:23; Isa 3:14, Isa 3:15; Isa 5:23; Isa 10:2, etc.). Oriental cowardice causes men to shrink from casting in their lot with those whom Misfortune has marked as her own.
Job 5:5
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up. Covetous men rush in and “eat up” all that the family possesses, thus bringing it to the extreme of poverty and want. And taketh it even out of the thorns. Vain is any protection that may be devised. As hedges, even of the prickly pear, do not keep out a band of plunderers, so there is no obstacle which those bent on robbing them will not overcome. And the robber swalloweth up their substance; or, the thirsty; i.e. those who thirst after it.
Job 5:6
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. There is a tacit reference to what was said in Job 4:8. Affliction and trouble are not chance products of spontaneous growth. They only spring up when men have prepared the ground for them, and planted in it an evil seed.
Job 5:7
Yet man is born unto trouble. Yet still, in point of fact, man is born to trouble. He has a corrupt nature, and always sins more or less. Each sin brings him into trouble, since it entails on him a punishment. As the sparks fly upward; literally, the sons of flame. Some suppose “meteoric flashes” to be meant: others suggest, “ignited arrows.” But many good Hebraists maintain the rendering of the Authorized Version.
Job 5:8
I would seek unto God; rather, as in the Revised Version; but as for me, I would seek‘ etc.; i.e. if the case were mine, if I were afflicted as thou art, I would not betake myself to any of the angels (see Job 5:1), but would cast myself wholly upon God. It is necessarily implied that Job had not done so. And unto God would I commit my cause (comp. Psa 37:5; Pro 16:3).
Job 5:9
Which doeth great things and unsearchable. These are reasons why Job should “seek unto God.” “Great things are those which he has done.” There is none like unto him. His ways are “unsearchable;” no one may think fully to search them and seek them out (comp. Job 9:10; Job 37:5; Psa 145:3 : Rom 11:33). It may be that, if Job will appeal to him, a result will follow that at present seems impossible. For he doeth marvellous things without number (comp. Psa 40:5; Psa 72:18; Psa 77:14; Psa 136:4). Eliphaz proceeds to mention some of them.
Job 5:10
Who giveth rain upon the earth. To the dweller in the parched regions of South-Western Asia rain is the greatest of all blessings, and seems the greatest, of all marvels. When for months and months together the sun has blazed all day long out of a cloudless sky, when the heaven that is over his head has been brass, and the earth that is under him iron (Deu 28:33), a great despair comes upon him, and that it should ever rain again seems almost an impossibility. Where is the rain to come from? From that cruel, glaring sky, which has pursued him with its hostility week after week, and month after month? Or from that parched earth in which, as it seems, no atom of moisture is left? When God at length gives rain, he scarcely believes his eyes. What? The blessed moisture is once more descending from the sky, and watering the earth, and quickening what seemed dead, and turning the desert into a garden! All Eastern poetry is full of the praises of rain, of its blessedness, of its marvellousness, and of its quickening power. Very naturally Eliphaz, in speaking of God’s marvellous works of mercy, mentions rain first, as, within his experience, one of the chief. And sendeth waters upon the fields. This is either the usual pleonastic repetition of the second hemistich, or (perhaps) a reference to the fountains and rills of water, which spring into being as a consequence of the rain.
Job 5:11
To set up on high those that be low. God’s physical blessings are intended to subserve moral ends. He gives his rain, both the former and the latter, to raise up men from despair, to enable them to see in him a God of mercy as well as a God of vengeance; and with the same object, after withholding it from us for a while, he pours into our parched hearts the dew of his Holy Spirit. That those which mourn may be exalted to safety; or, “raised to safety” (Lee).
Job 5:12
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty; or, frustratethmakes them of no effect (comp. Psa 33:10; Isa 8:10). Some suppose Eliphaz to insinuate here that Job’s apparent wisdom has not been true wisdom, but cunning or craft, and that therefore God has brought it to nought. But to us it rather seems that he enunciates a.general sentiment, and a true one. He is giving examples of the “marvellous things” which God does (verse 9), and naturally enumerates among them his victories over the craft and cunning of his adversaries (comp. Isa 44:25). So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise; literally, and their hands accomplish nothing solid. No substantial result is effected by all their scheming.
Job 5:13
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Men are, as Shakespeare says, “hoist with their own petard.” They “fall into their own nets together” (Psa 141:1-10 :11), while the godly, their intended prey, “escape them.” And this is God’s doingit is his providence which brings it to pass. And the counsel of the froward is carried headlong; or, “put to confusion” (Lee).
Job 5:14
They meet with darkness in the daytime (comp Deu 28:29 and Isa 59:10). The metaphor expresses the bewilderment of the crafty, when they find their schemes foiled, and all their subtlety of no avail. Suddenly their light goes out; they know not what to do, or which way to turn; “their way is hid” (Job 3:23); they are baffled, perplexed, confounded. And grope in the noonday as in the night (comp. Job 12:25). A variant form of the preceding hemistich.
Job 5:15
But he sayeth the poor from the sword, from their mouth; rather, from the sword of their mouth; i.e. from their cruel and destructive words (Psa 57:4; Psa 64:3; Pro 12:18), which cut “like a sharp razor” (Psa 52:2). By calumny, innuendoes, lies, fraudulent representations, and the like, the ungodly work, perhaps, more injury than by their actions. And from the hand of the mighty. God delivers the poor both from their words and from their deeds.
Job 5:16
So the poor hath hope. With the fall of each crafty oppressor, the poor man’s hopes revive. He feels that “God ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of the world” (Psa 59:13). He recognizes the fact that the Almighty “maintains the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor” (Psa 140:12), that he is “a Refuge for the oppressed, a Refuge in times of trouble” (Psa 9:9). And iniquity stoppeth her mouth (comp. Psa 107:42). Either “the oppressors themselves are struck dumb, recognizing the fact that God is against them;” or “those who perversely question God’s ways are struck dumb, seeing his retributive justice.” If we understand the passage in the latter sense, we may see in it a reproof of Job’s murmurs against his treatment by God (Job 3:11-26).
Job 5:17
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth! This “opens,” as Professor Lee observes, “a new view of the subject.” Hitherto Eliphaz has regarded afflictions as simply punitive. Now it occurs to him that they are sometimes chastisements. The difference is that punishment has regard only to the past, to the breach of the moral law committed, and the retribution which has to follow it. Chastisement looks to the future. It aims at producing an effect in the mind of the person chastised, at benefiting him, and raising him in the scale of moral being. In this point of view afflictions are blessings (see Heb 12:5-11). Recognizing this, Eliphaz suddenly bursts out with the acknowledgment, “Happy is the man [or, ‘blessings on the man’] whom God correcteth!” (Comp. Pro 3:11, Pro 3:12; Psa 94:12; 1Co 11:32). He suggests to Job the idea that his sufferings are not punishments, but chastisementsthat they may be but for a time. Let him receive them in a proper spirit; let him humble himself under them, and they may work altogether for his good, his latter end may surpass his early promise. Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. Words quoted by the authors of Proverbs (Proverb s3:11), and of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 12:5), and well deserving to be laid up in the recollection of all faithful souls. They remind us that God’s chastenings are blessings or the contrary, as we make them. Accepted humbly, they improve men, exalt the moral character, purge it of its dross, and bring it nearer to the perfection at which God would have us aim (Mat 5:48). Rejected, chafed against, received with discontent and murmurings, they injure us, cause our characters to deteriorate, sink us instead of raising us in the moral scale. Job was now undergoing the ordealwith what result remained to be determined.
Job 5:18
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up. Metaphors drawn from the healing art. He “maketh sore”applies the scalpel and the cautery when and where they are needed; and then, after a while, “bindeth up”employs his lint and bandages; in both cases alike seeking the good of the sufferer. He woundeth, and his hands make whole (setup. Deu 32:39; Hos 6:1).
Job 5:19
He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven (comp. Amo 1:3, Amo 1:6, Amo 1:9, Amo 1:11, Amo 1:13, “For three transgressions and for four”). An idiomatic way of expressing an indefinite number. There shall no evil touch thee; i.e. no real evil, nothing calculated to do thee real hurt. All affliction is “for the present grievous;” but if it “afterward yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby” (Heb 12:11), it does not do us harm, but good.
Job 5:20
In famine he shall redeem thee from death. Famine appears throughout the whole of Scripture as one of God’s severest chastisements (see Le 26:19, 20; Deu 28:22-24; 2Sa 21:1; 2Sa 24:13; 2Ki 8:1; Psa 105:16; Isa 14:30; Jer 24:10; Rev 18:8). Ezekiel speaks of “the sword, the famine‘ the noisome beast, and the pestilence,” as God’s “four sore judgments” (Eze 14:21). Miraculous deliverances from famine are related in Gen 41:29-36; 1Ki 17:10-16; 2Ki 7:1-16. And in war from the power of the sword. In war God protects whom he will, and they seem to have charmed lives. They are covered with his feathers, and safe under his wings (Psa 91:4).
Job 5:21
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue (comp. Psa 31:20). God will also protect his own from “the scourge of the tongue,” i.e. from calumny, from abuse, from bitter words (see the comment on Job 5:15). Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh; rather, of devastation. “Shod () populationes, praedationes, calamitosas tempestates, terrae motus, ruinas, incendia, mala omnia vasti-tatem inducentia, amplectitur” (Schultens).
Job 5:22
At destruction (rather, devastation) and famine; rather, dearth. The word is not the same as that used in Job 5:20, but a weaker cue. Thou shalt laugh; “Thou shalt smile“ (Lee). Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. “The beasts of the earth”i.e. destructive and ferocious wild beasts, like the Indian “man-eaters”are enumerated among God’s “four sore plagues”. In ancient times they were sometimes so numerous in a country that men were afraid to occupy it.
Job 5:23
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; i.e. there shall be peace between thee and all the rest of God’s creation, even “the stones of the field,” against which thou shalt not dash thy foot (Psa 91:12); and if the senseless stones am thus in league with thee, and refrain from doing thee hurt, much more mayest thou be sure that the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. For they are not altogether senseless, and will in some sort understand that thou art under God’s protection, and not to be molested by them. A misplaced ingenuity seeks to find either six or seven forms of calamity in the enumeration of Job 5:20-23; but there appear to be really only five:
(1) famine;
(2) war;
(3) calumny;
(4) devastation; and
(5) noisome beasts.
The expression used in Job 5:19“six, yea, seven”means, as already explained, an indefinite number.
Job 5:24
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; rather, thy tent; i.e. thy habitation, whatever it may be. Thou shalt feel assured of peace in thy dwelling, since God’s peace will rest upon it. And thou shalt visit thy habitation; or, thy fold (see the Revised Version). And shalt not sin; and shalt miss nothing (Revised Version). The exact meaning is very uncertain. Professor Lee renders, “Thou shalt not err;” Schultens, “Thou shalt not be disappointed of thy desires;” Rosenmuller, “Thou shalt not miss thy mark.”
Job 5:25
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great. Little by little Eliphaz passes from a general description of the blessedness of those faithful ones who “despise not the chastening of the Almighty” (Job 5:17) to a series of allusions which seem specially to touch Job’s case. Without claiming prophetical inspiration, he ventures to promise him in the future “the exact reverse of all that he had experienced” in the past”a safe home, flocks untouched, a happy and prosperous family, a peaceful old age” (Cook). The promises may have sounded in Job’s ears as “a mockery” (ibid.); but it is creditable to the sagacity of Eliphaz that he ventured to make them. And thine offspring as the grass of the earth. The ordinary symbols for multitudinousnessthe sand of the sea, and the stars of heavenare here superseded by an entirely new one, “the grass of the earth.” Undoubtedly it is equally appropriate, and perhaps more natural in a pastoral community.
Job 5:26
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age (comp. Gen 15:15; Gen 25:8; Gen 35:29). Professor Lee translates, ‘Thou shalt come to thy grave in honour.“ But, on the whole, the rendering of the Authorized Version may well stand. The expression used occurs only here and in Job 30:2. Like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season; literally, is lifted up. The shocks of corn were lifted up, and placed on a cart, for transfer to the barn or the threshing-floor. The emphasis, however, is on the closing words, “in his season.” Eliphaz promises Job that he will reach a good ripe old age, and not die untimely. (For the result, see Job 42:17.)
Job 5:27
Lo this, we have searched it, so it is. Eliphaz does not claim to be delivering a Divine message, or in any way stating results which he has learnt from revelation. Rather is he declaring what he has “searched out;” i.e. gathered with much trouble from inquiry, observation, and experience. He is, however, quite confident that he has arrived at a true conclusion, and expects Job to accept it and act upon it. Hear it, and know thou it for thy good; literally, for thyself. Make the knowledge, i.e. which I have communicated to thee, thine own. Professor Lee observes, “Them is nothing in all this savouring of any asperity, as far as I can see, beyond the anxieties of true friendship. The sentiments delivered from verse 17 to the end of the chapter are not only most excellent in themselves, but perfectly applicable to Job’s case; and were, in the event, made good in every respect. It is true, we have not much sympathy expressed for Job’s bereavements and afflictions. And, in this respect, Eliphaz was, no doubt, to blame”.
HOMILETICS
Job 5:1-7
Eliphaz to Job: 3. The history of a fool.
I. THE FOOL‘S CHARACTER.
1. An impious fool. The mental and moral portrait of the aevil (verse 2) is minutely outlined in the Book of Proverbs, as distinguished by contempt of true wisdom (Pro 1:1-33;Pro 7:1-27), talkativeness (Pro 10:8), self-conceit (Pro 12:15), irritability of temper (Pro 12:16), pride (Pro 14:3), fretfulness against God (Pro 19:3), sinfulness of thought (Pro 24:9), etc; most of which qualities were, in the judgment of Eliphaz, possessed by the aevil whom he depicted, who was probably Job.
2. A moral simpleton. The potheh is also sketched in Proverbs, as one who is easily seduced by temptation (Pro 9:14-18) and flattery (Pro 7:7); who is destitute of any power of self-restraint, credulous of what he hears (Pro 14:15), and heedless of danger (Pro 27:12). According to Eliphaz, he is also marked by envy.
II. THE FOOL‘S ISOLATION.
1. Unheeded by God. “Call now, if there be any that will answer thee” (Verse 1); perhaps meaning, ironically, You had better prepare an indictment against the Deity.” Practically, implies Eliphaz, this is what the sinner does who storms at the Divine dispensations towards him. All sin is more or less an impeachment of the Divine righteousness and equity (Gen 3:1). Yet so utterly wild and extravagant is the idea of a puny, sinful creature like man entering the lists against God; so immeasurably foolish as well as presumptuous the imagination that Infinite Purity and Wisdom can be arraigned with any hope of success, that the speaker represents the sinner’s clamorous outcries as fining unheeded and unheard through the silent heavens. The Ineffable Supreme gives no indication that he is so much as conscious of his accuser’s presence; neither replying himself nor commissioning another to appear in his behalf. The silence of Heaven, frequently misconstrued by the sinner (Psa 1:1-6 :21), if indicative of the Divine patience and clemency, is no less eloquent of the Divine security against, and Divine contempt for, the sinner.
2. Unassisted by his fellow-creatures. “To which of the holy ones,” saints or more probably angels, “wilt thou turn?” i.e. in order to procure help in thine outrageous suit against the Almighty. Eliphaz assumes that wicked men and fallen angels could not, while with equal confidence he asserts that good men and holy angels would not, assist a fool in any such presumptuous enterprise. The language graphically portrays the sinner’s impotence against God (Isa 27:4).
III. THE FOOL‘S MISERY.
1. Consumed with chagrin. “Wrath killeth the foolish man.” The term “wrath” includes in its signification inward vexation at one’s own wretched lot. It is the opposite of that calm, quiescent, submissive meekness which a good man strives to evince in adversity, and which was exemplified by David (Psa 39:9), St. Paul (2Co 6:9, 2Co 6:10), and Job (Job 1:21).
2. Eaten up of envy. “Envy slayeth the silly one.” Fretfulness as regards one’s own particular condition is commonly associated with envy at the good (real or supposed) of others. As only a sincerely good man can heartily rejoice in the prosperity of his neighbour, so is it only a bad man, a moral weakling, who allows himself to be irritated thereby. David (Psa 37:1), Asaph (Psa 73:2), and St. Paul (Rom 13:13; Gal 5:21), warn against this supreme manifestation of folly.
3. Devoured by rage. “Wrath [passion] killeth the foolish man.” The prominent idea in the term “wrath” is that of indignation against the Arbiter of human destiny. It is the object of Eliphaz to depict at once the supreme unhappiness of the fool as the victim of his own evil passions, and the appalling destiny of the fool which is that of a moral suicide; his destruction, when it comes, being not so much inflicted by the stroke of God’s hand as wrought out by the inward violence of his own sinful lustsa melancholy illustration of the auto-nemesis of sin.
IV. THE FOOL‘S OVERTHROW.
1. Unexpected. Destruction springs upon the poor fool when least anticipated, when, having struck down his roots and sent forth his branches, he appears to be flourishing like a green bay tree (Psa 37:35), and to have attained to a position of conspicuous prosperity, of great power, and absolute security (1Sa 25:37; Luk 12:20; Act 12:23).
2. Sudden. In an instant the scene changes, and the fair tree of his prosperity stands scorched and blasted, leafless and bare. “Suddenly I cursed his habitation;” i.e. I beheld it cursed. This has sometimes been true, as Asaph testifies (Psa 73:20), and as facts witness (Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, Herod, the two Napoleons), though not always (Psa 17:14; Psa 73:4).
3. Visible. The approach of the fool’s fall, seldom apprehended by himself, is commonly foreseen by others. “Suddenly I cursed his habitation;” meaning that the moment Eliphaz beheld the foolish one taking root, he pronounced his homestead cursed; he could anticipate nothing for him but a speedy and swift engulfment in dark misfortune. So in the moral, no less than in the material, world, “coming events cast their shadows before.”
4. Complete. The fool’s overthrow extends to:
(1) His family. “His children are far from safety.” Reduced to straitened circumstances in consequence of their father’s ruin, they mutually “crush each other in the gate;” i.e. consume each other in vexatious litigation, thus sharing in the punishment, while they follow in the steps, of their wicked parent. Nor does their misery excite the sympathy, or provoke the friendly interference, of onlookers. “Neither is there any to deliver.” If it is prudent not to meddle with the strife of others (Pro 26:17), it is still doubtful if good men should be indifferent to the calamities of others, even though they are wicked (Pro 24:11).
(2) His possessions. The famished thief, prowling about the fool’s farmyard, picks up whatever he can lay hands on, and, emboldened by the desolation he beholds, carries off the well-stacked grain. Though no man’s property can be said to enjoy an absolute immunity from thievish depredations (Mat 6:19), yet it is certain that wicked men’s treasures are peculiarly liable to decay (Jas 5:3). Only the good man’s treasures in the heavens are permanently safe. Then” the robber swalloweth up [literally, ‘ the snare gapeth for “his substance;” i.e. wicked schemers lie in wait to pounce upon his property, concerting measures to carry off what little has been left by the hungry thieves. When thief robs thief, then the devil gets his own. “When the soul of the wicked desireth evil, then his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes” (Pro 21:10).
5. Righteous. The calamity which overtakes the fool is not an accident or unfortunate mischance, not the production of earth and its physical constitution (verse 6), but the inevitable result of a law under which man, as a moral being, has been placed, viz. that if he sin, he shall suffer as certainly as the sparks fly upward.
Learn:
1. There is no appeal for man against the judgments of a holy God.
2. When God forsakes a sinner, all the saints on earth (as well as angels in heaven) forsake him too.
3. The greatest enemy a sinner has is himself.
4. Rage against God’s judgments is more dangerous to a soul than are the judgments themselves.
5. Neither permanence nor prosperity is a certain mark of goodness, since foolish men may take root.
6. The prosperity of fools is a great trial to saints.
7. The curse of the Lord is in the habitation of the wicked.
8. Outward good things are no mark of the Divine favour.
9. When fathers eat sour grapes, the children’s teeth are set on edge.
10. Men frequently fail to enjoy that upon which they have bestowed much labour.
11. God often uses the wicked to punish the wicked in this life.
12. Man’s sufferings do not spring from his surroundings, but from himself.
13. The suffering condition of man is incontestable evidence of a fall.
Job 5:8-16
Eliphaz to Job: 4. The saint’s confidence in God.
I. THE SAINT‘S CHARACTER DESCRIBED.
1. Negatively. By way of contrast to the ungodly, who are depicted as
(1) crafty, i.e. persons who cunningly concoct schemes against either God, Christ, or their neighbours (Psa 2:2; Act 4:25-28);
(2) strong, i.e. violent, ferocious sinners, who use their swords as wild beasts their mouths, for devouring, eating up, God’s people as bread (Psa 14:4).
2. Positively. Exhibiting them as
(1) humble (verse 11), i.e. depressed or cast down, prostrated by affliction and, in consequence, dejected in spirita common experience with God’s people;
(2) mourning (verse 11), i.e. going in squalid garments, expressive of penitential sorrow and self-abasement, and wherever grace exists it excites such emotions in the heart;
(3) poor (verse 16), i.e. weak, feeble, thin, slender, too destitute of strength to be able, and too gentle and patient to care, to resist the assaults of the ungodly. The three above-mentioned characteristics may be compared with the persons specified in the first three Beatitudesthe poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek (Mat 5:3-5).
II. THE SAINT‘S GOD EXTOLLED.
1. As a God of power.
(1) Essentially great; El (verse 8) denoting God as the Strong or Mighty One, and suggesting a contrast to the feebleness of the saint, and the violence of the saint’s oppressor above alluded to.
(2) Perpetually active; the omnipotence of God being not merely a potential ability residing in his infinite nature, but a vital energy continually proceeding forth in active operation (Joh 5:17).
(3) Endlessly diversified; the plural Elohim (verse 8) pointing out the totality of his variously manifested nature, and his wonders being declared to be beyond computationa statement whose correctness not even the discoveries of science have disproved.
(4) Infinitely marvellous are the great things he performs, transcending the highest efforts of the human intellect to explain, understand, or even compute (Job 9:10; Job 11:7; Job 36:26; Psa 145:3).
2. As a God of benevolence. Operating:
(1) In the realm of nature; e.g by sending rain upon the eartha miracle of Divine power and wisdom (Job 28:26)to water the face of the thirsty soil, and cause the rivers to overflow their banks upon the pasture-grounds, to render them fruitfula miracle of Divine goodness (Psa 68:9; Jer 5:24; Act 14:7); that he might deliver men from dismal apprehensions as to prospective failure in the promised harvest, and convert their doleful vaticinations into triumphant hallelujahsa miracle of grace and compassion (Psa 147:8).
(2) In the sphere of humanity; e.g. by
(a) confounding the crafty,exploding their schemes, neutralizing their actions, outwitting their cunning, precipitating their purposes, so causing their best-concocted devices to appear structures of consummate folly, and themselves to look like stupid bunglers, as helpless and perplexed as men stumbling in the darkness of night (examples: the tower-builders of Babel, Gen 11:1-9; Potiphar’s wife, Gen 39:1-23; Ahithophel, 2Sa 15:31; Haman, Est 7:10);
(b) rescuing the peer,delivering them from the hands of their enemies (e.g. the Israelites from Egypt, Exo 18:10; St. Peter from Herod, Act 12:11; St. Paul from Nero, 2Ti 4:17), inspiring them with hope, and not only silencing their calumniators and oppressors, but sometimes striking them dumb with horror and amazement at God’s manifest interposition on behalf of his suffering servants.
III. THE SAINT‘S CONFIDENCE DECLARED.
1. Emphatically. “Nevertheless I would” do so and so. As Eliphaz delicately insinuated that Job was a fool, so here he does not hesitate to propose himself as the perfect model of a wise man. No doubt this resulted from want of modesty on the part of Eliphaz; but still, overlooking this, the bold, unhesitating character of his avowal is not altogether unworthy of imitation. God’s saints and Christ’s followers should never be ashamed to confess their confidence in God, or avow their attachment to Christ (Mat 5:16; Mat 10:32; Rom 1:16).
2. Sincerely. “But II would seek unto God; unto God would I commit my cause.” The speaker signifies that his trust in God was no mere lip-profession, but a heart-emotion which would lead him, if circumstanced as Job was, to have recourse to God, and to commit his cause to the Godhead in prayer and in the exercise of faith. And certainly, if God should be sought for at all times (1Ch 16:11), he should specially be resorted to in time of trouble (Psa 50:15)”for counsel and direction in it; for comfort and support under it; for grace to glorify God by it; for deliverance in God’s own time and way out of it; for the spiritual benefit and improvement intended through it” (Robinson).
3. Hopefully. Though not affirmed at the outset, it is clearly expressed at the end. “So,” i.e. by going to God and committing one’s cause to him, “the poor hath hope; “God having revealed himself as the Hearer, and therefore as the Answerer, of prayer (Exo 22:27; 1Ch 28:9; Job 12:4; Job 22:27; Psa 34:17; Psa 37:5; Mat 21:22; Php 4:6); and this being sufficient ground for the saint’s confident expectation that God will interpose for his succour and salvation.
Learn:
1. It is not enough to simply reprove those whom we believe to have erred; we must likewise instruct them how to amend.
2. The best thing to do with trouble of any sort is to carry it to the throne of grace, and leave it there.
3. There is no God like the saint’s God, the saint’s enemies themselves being judges.
4. God has given men and saints the highest reason to trust him: the first, the wonders of nature; the second, the marvels of grace.
5. The weakness of God is stronger than men, while the foolishness of God is wiser than men.
6. If God can turn the daylight into darkness round his enemies, he can also turn the darkness into light round himself and his people.
7. God can rescue his people from the greatest perils, from the mouth of the grave, and from the jaws of hell.
8. It is no vain thing to hope in God, since we are saved by hope, and God loveth them that hope in his mercy.
9. The tongues of wicked men, however they may now blaspheme the Name and revile the children of God, will yet be effectually put to silence.
10. When Christ comes at last to save his poor ones, the ungodly world will stand speechless and self-condemned.
Job 5:8
Seeking unto God.
I. WHAT IT PRESUPPOSES.
1. Belief in the existence of God (Heb 11:6).
2. Consciousness of need (Jas 1:5).
3. Desire for Divine assistance (Psa 63:1).
II. WHAT IT IMPLIES.
1. A realization of God’s nearness to the soul (Psa 145:18).
2. A solicitation of God’s help for the soul (Mat 7:7; Heb 4:16).
3. An acceptation of God’s provisions for the soul (Mat 5:6).
III. WHAT IT PRODUCES.
1. Inward composure (Isa 26:3).
2. Hopeful expectation (Psa 42:11).
3. Ultimate salvation (Psa 37:5; Pro 16:3; Job 22:27).
Learn:
1. The grace of God in permitting men to seek him.
2. The wisdom of men in availing themselves of this permission.
Job 5:9
The great works of God.
I. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE. A signal display of Divine power and wisdom.
II. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. A striking evidence of the Divine omniscience and omnipresence.
III. THE REDEMPTION OF THE RACE. A sublime revelation of Divine grace and compassion.
Job 5:10
Rain.
I. GOD‘S CREATURE.
1. Made by God (Job 28:26; Job 38:28; Jer 14:22).
2. Sent by God (Psa 65:10; Psa 68:9; Jer 5:24).
3. Withheld by God (1Ki 17:1; Amo 4:7; Zec 14:17).
II. EARTH‘S SERVANT.
1. Cleansing the atmosphere.
2. Fertilizing the soil.
3. Filling the riverses 4 Moderating the heat,
III. MAN‘S TEACHER.
1. A symbol of truth (Deu 32:2; Isa 4:1-6 :10).
2. An emblem of grace (Psa 68:9; Hos 6:3; Psa 72:6).
3. A picture of prosperity (Job 29:23).
Learn:
1. To value the gift (1Ki 8:36).
2. To fear the Giver (Jer 5:24) of rain.
Job 5:16
The poor man’s hope.
I. GREAT IN ITS EXPECTATIONS. Looking for salvation.
II. DIVINE IN ITS ORIGIN. Being implanted by God.
III. FIRM IN ITS FOUNDATION. Resting, not upon his own piety or strength, but upon God’s gracious interposition on his behalf.
IV. PRESENT IN ITS ENJOYMENT. The poor hath hope; it forms a principle within them now.
V. SUSTAINING IN ITS OPERATION. Upholding in trouble.
VI. CERTAIN IN ITS END. Arriving at ultimate fulfilment.
Job 5:17-27
Eliphaz to Job: 5. The blessedness of chastening.
I. CHASTENINGITS NATURE.
1. Its subject. Man, as a fallen being; for, though affliction cannot always be connected with particular transgressions as their immediate punishment, it is still true that man’s sinfulness is the fundamental reason of his being subjected to correction.
2. Its Author. God. A thought full of comfort to the chastened; since, God being just, their correction will never be allowed to exceed their deserts; being merciful, it will never be administered with undue severity; being wise, it will never be inflicted without an adequate design; and being powerful, it will never fail, where piously accepted, to accomplish its end.
3. Its instrument. Calamity, trouble, affliction, such as Job had experienced, and such as men undergo on earth. Those who suffer may derive consolation from the thought that the rod which smites them is not in the devil’s hand (except by Divine permission) or in the hand of blind, unfeeling fate, but in the hand of a loving and sympathetic God.
4. Its purpose. Man’s reformation. It is doubtful if any of the sufferings of this life are purely punitive and judicial, while there is reason to believe that all are corrective and remedial in their design. According to Eliphaz, they are meant to chastise man for his iniquity, to bring him to repentance, and to reduce him to obedient submission under God (cf. Job 33:17, Job 33:19; Psa 94:12, Psa 94:13; Pro 3:11; Heb 12:7-11).
II. CHASTENINGITS IMPROVEMENT.
1. The wrong use of affliction. To despise it. Men do so when they
(1) turn from it with aversion, loathing it as a nauseating physic, and evincing repugnance to submit themselves to its infliction;
(2) receive it with indignation, raging against God for smiting them, challenging his goodness, impeaching his integrity, and questioning his wisdom in so plunging them into tribulation;
(3) bear it with impatience, murmuring against its painfulness fretting over its continuance, and inordinately longing for its removal;
(4) regard it with contempt, esteeming it as useless and unprofitable, and making no attempt to either find out or fall in with God’s special purpose in their correction; and
(5) issue from it in impenitence, with the heart no softer and the spirit no humbler than when it was cast into the furnace. Such failure to improve the Divine chastisement, while common in the case of wicked men, is also not impossible to good men.
2. The right use of affliction. To receive it
(1) with meek submission, recognizing our need of Divine chastisement in consequence of sin still remaining in us, if not in visitation for actual wickedness performed by us, and acknowledging the sovereignty and righteousness of God in laying on us such rebukes;
(2) with patient endurance, remaining dumb and opening not our mouths, because God has done it (Psa 39:9), or, if we do speak, adopting the language of Eli (1Sa 3:18), of Job (Job 1:21), of St. Paul (Act 21:14), or of Christ (Mat 26:39);
(3) with holy gratitude, remembering the gracious purpose God has inseparably connected with affliction (Rom 5:3, Rom 5:4; Rom 8:28; Heb 12:11), and the representation he has given of affliction as a token of his love (Rev 3:19; Heb 12:6); and
(4) with intelligent co-operation, seeking, so far as in us lies, by self-examination, by repentance and faith, by laying aside every known sin, and by praying against all sin, to further God’s gracious designs in our correction.
III. CHASTENINGITS CONSOLATION.
1. Divine healing.
(1) The wounds requiring to be bound up and healed are those lacerations of spirit, painful and deep, which have been previously inflicted by the hand of God through the sharp instrument of affliction. That these wounds, however keen and incisive, are not designed to be mortal or suffered to continue open, but, after accomplishing their purpose, are to be closed should prove a source of comfort to the saint.
(2) The Physician by whom the binding up and healing are to be effected is God, as Eliphaz declares (verse 18), and David testifies (Psa 103:3), as Jehovah himself promised (Exo 15:26), and as Christ taught (Mat 9:12; Luk 4:18, Luk 4:23). This a second ground of comfort for the chastened spirit; since God, having caused the wounds, will best understand how to cure them, and God never makes a sore that he cannot heal, or inflicts a stroke that he cannot mend; and since God is possessed of all the qualities that are needful to constitute a successful chirurgeon, having “an eagle’s eye,an all-seeing eye, seven eyes of providence and wisdom to look through our sores, and into all our distempers; a lady’s hand, soft and tender, to dress our wounds and pain us little; and a lion’s heart,infinite courage and strength of spirit, to undertake the most ghastly wounds or swollen, putrified sores” (Caryl).
(3) The bandages employed in the operation are the doctrines, promises, and consolations of the gospel (Psa 107:20).
2. Divine protection. Generally, from whatever troubles may assail, from six, ay, from seven, i.e. from all possibilities of trouble; then particularly from:
(1) Public calamity (verse 20). From famine, by causing the earth to yield its increase so as to avert famine (Psa 67:6), by miraculous interposition so as to support in the midst of famine (Exo 16:15, manna; 1Ki 17:14, the widow’s barrel; 1Ki 19:7, Elijah’s feast), by spiritual consolations should his people die of famine (Hab 3:17); and from the sword, by removing occasions of war, by shielding while engaged in lawful war (if he so please in his wisdom), and by conducting safely out of war.
(2) Private wrong (verse 21). From slander, by enabling the good man to escape it through blamelessness of character and life, as Daniel (Dan 6:5); or by vindicating him against it through some favourable turn in providence (Psa 37:6), as was the case with Jeremiah (Jer 20:10, Jer 20:11); or through miraculous interposition, as happened to the three Hebrew children (Dan 3:25); or by rewarding him on account of it should it bring him hurt, as he did with St. Stephen (Act 6:11); and from violence, i.e. the injuries and injustices perpetrated by the strong against the weak, not by preventing them altogether, for it is implied that they will come, but by keeping the soul from sinking under them through terror.
(3) From personal misfortune; such as hunger, i.e. private destitution; and violence, viz; ravages of wild beasts on personal property; God enabling the saint, instead of regarding these with stoical indifference, to triumph over them as a means of effecting his highest good (Rom 5:3), since all things, even the stones and the wild boasts, will be in league with him, and contribute to his peace (Rom 8:28).
3. Divine blessing.
(1) Health. “Thou shalt know that it is well with thy tent;” i.e. the inhabitants of thy home will be in safety from others, in harmony amongst themselves, and, generally speaking, in the enjoyment of peace and felicity. Domestic happinessone of the greatest blessings a good man can enjoy.
(2) Prosperity. “Thou shalt oversee thy household, and not err,” or “count thy cattle, and miss none.” The success attending ordinary avocations comes from God; yet it cannot now, as then, be deemed a proof of Divine favour, though it is still true that piety tends to sharpen the mind’s faculties, and to increase the hand’s diligence, thereby making godliness profitable for this life as well as that which is to come.
(3) Posterity. “Thy seed will be many,” and “thine offspring like the grass of the land.” A numerous family one of the blessings of the old, a gracious family one of the blessings of the new, dispensation (Isa 44:3-5).
(4) Length of days. “Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full [ripe] age,” indicating many years of living, so many as to fully mature the graces of the soul (Psa 92:14) and to satisfy the saint’s desire for living (Psa 91:16)a promise first made to Abraham (Gen 15:15), and afterwards given generally to the godly (Psa 91:16); a promise also whose fulfilment is promoted by holy living (Pro 3:16; Psa 34:12).
(5) A peaceful death. “Thou shalt come to thy grave,” willingly, quietly, peacefully, feeling dissolution to be no curse.
(6) An honoured burial. “As the shock of corn is carried in its season” so shalt thou be reverently and respectfully consigned to the tomb. A peaceful grave and a decent burial esteemed by Orientals, who regarded the want of them as a token of Divine anger, which it sometimes was (Deu 28:26 Jer 22:18,Jer 22:19; Jer 36:30).
Learn:
1. “Happy are we if we receive chastening; for then God dealeth with us as sons.”
2. “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but rather grievous; nevertheless afterwards it bringeth forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness.”
3. The soonest way to escape from chastening is to “hear the rod and him who hath appointed it.”
4. It is better to be chastened as God’s children than condemned as God’s enemies.
5. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivereth him out of them all.”
6. The best alliance against the ills of life is the friendship of the living God.
7. If God be for his people, nothing can be really against them.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Job 5:8-27
Refuge from trouble in the thought of God.
Conclusion of Eliphaz’s address. His language suddenly changes into a gentler strain. It is like the clearing of a dark sky, revealing once more the deep blue; or the bend of a stream which has been flowing through a stern gorge, now broadening out into a sunlit lake.
I. THE GREATNESS AND BENEFICENCE OF GOD. (Job 5:8-16.) Let men turn to him for comfort and for strength. It is a bright gem of description.
1. God is the Supreme. (Job 5:8.) Let men look no lower than to the Highest. With him is the final appeal. He is Judge of all the earth. Clouds and darkness are round about him; but justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
2. He is the great Worker. His scale and sphere of operation is vast, immeasurable, unsearchable (Job 5:9). His mode of operation is wonderful, past finding out. “His way is in the sea, his path in the great waters, his footsteps who has known?” The grandeur and marvel of his deeds are seen:
(1) In nature. (Job 5:10.) One phenomenon is mentioned only as typical, in all important respects, of all the other tokens of his power in nature. It is the blessed gift of rain. For nothing in an Oriental clime speaks more powerfully to the senses and the feelings than this inestimable boon. Many other Scriptures witness this. First He gives the early and the latter rain;” “comes down like rain upon the mown grass,” and “as showers that water the earth.” ‘Tis he who causes the refreshing showers to fall upon the fields of both the just and the unjust. The French peasants say, as they watch the rain failing on their vineyards, “Voici le vin qui descend du ciel!” “Here comes down the wine from heaven!” But what good things do not come down from heaven in the rain from the ever-blessing God?
(2) In human life. In this broad field, common experience gains many a lesson of the same kind. Not one of the traits in this exquisite description of which the intelligent observer cannot say, “This is true to life!” He is seen to be the Exalter of the lowly and the sorrowful (Job 5:11). Who has not had brought home to him in many an instance the sense of this truth in the course of life? What tales of obscure and lowly worth rising into eminence; of deserted widows and orphans finding springs of help and succour marvellously opened to them in the hour of need can we not all tell? And we take delight in these narratives because they convince us that the constitution of life is not the mere mindless machinery which godless thinkers would make it out to be. We see that selfish craft and cunning are in the end disappointed and baffled (Job 5:12). Lies and cheats do not prosper long. The proverbs of the world bear their witness; common experience stamps them with the mark of truth. And this, too, is no accident, but the result of the righteous operation of God. We see that men overreach themselves and fall by their own snares (Job 5:13). “Vaulting ambition doth o’erleap itself, and falls on t’other side.” And the sight gives us a deep pleasure, whatever pity we may feel for the victim of his conceit and folly, because here again we receive a communication of the will of God. We see self-confident men plunged into perplexity, infatuated, unable to steer their path aright, though the light is lull and clear about them (Job 5:14). There is a judicial blindness to be observed in certain cases; so that those who, in the pursuit of passion or interest, have extinguished conscience, become at last unable to see even their own interest, and make suicidal mistakes. Here, too, is the finger of a higher Power.
3. The object of Divine operation. (Job 5:15, Job 5:16.) In both nature and human life it is oneto lessen suffering, to protect innocence, to deliver from violence and persecution.
II. THE BLESSING OF DIVINE CHASTISEMENT. (Job 5:17-27.) From the general evidences of the beneficence of God, we come down to one special and peculiar form of it, He is good to us in our pains as well as in our pleasures. His power is exercised to purify and chasten as well as to destroy. The recognition of this truth is one of the leading features of Scripture revelation. How different from the gloomy creed of the most enlightened heathen concerning suffering sent from heaven! He felt the wrath of his gods, but he never knew their blows as signs of a secret and remedial love. Where there is no belief in supreme righteousness, suffering must always be without relief. The blessedness here described is both internal and external.
1. Internal. The man is blessed
(1) who recognizes his sufferings as corrections. Then their worst bitterness passes; despondency is cheered; hope dawns in the heart. He is blessed
(2) who rejects not the warnings which they bring. He willingly takes the medicine, and submits to the direction of the heavenly Physician. But they aggravate their sufferings and inflame their ills who know they are being corrected, yet refuse to take the Divine hint for amendment; who are like the stubborn horse or ass chafing at the bit, resisting the guidance of the rein. He is blessed
(3) who yields himself up implicitly to the Divine treatment, suffers his evils to be expelled, his follies to be plucked up by the roots. He is blessed
(4) because he is thus brought into the deeper knowledge and fellowship of God. To know God as the Almighty Benefactor is one step in religion; to know him as the Almighty Chastiser is another and a higher. And this is never reached except through suffering, the deeper consciousness of sin, struggles with self, a higher purity, and a deeper peace.
2. External. The man at peace with himself and with God seems to bear a charmed life (Job 5:19).
(1) Be defended from outward evils. (Job 5:20-22.) He passes through seas of trouble, and rides upon the crest of each advancing wave; passes through fire, and it hurts him not. The greatest outward calamities are mentioned, only to show how he rises superior to them all. “Famine.” The histories of Elijah, of the widow of Zarephath, of the temptation of Jesus Christ, all illustrate the grand truth that man’s strength is derived, not from bread alone, but directly from the Word and will of God. The truth is a general one. It is that expressed by St. Paul that, though the outward man perish, the inward man may be renewed day by day. “The power of the sword,” “devastation,” “famine,” “wild beasts,” form the catalogue of the ills most common and most dreaded in ancient times. None of these can harm the man who is reconciled to God. The truth again is general, and admits of a twofold application. In the first place, history is full of the providential escapes of good men, in which every discerning mind will see the hand of God. But there are exceptions. No law of nature is set aside. The sword of the foe, the tooth of the lion, is not blunted, nor is the body hardened against hunger. Good men, like others, perish from these causes. But here the truth applies in another way. The souls of the martyrs flee to the altar of heaven (Rev 6:9). or are borne from the scene of suffering to that of rest, as Lazarus to the besom of Abraham. In either case they are unharmed and happy in God. But another evil, more keenly felt in more civilized times, is the “scourge of the tongue.” Slander
“Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath
Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie
All comers of the worldkings, queens, and states,
Maids, matronsnay, the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters.”
From this fearful scourge the blessed man is hidden, protected. Good men are often attacked, but cannot be destroyed, by slander. They do not feel it as do the consciously guilty. They, in the beautiful words of the psalm, are kept “secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” The slanderer does service to the upright man in the end by forcing him into a position of self-defence, or of silent dignity, which brings the true qualities of his character into a clearer light.
(2) He is favoured with outward good. (Job 5:23-27.) The stones that afflict the fields with barrenness, the devouring beasts, seem to be in secret pact with him and refuse to do him harm. This is poetry wrapping up truth. We are reminded of the beautiful ode of the Roman poet (Horace, Job 1:22), where, dwelling on the theme that innocence is its own protection, its own arms, he tells as of the weft that fled from him all unarmed in the Sabine wood. The whole picture is that of the quiet pastoral life which we love to associate with innocence and the protection of Heaven. There is comfort in his tent; when he visits his pastures, no head of cattle is missing (for this is perhaps the true meaning of the latter clause of Job 5:24). Children and children’s children spring up around him; till he comes to his end crowned with silver hair, like the ripe sheaf carried home to the garner. With this description compare the noble ninety-first psalm. Eliphaz emphatically declares (Job 5:27) this to have been his experience. It was a picture drawn from life. We cannot doubt that it was realized in numberless instances in those early conditions of life; nay, it is so still. It hardly comes within the scope of such poetry to recognize the actual or seeming exceptions. And if we do not see the universal truth of the description of the good man’s career, we must recollect that life is a far more complicated and many-sided affair with us. It is far more difficult to trace the connection of cause and effect in the various courses of men. And we have this immense advantage over this early teacherthat we have a clearer view, a firmer belief of the extension of man’s career into eternity. All that appears exceptional and opposed to the laws of life laid down by Eliphaz, we doubt not, will be compensated and redressed in a future state.J.
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN
Job 5:1-5
The lot of the foolish.
By a skilful turn of thought, Eliphaz exhibits the consequences of human folly
1. AS THEY AFFECT THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL FOOLISH ONE. “Wrath killeth and envy slayeth” him. By his folly he excites the wrath or the envy of others, or his folly leads him into deadly courses.
II. AS THEY AFFECT HIS LOT AND CONDITION. His prosperity, even if it begin, is but of temporary duration. If he take root, suddenly his habitation is cursed.
III. AS THEY AFFECT HIS FAMILY. His children are in danger”far from safety.” They are condemned by the judge sitting in the gate; are crushed, and are not found. “The seed of the wicked shall be cut off.”
IV. AS THEY AFFECT HIS SUBSTANCE. He soweth, but a stranger reapeth his harvests; his toil may be productive, but a “robber swalloweth” his substance. Dark is the picture thus presented of the judgments which fall upon the ungodly, the foolish, and the vain. If Eliphaz intended this to be a reflection upon Job, it was unmerited and uncalled for. The Divine judgment upon Job was, “My servant Job, a perfect and an upright man.” Eliphaz argued from the particular to the general. However true it may be that the foolish suffers, it is not equally true that every sufferer is foolish. This was the error in Eliphaz’s mode of arguing. It is a common error. We know it may be said, “He whom thou lovest is sick.”R.G.
Job 5:6, Job 5:7
The common lot.
“Man is born unto trouble.”
I. IT IS AN INEVITABLE RESULT OF HIS EXPOSED CONDITION.
II. IT IS EVIDENTLY A PART OF THE PRESENT ORDER OF THINGS. But
III. IT IS DUE TO THE DERANGEMENT OF THE RIGHT RELATIONS OF MAN TO HIS GOD, TO HIS NEIGHBOUR, TO THE WORLD AROUND. “Affliction cometh not forth of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.”
IV. IT IS GRACIOUSLY USED AS A MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, CORRECTION, AND DEVELOPMENT. We now know that that which we endure is for chasteningfor that culture which every wise father seeks to secure for his sons. And when the afflictions are “not joyous, but grievous,” even then “God dealeth with us as with sons.” He takes up the sad and dark and painful things of our life, and uses them as instruments for our discipline, “that we might be partakers of his holiness.” Most assuredly we may know that “the peaceable fruits of righteousness” are yielded to them who patiently endure these afflictions when they are “exercised thereby.”
Let us, therefore, learn:
1. Not to be surprised if” trouble” overtakes us. We are born in a land where it is very plentiful.
2. To see to it that our afflictions come of our frailty, not of our folly.
3. Patiently to await the end, when he shall have wrought out his purpose, who maketh “all things work together for good to them that love him.”R.G.
Job 5:8-16
God the true Refuge in affliction.
“I would seek unto God.” Wisely did Eliphaz urge his friend to seek refuge in the only true and safe resort. “Under his feathers shalt thou trust.” In the midst of all sorrows
“God is the Refuge of his saints,
When storms of sharp distress invade;
Ere we can offer our complaints,
Behold him present with his aid.”
To seek this Refuge men are encouraged by
I. THE GREATNESS OF THE DIVINE POWER. He “doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number.” Of these beautiful illustrations are to be found on every handin heaven, earth, the deep seas, in the processes of nature, in the government of men.
II. THE DIVINE BENEFICENCE. His rich gifts made freely to the seas of men. “He giveth rain upon the earth'” which is at once a precious gift and a symbol of all blessings in its abundance, diffusion, preciousness, freeness to all. “He is kind to the evil and the unthankful, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust.”
III. THE DIVINE CONTROL OVER MEN. Especially illustrated in his dealing with the wicked. He takes compassion on the needy. “He setteth on high those that be low.” He brings down the haughtiness of the foolish. He “disappointeth the devices of the crafty”taketh the wicked in their own deceit.
IV. THE DIVINE PITIFULNESS FOR THE POOR is a further encouragement to men to find their Refuge in God. He guardeth the poor and the feeble. He sayeth him from the sword of their mouth, their cruel words‘ and from the hand of the mighty. The Divine Help of the poor, men have sung in all ages. “So the poor hath hope; The poor committeth himself unto thee.” In this Refuge he is safe. The day of his trouble passes away. A Divine hand, unseen, upholds him while the pressure is heavy. Of the poor, as of the sparrows, it must be said, “God feedeth them.” If men knew the loving-kindness of the Lord, and his great pitifulness, they would put their trust in him more willingly, and would find help and comfort.R.G.
Job 5:17-23
The blessedness of the Divine correction.
This was known even in early times, but only fully taught in Now Testament times. It is a great encouragement to men to bear pain and sorrow to know that the Lord afflicts. “He maketh sore,” but “he bindeth up;” “he woundeth,” but his “hands make whole again.” Being a Divine correction, a chastisement from his hand will be
I. A WISE CORRECTION. A good purpose will always be held in view. “Not willingly,” “not for his pleasure,” does he afflict. His aim is to promote our good” that we may be partakers of his holiness.”
II. A GRACIOUS CORRECTION. Mercy will temper it. “He remembereth we are but dust.”
He will no load of grief impose
Beyond the strength that he bestows.”
If he brings low in affliction, it is that he may exalt in honour. If he takes away earthly possessions, it is that he may supplant them with heavenly. He weans the heart from the love of the temporal, that he may fix it on the eternal. It is, therefore
III. A BENIGN CORRECTION. Happy fruits follow it. If he afflicts, he heals. He delivers in six, yea, seven troubles. He redeems the famishing from death. He hides from the scourge of the tongue. He screens from the stroke of destruction. He draweth men into good ways; then, when they please the Lord, he maketh even their enemies to be at peace with them. Beautifully is this illustrated: “Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.” He who keeps the commandments of God is in harmony with the whole kingdom of God.
This encourages to patience under trials.
1. It is the Lord’s chastisement.
2. It is controlled and regulated by a Divine hand.
3. It has a wise and worthy end in view.
4. It cometh to its blessed fruition in the sanctity and perfectness of human character.R.G.
Job 5:24-27
The final consequences of the Divine chastisement.
He who in mercy afflicts, or in equal mercy takes up the evils and ills of life, and, using them as his own instruments, transmutes them into means of grace and blessing, will, after he has tried his servants by their exposure to the storms and pains of life, give them “a desired end.” Sooner or later they see “the end of the Lord “the end the Lord had in view. In these verses the happiest consequences are declared to follow those chastisements which the Lord bestowed during the process of suffering and exposure.
I. CONTENTMENT AND PEACE SHALL REIGN IN THE HOME. God quiets the hearts of his children, and though heavy trials assail them, he prepares rest and peace for them. In how many instances is this daily seen! The evil exhausts itself. God puts his hand upon it and arrests it. His exposed ones he leads back to safety and repose, and, as was fulfilled in Job’s case, of which Eliphaz unconsciously predicts, he blesses them at last. Like worn veterans, they return at last to receive honour, acknowledgment, and rest. Precious are the final days of the truly tried; the life is matured, the character chastened and perfected, the experience of life is enlarged.
II. BLESSING SHALL ABIDE UPON THE OFFSPRING. “Thy seed shall be great as the grass of the earth;” yea, even though half the sorrow were caused by that very seed. The Lord will lead the wanderers back, will punish and correct and reclaim. Many a one out of his stony griefs raises a Bethel. The testimony of godly fidelity on the part of the parent speaks in its silence to the offspring, and in the end produces its good results. Every godly man has the best ground for hoping that the blessing of the Lord will be also upon his offspring.
III. IN THE FULNESS OF AGE AND THE RIPENESS OF CHARACTER, LIFE SHALL CLOSE. So the tried one receives into himself, at last, the whole result of the Divine discipline. The history is complete, the work of the day finished, the journey ended, the character formed. All the history of life is written in the cultured, matured life; in the character gained; in the honour won. Faithful unto death, the struggling one receives the crown of life. In ripeness of judgment and attainment all the fruit of the patiently endured tribulation is found. The man is made. His pains, his perils, his watching and prayer, his diligence in duty and patience in suffering, all go to make up the perfected life which is his own to inherit. The exposed grain has grown through all dangers, has grown by all changesin the heat and cold, the light and the darkness, the rain and the shine. “Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.” Let every one search this out, hear it and know it for his good.R.G.
Job 5:3
The foolish taking root.
I. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE FOOLISH TO TAKE ROOT. “The foolish,” in biblical phraseology, are worse than people of weak intellect; they are always regarded as morally degenerate. Their folly is the opposite to the wisdom of which the beginning is “the fear of the Lord.” Though lacking in moral fibre as well as in mental stamina, such people still often contrive to achieve an astonishing amount of success in life.
1. They mall be favoured by circumstances. In this world men are not wholly dependent upon their own character and conduct. There is a general tide of prosperity that sweeps strong on its flood many who have had no hand in originating it. There is good fortune as well as misfortune, and the one is often as little deserved as the other.
2. They may be helped by Providence. God’s grace is always greater than our deserts. He would win us by his goodness. The foolish man should see that this goodness of God is designed to lead him to repentance (Rom 2:4). Sometimes, however, the Divine temporal favour is in reality a method of judgment, a sunshine that ripens the effects of folly, so that they may appear in their fulness at the hastening harvest-time.
3. They may assist themselves. There is a kind of prosperity which good and wise men scorn, not being able to stoop to the degradation which leads to it. Then bad and foolish men step in, and, though grovelling in the dust, succeed in grasping some of the so-called good things of life. Much outward prosperity is not directly dependent on moral qualities. A man may be skilful in money-making without being either a saint or a philosopher.
II. ALTHOUGH THE FOOLISH MAY TAKE ROOT, THEY WILL NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT. We may be surprised at their temporal prosperity, but it is only temporal. For a while they live and grow, not simply flourishing a moment like a plucked flower that must soon fade, but actually striking roots into the ground, and thus strengthening their position and drawing nourishment to themselves. Still, at best, it is only the rooting in the soil that is thought of. This is but the first stage. Eliphaz was quite right in his surmise that the last stage would be very different, although he was in error as to the time, circumstances, and character of the great denouement.
1. No good fruit will follow. The foolish stock can only bring forth fruit of folly; and if it grows luxuriantly, it will not bear any better products. Its size will only multiply and coarsen its natural issue. Let bad and foolish men advance unimpeded as far as possible in their earthly prosperity, yet of real soul-prosperity they will have none, for they have not in them the life from which this springs.
2. The flourishing prosperity will come to an end. These noxious plants must be finally rooted up if they are not struck down earlier by the thunderbolts of judgment. Rapid growth is no promise of long endurance. The mistake of the old world was to look for the judgment on earth. It may come here. But if it does not, it is certain to come hereafter; for God is wise and good and almighty. Therefore beware of the delusion of temporal insanity. Look to the end. Look to the quality of the success attained. Let this be what Christ approves; i.e. like his success, which was victory through the cross. Then a fruitful root will sprout out of a “dry ground” (Isa 53:2).W.F.A.
Job 5:6, Job 5:7
Inevitable trouble.
I. TROUBLE DOES NOT COME CASUALLY AND WITHOUT DUE CAUSE. It is not like a weed that springs up by the wayside. This might seem to be the case, because it arrives so suddenly and so unexpectedly, and because there does not appear to be any rule that governs its advent at one place rather than another. But Eliphaz is rightly persuaded that it is not the effect of chance. We have good reasons for agreeing with him thus far.
1. All things are subject to law. Chance is only a name for our ignorance. When we do not see a cause we imagine that the event has happened casually. But as we pursue our inquiries further we find that there are no stray events outside the great bond of Divine order.
2. All things are arranged by Providence. Here is another answer to the doctrine of chance. Not only is there law; there is also a supreme Administrator of law. God’s hand is unseen, but not a pawn moves unless his fingers are upon it; or if it be said that this leaves no scope for man’s free-will, still it may be asserted that, the infinite mind of God seeing the whole game, the end from the beginning, he can always so arrange that ultimately his designs shall be fully executed.
II. TROUBLE COMES FROM WITHIN, NOT FROM WITHOUT. It does not spring out of the ground. Man is born to it. There is something in human nature that he disposes him to trouble. Just as the sparks fly up by nature, so the soul of man suffers by nature. It is an attribute of the human constitution to be subject to suffering.
1. Susceptibility to suffering is natural. The callous are the unnatural. The soul that never grieves is hard and dead. We are made to be sensitive to pain, just as we are made to hear sounds and see the light.
2. Trouble is born with us. Sin begets suffering. The sin of the parent descends in ca]amities on his children, who inherit the harvest of his misdeeds. The fall of man and the general sinfulness of the race ensure a certain amount of suffering to every innocent child who is born into the world. Nevertheless, do not take refuge with the fatalist. The trouble has a cause. Seek this and master it.
III. TROUBLE IS UNIVERSAL AND INEVITABLE. Some have more than others. There are men to whom the lines have fallen in pleasant places, yea, they have a goodly heritage. One such had been Job. But his hour of trouble came, and then it proved to be an hour of unprecedented calamity. Though men suffer differently, all sufferif not in body or estate, yet in mind and soul; if not in sunny youth, yet in overcast manhood; if not in visible adversity, yet in inward distress. This does not mean that men are always suffering, nor that there is more pain than joy in life.
1. We should not be surprised at meeting with trouble. Many people irrationally imagine that they are to be exceptions to the universal experience. When painful facts reveal their delusion they are overwhelmed with amazement and disappointment. It would be better to be prepared to expect what is part of the common lot of man.
2. Trouble which cannot be avoided may yet be cured. The true resort should be neither to stoical indifference nor to impotent despair. There is no gospel in the assertion that trouble is universal. But there is a gospel which deals with the fact. Christ comes to give us power to utilize trouble as discipline, and ultimately to conquer it, so that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2Co 4:17).W.F.A.
Job 5:8-16
Seeking unto God.
As usual, the advice of Eliphaz is excellent in the abstract. The error is in the particular way of applying it to Job. Here is the sting of it. But its general truth is always instructive. This is certainly the case with the recommendation to “seek unto God.”
I. INQUIRE WHAT IT IS TO SEEK UNTO GOD.
1. It begins with remoteness from God. We have lost God if we have to seek him, as we need not think of finding what we already possess and enjoy. God is lost by sin; but the sense of God’s presence is often deadened by the oppression of sorrow and by the intrusion of worldly scenes.
2. It means an earnest effort of the soul. We are not to wait for God to come to us, but to “seek unto” him. This requires the mind and will. We have to be watchful to note any indications of his presence, and active in pressing forward towards him.
3. It implies that God can be found. It is useless to seek for that which is hopelessly lost or absolutely unattainable. If we seek, we must expect to find. This process would be folly in the eyes of the Agnostic. Now, the encouragement is that others have sought and found God. They have seen him, not with bodily vision, indeed, but with true spiritual experience. Job himself did seek God, and he found him at last; for he exclaimed, in a magnificent burst of thankful gladness, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee” (Job 42:5).
4. It leads to confidence. It is useless to seek God out of mere curiosity. We have much to do with him when we find him. But first of all we must place entire confidence in him, confessing to him our sin and our sore need.
II. CONSIDER THE ENCOURAGEMENTS THAT INVITE US TO SEEK UNTO GOD. The author of the Book of Job is a great lover of nature. Scenes from the physical world, more especially in its majesty and grandeur, fill his spacious canvass in later stages. Here we come upon the first burst of that glory of nature which shines out with ever-increasing volume as we proceed through the book. This leads on to the wonderful deeds of providence. Notice some of the points to which Eliphaz calls attention.
1. The
(1) greatness“doeth great things;”
(2) the mystery“and unsearchable;” and
(3) the variety of God’s works in nature”marvellous things without number” (verse 9).
Therefore he must be able to help us all in all kinds of trouble.
2. The graciousness of God in his milder works. This is illustrated by the phenomenon of rain (verse 10). “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass” (Psa 72:6). Therefore “the bruised reed will he not break,” etc. (Isa 42:3).
3. God’s goodness to the lowly. He sets up on high those that be low (verse 11). Therefore to be humiliated is to have a special reason for expecting his help.
4. His judgments in defeating the crafty (verses 12-14). His very wrath brings mercy to the oppressed. The poor man cannot escape from his unjust oppressor; but God can bring deliverance. With him is the final court of appeal, and there right is always rendered, there the rich have no favour and the cunning no opportunity of cheating justice.
5. God’s deliverance of the poor and helpless. He is “a just God and a Saviour‘” and he delights to reveal himself in the activity of grace redeeming and recovering his suffering children. With such manifestations of the power and goodness of God in nature and providence the troubled soul may well seek unto him for deliverance.W.F.A.
Job 5:17
The happiness of chastisement.
I. THERE IS A HAPPINESS IN CHASTISEMENT. The sentence looks paradoxical. No chastisement can be pleasant while it is being endured, or it would cease to be chastisement. Where, then, does its happiness reside?
1. Chastisement is a proof of God‘s care. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Heb 12:6). Therefore to be chastised is to receive a token of God’s love. Now, surely we ought to be willing to bear a good deal of suffering if we can only obtain so valuable a token as this. If God did not chastise us he would not be treating us as true sons (Heb 12:8). Our very immunity would thus be a proof of God’s desertion of usa most miserable and hopeless condition.
2. Chastisement is designed to effect purification. It may not lead to this end, and it will not do so unless we co-operate submissively and penitently. Eliphaz saw as much, and therefore, although he was applying these truths in an irritatingly, mistaken way, he, rightly enough from his standpoint, urged Job to seek God’s mercy in penitence that he might thus benefit by his chastisement. To be purged from sin is better than to be made rich, comfortable, externally happy. It is true blessedness, though at first experienced amid tears of sorrow.
3. Chastisement leads to joy. Afterwards it brings forth the “peaceable fruit of righteousness.” We count a man happy who is on the road to a great good. He may enjoy it already by anticipation. At all events, he is to be congratulated on his destiny, as one congratulates the heir of great estates. The Christian may be congratulated if he can say with St. Paul, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).
II. IT IS THEREFORE BOTH WRONG AND FOOLISH TO DESPISE CHASTISEMENT. It is wrong, because we ought to submit with humility to whatever comes from the hand of God; and it is foolish, because contempt will destroy the efficacy of chastisement, which needs to be felt if it is to be effective, and which blesses us through our humility and contrition. A proud and haughty bearing under chastisement defeats the ends of the gracious ordinance. We see here how diametrically opposite the enlightened Hebrew view of suffering is to that of the Stoic. Both views regarded pain as not the evil thing that most men took it to be; both demanded patience and courage from the sufferer. But Stoicism inculcated contempt for suffering. Thus it engendered Pharisaic pride. The scriptural ideain the Old Testament as well as the Newis rather to lead us to attach more importance to suffering than the thoughtless give to it, not that we may magnify the sensations of distress, hut that we may let the trouble have its full work in our souls.
1. We may despise the chastisement when we make light of it.
2. The contempt may be shown by denying its meaning or use.
3. It may also be experienced by rebelling against chastisement.
In this last case we do not regard the trouble as slight. But we do not reverence the holy purpose with which it is sent. Our wild resistance shows contempt for the character of our affliction. Christ is the model Sufferer, who deserved no chastisement, and yet who was “led as a lamb to the slaughter,” and was thus made perfect through sufferings (Heb 2:10).W.F.A.
Job 5:23
In league with nature.
Eliphaz argues that, if Job will but submit himself to the ordinances of God, nature itself will be his ally, and the very stones that obstruct his plough, and even the beasts that ravage his flocks, will become his auxiliaries. Here the seer of visions has touched on a great truth. To be in harmony with the Lord of nature is to be in league with nature.
I. WE ARE NOT NATURALLY IN LEAGUE WITH NATURE. This is a paradox in form, yet it is a transcript of experience. The experience is peculiar to man. All other things find their habitat congenial to them. Man alone discovers himself to be as an alien among foesstones, weeds, vermin, beasts of prey, cruel winds, tempests, earthquakes, frustrating his designs. Two very different causes may account for this discord.
1. Our natural greatness. We are a part of nature, yet we are above nature. In our higher self we cannot be content to take our share with the beasts that perish. Our aspirations lift us out of agreement with the life that is lived by plants and animals.
2. Our sinful fall. We are meant to be above nature, ruling over it. By sin we have fallen below nature, and it has trampled on us. The master has become the slave and victim of his servant.
II. IT IS GOOD TO BE IN LEAGUE WITH NATURE. So Eliphaz implies by his promise to Job of this condition as a reward for contrite submission. The Bible nowhere teaches a Manichaean horror of nature. All God’s works are good and deserve to be appreciated by us. Neither do we learn from Scripture to entertain a monkish horror of nature. The inherent innocence of every natural power and action is suggested by the biblical description of creation. Therefore we shall make a great mistake if we think we are to escape from the tyranny of nature either by flight or by warfare. We cannot escape from nature if we would. Though we crushed our nature, it would arise and reassert itself. But, supposing our flight or our warfare were successful, that we could absolutely leave or completely extirpate nature, we should only find our lives maimed and impoverished; for nature is part of us, and is intended to be our useful servant.
III. WE CANNOT FORM A SUCCESSFUL LEAGUE WITH NATURE BY DESCENDING TO THE LIFE OF NATURE. The sophistry of so-called naturalism tells us that we can. But it is deceptive, christening bestiality with the name of nature. The nature to be imitated is Wordsworth’s nature, not Zola’s. But Wordsworth’s nature is the type and prophecy of the spiritual that is higher than nature. Merely to follow natural impulses is to become swinish, not human, partly because the lower impulses of nature are the most violent, and partly because we have aggravated those impulses by sin.
IV. SUBMISSION TO GOD MAKES NATURE IN LEAGUE WITH US. God is the Master of nature, and as we learn to do God’s will, nature, which also ultimately does his will, turns to aid us. Physically, the forces of nature work for those who obey the laws of God in nature, and it is to be noted that to obey those laws is a very different thing from being a slave to natural impulses; e.g. the laws of health do not agree with the indulgence of appetite. Spiritually, our obedient submission to God compels the adverse forces of nature to work for our good as instruments of discipline. This was not sufficiently clear to Eliphaz, who made too much of temporal prosperity, and thought that to be the invariable lot of the good man. But the Book of Job reveals it. Thus nature ministers to man when man serves God.W.F.A.
Job 5:26
God’s harvest home.
We have here a characteristic Old Testament picture of the completed life of the aged servant of God. He is rewarded for his fidelity, not merely by having nature as a minister of his prosperity during his active days, but by having his time prolonged to a ripe old age, and his whole career rounded and finished so that at last he is taken up like a shock of corn to God’s harvest home.
I. LET US CONSIDER THE IDEA OF A COMPLETE LIFE,
1. The truth of the Old Testament idea. The Jews were no pessimists. They were far from the sickly Buddhist dream of Nirvana. With them life was sweet, and long life a blessing. Was not this a true and healthy conception? Life is a gift of God; it is a source of great natural joy; it is a precious talent, offering rich opportunities for service. It is good to live. Though it may please God to pluck the bud before it has opened, or to remove the blossom before it has matured the fruit, we should feel that there is a great blessing in his sparing a life for full, ripe fruit-bearing.
2. The supplement of New Testament revelation. The gospel has enlarged the scope and value of life. It has shown us that no human life can be complete in a brief earthly existence. It has promised life eternal for the fulness of being and of service. Now we can see that life is good and blessed indeed.
II. LET US OBSERVE THE BLESSEDNESS OF A RIPE LIFE. Old age is compared to a shock of corn. We have “first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.” This full corn ripens into the gold of harvest. In the perfect old age we see the corn come to maturity. It has attained all that it can attain. The discipline of life is for the maturing of souls. Old men should be richer in grace than young men, and a certain mellowness should mark the character of the aged Christian. Unfortunately, this is not always seen. Sometimes the beauty and enthusiasm of youth give place to a chill and narrow formalism. Instead of ripening, the soul withers. Instead of rich juices, it has the vinegar of cynicism. This is distinctly wrong. It points to a life’s mistake and failure. But the possibility of so unfortunate an issue bids us all be on our guard against it. It warns us to avoid the danger, and it urges us to use the grace of God so that we may ripen and grow mellow.
III. LET US ANTICIPATE THE HARVEST INGATHERING OF A COMPLETE AND RIPE LIFE. The shock of corn is gathered in. This is necessary to preserve it; for if it were left on the field it would not in the dank autumn. An earthly immortality would be no blessing. But God calls his aged servants out of the world in which their service is complete and which can no longer minister to their further ripening. Yet the ingathering is not the end. The wheat is not heaped up to be burnt, but stored in the granary for food and for seed. God gathers his servants home in safety, sheltered from all storms and frosts of winter. Then the true purpose of their lives begins to be seen. All the rest was but the preparation for the harvest; and the harvest itself was only undertaken in view of future usefulness. The old man has not finished his life when he lays down his grey head to die. Then he is about to begin to live; then the largest fruitfulness of his soul’s experience is about to be utilized. The harvest icy is the joy of the future. Souls are gathered home to God that they may minister to life and blessedness in ages yet unseen.W.F.A.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
CHAP. V.
Eliphaz sheweth that the wicked are always punished by an avenging God; on which account he highly extols the providence of God: he exhorts Job not to despise the chastening of the Almighty, and to attend diligently to what he says.
Before Christ 1645.
Job 5:1. Call now, &c. Eliphaz here urges further, that, supposing Job had been guilty of no very atrocious crime, yet the common frailties of human nature were abundantly sufficient to account for any afflictions which it should please God to lay upon man; but he takes care to let Job know, that they had a far worse opinion of him, whom he treats as profligate and abandoned, and consequently a proper object of divine vengeance: Job 5:1-5. Such, he tells him, is the course of things, as was plain from revelation; and if he was not content with this, he was at liberty, if he pleased, to apply to any of the other deities, and see if he could find better treatment. But were it his case, he would endeavour to reconcile himself in a more especial manner to the true God, who was infinitely more powerful than any or all the gods of the nations, and was not only able to deliver him, but would deliver him out of all his troubles: but then it must be attended with an entire submission to him, which could never be effectual without an ample confession and restitution; thereby acknowledging the justice of God’s dealing with him: Job 5:17; Job 5:27. It was foolish, therefore, to fret and vex himself in vain, since death was all that he could expect as the issue in that way; whereas, if he submitted himself to God, he might expect not only a perfect restoration, but a long continuance in the enjoyments of a flourishing fortune. All this is delivered by Eliphaz in an authoritative way, as the result of an inquiry which he and his friends had made of God in Job’s behalf: he had therefore nothing to do, but diligently to attend and apply himself to it, Job 5:27. Heath. Schultens renders the first words of the present verse, make appeal now, &c.; observing, that call and answer here have a judicial sense, and imply, that if the patriarch should be inclined to plead not guilty, he would meet with no one, either among men or angels, who would undertake the defence of his cause: for, says he, the word kedoshim, rendered saints, signifies the angels, superintendants (under the Almighty) over this visible world. This opinion was probably of great antiquity, especially if the Septuagint version of Deu 32:8 be right: he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the angels of God. This and the following verse, says Heath, are a strong irony.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
FIRST SERIES OF CONTROVERSIAL DISCOURSES
THE ENTANGLEMENT IN ITS BEGINNING
Job 4-14
I. Eliphaz and Job: Chap. 47
A.The Accusation of Eliphaz: Man must not speak against God like Job
Job 4-5
1. Introductory reproof of Job on account of his unmanly complaint, by which he could only incur Gods wrath:
Job 4:2-11
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?
but who can withhold himself from speaking?
3Behold, thou hast instructed many,
and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
5But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest;
it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6Is not this thy fear, thy confidence,
thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
7Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?
or where were the righteous cut off?
8Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity,
and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish,
and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed.
10The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,
and the stout lions whelps are scattered abroad.
2. An account of a heavenly revelation, which declared to him the wrongfulness and foolishness of weak sinful mans raving against God:
Job 4:12 to Job 5:7
12Now a thing was secretly brought to me,
and mine ear received a little thereof,
13in thoughts from the visions of the night,
when deep sleep falleth on men
14fear came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones to shake.
15Then a spirit passed before my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up!
16It stood, but I could not discern the form thereof:
an image was before mine eyes;
there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17Shall mortal man be more just than God?
shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
18Behold, He put no trust in His servants;
and His angels He charged with folly:
19how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
which are crushed before the moth?
20They are destroyed from morning to evening;
they perish forever without any regarding it.
21Doth not their excellency which is in them go away?
they die, even without wisdom.
Job 5:1Call now, if there be any that will answer thee;
and to which of the saints will thou turn?
2For wrath killeth the foolish man,
and envy slayeth the silly one.
3I have seen the foolish taking root;
but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4His children are far from safety,
and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them:
5whose harvest the hungry eateth up,
and taketh it even out of the thorns,
and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
6Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust,
neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
7yet man is born unto trouble,
as the sparks fly upward.
3. Admonition to repentance, as the only means by which Job can recover Gods favor and his former happy estate:
Job 5:8-27
8I would seek unto God,
and unto God would I commit my cause;
9which doeth great things and unsearchable,
marvellous things without number;
10who giveth rain upon the earth,
and sendeth waters upon the fields;
11to set up on high those that be low,
that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
13He taketh the wise in their own craftiness,
and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
14They meet with darkness in the day-time,
and grope in the noonday as in the night.
15But He saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth,
and from the hand of the mighty.
16So the poor hath hope,
and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth;
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
18For He maketh sore, and bindeth up;
He woundeth, and His hands make whole.
19He shall deliver thee in six troubles;
yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
20In famine He shall redeem thee from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
21Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue,
neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh;
neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
23For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
24And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace;
and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
25Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,
and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,
like as a shock of corn cometh in his season.
27Lo this, we have searched it, so it is:
hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Job 4:1. Then answered Eliphaz, and said.It is beyond question the poets aim in this first discourse of Eliphaz to put forward as the first arraigner of Job a man venerable through age and experience, calm and dispassionate, godly after his manner, but at the same time entangled in a one-sided eudemonism and theory of work-righteousness. It is a genuine sage who discourses here: not indeed another Job, but still a character of marked superiority over his two associates, Bildad and Zophar, in experimental insight and sterling personal worth, who here with the self-confident pathos of age and the mien of a prophet communicates his experiences, annexing thereto warnings, exhortations and admonitions. [He, the oldest and most illustrious, the leader and spokesman, appears here at once in his greatest brilliancy. What a fullness in the argument, which at first sight seems unanswerable! How well he knows how to produce illustrations and proofs from revelation and from experience, from among the inhabitants of heaven and of earth! And what poetic beauty irradiates it all! How he strikes with equal skill each various chord of mild reproach, of self-assured conviction, of the awful, of the elevated, of calm instruction, of friendly appeal! How clearly and sharply marked are its divisions, alike as to thought and poetic form! Every strophe is a rounded completed whole in itself: and with what freedom, and, at the same time, with what internal necessity does one strophe link itself to another! One might say that as an artistic discourse this part is the completest in the whole book of Job, that it seems as though the poet wished to show at the very beginning the perfection of his art. Schlottmann. The speech is wonderfully artistic and exhaustive, unmistakably manifesting the speakers high standing and self-conscious superiority, and his conviction of Jobs guilt, yet showing a desire to spare him, even while being faithful with him, and to lead him back to rectitude and humility rather by an exhibition of the goodness of God than of his own sin. The speech is exquisitely climactic, rising, as Ewald says, from the faint whisper and tune of the summer wind to the loud and irresistible thunder of the wintry storm. Dav.]
The discourse opens with a sharp attack on Jobs comfortless and hopeless lamentation, as something which was adapted to bring down on him Gods wrath, which, as experience shows, is visited on every ungodly man (Job 4:2-11). He strengthens this admonition by describing a heavenly vision which had appeared to him during the night, and which had spoken to him, teaching him how foolish and how wrong it is for man to rebel against God (Job 4:12 to Job 5:7). The close of his discourse consists of a kindly admonition to Job to return accordingly to God in a spirit of prayer and penitent humility, in which case God would certainly deliver him out of his misery, and exalt him out of his present low estate (Job 5:8-27).1 The first and shortest of these three divisions forms at the same time the first of the five double strophes, into which the entire discourse falls. The two following divisions are subdivided each into two double strophes of almost equal length, as follows: Div. Job 2 : a. Job 4:12-21; b. Job 5:1-7.Div. Job 3 : a. Job 5:8-16; b. Job 5:17-27.
2. First Division and Double Strophe: Introductory reproof of Jobs faint-hearted lamentation, whereby he could only call down on himself Gods anger: Job 4:2-11.
First Strophe: Job 4:2-6. Retrospective reference to Jobs former godly and righteous life.
Job 4:2. Should one venture a word to thee, wilt thou be grieved?[The friendly courtesy of these opening words of Eliphaz is worthy of note. They are at once dignified, sympathetic and considerate. At the same time, as Dillmann observes, there is a certain coldness and measured deliberation about them, which not improbably grated somewhat on Jobs sensibilities, yearning, as his heart now did, for more tangible and soulfull sympathy. Eliphaz speaks less as a sympathizing friend, than as a fatherly adviser, and a benevolent but critical sage.E.] The interrogative particle , referring to the principal verb , is prefixed to the first word of the sentence. [See Green, Gr. 283, a.] It is immediately followed by an elliptical conditional clause, (comp. the same construction in Job 4:21; also in Num 16:22; Jer 8:4), forming an antecedent clause to the principal verb. To be rendered accordingly: Wilt thou find it irksome, take it hard, will it offend thee, if one attempts a word to thee? is most simply regarded as third pers. sing. Piel of , tentare, after Ecc 7:23. It is less natural, with Umbreit, etc., to take it as Pret. Niph. in the same sense, or following the old versions, to see in it a variant form of (comp. Psa 4:7), as though it were , to speak a word: Job 27:1; Psa 15:3; Psa 81:3. In the latter case the word must be taken either as 3d sing. Niph. in the passive sense (should a word be spoken) or, more probably, as 1st plur. Imperf. Kal (should we speak), in which latter case again two interpretations are possible, namely either: wilt thou, should we speak a word against thee, take offence (Rosenm., etc., comp. the Ancient Versions)? or: shall we speak a word against thee, with which thou wilt be offended (Ewald, Bib. Jahrb. ix. 37; Bttcher)? Against the first rendering may be urged the unusual construction of an Imperf. in an elliptical conditional sentence; against the latter the unheard of transitive rendering which it assumes for . [In favor of taking here in the sense of: to attempt, to venture, it may be said: (1) This meaning is entirely legitimate. (2) It is more expressive. (3) It is more in harmony with the courtesy which marks these opening words of Eliphaz. Hengstenbergs rendering is somewhat different from any of those given above: Shall one venture a word to thee, who art wearied? But the elliptical construction thus assumed seems less simple and natural than the one adopted above.E.] And yet to hold back from words [or speaking] who is able? For the use of with , to hold back from [or, in respect to] anything, comp. Job 12:15; Job 29:9. For the sharpened form instead of , see Ew. 245, b., Aram. plur. ending (comp. Job 12:11; Job 15:13) of , which occurs in our book thirty times, whereas occurs but ten times in all.
Job 4:3. Behold, thou hast admonished many., lit. thou hast chastised, disciplined, namely, with words of reproof and loving admonition. The Perf. here points back to Jobs normal conduct in former days when revered by all, and thus furnishes the standard by which the time of the following Imperf. verb is to be determined. The general sense of Job 4:3-4 is: Thou wast wont formerly to conduct thyself in regard to the sufferings of others so correctly and blamelessly, to show such a proper understanding of the cause and aim of heavy judgments inflicted by God, to deal with sufferings in a way so wise and godlike! But now when suffering has overtaken thyself, etc. And slack hands hast thou strengthened.Slack hands: a sensuous figure representing faint-heartedness and despondency, as also in 2Sa 4:1; Isa 35:3. In the last member of Job 4:4 the expression stumbling [lit. bowing, i.e. sinking] knees is used in essentially the same sense (and so in Heb 12:12).
Job 4:5. Because it is now come to thee, to wit, suffering, misfortune. This construction of the impersonal or neutral is suggested by the context, [and this indefinite statement of the subject is at once more considerate and impressive than if it had been expressed.E.] is construed by Hirzel, Hahn, Schlottmann, Delitzsch, etc., as a particle of time: Now when it is come to thee. But the position, favors rather the causal rendering of the first particle, because now, etc. Comp. Dillmann. [Others explain by supplying an omitted clause: e.g. I say these things because, etc. Ewald: How strange that thou now faintest. The adversative use of , (but now), except after a negative clause, is too doubtful to be relied on here.E.] It toucheth thee ( , comp. Isa 16:8; Jer 4:10; Mic 1:9), and thou art confounded. , lit. art seized with terror, and thereby put out of countenance; comp. Job 21:6; Job 23:15. [It is unfair to Eliphaz to suppose that he utters his wonder with any sinister toneas if he would hint that Job found it somewhat easier to counsel others than console himself; his astonishment is honest and honestly expressed that a man who could say such deep things on affliction, and things that reached so far into the heart of the afflicted, that could lay bare such views of providence and the uses of adversity, and thus invigorate the weak, should himself be so feeble and desponding when suffering came to his own door. Dav. Doubtless the words express surprise on the part of Eliphaz, and were spoken with a kind intent; but also with a certain severity, a purpose to probe Jobs conscience, to lead him to self-examination, and to the discovery of the hidden evil within, of the existence of which Eliphaz, with his theodicy, could have no doubt.E.]
Job 4:6. Is not thy godly fear thy confidence? thy hopethe uprightness of thy ways? The order of the words is chiastic [decussated, inverted]: in the first member the subject, , stands at the beginning; in the second member it is found at the end, , evidently synonymous with . A similar case is found in Job 36:26. Altogether too artificial and forced, and too much at variance with the principles which govern the structure of Hebrew verse, is the explanation attempted by Delitzsch: Is not thy piety thy confidence, thy hope? And the uprightness of thy ways? (viz. and is not the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence and thy hope?) Eliphaz twice again makes use of the ellipsis for in his discourses (Job 15:4; Job 22:4 : and comp. , Hos 4:6 for ). [The word fear is the most comprehensive term for that mixed feeling called piety, the contradictory reverence and confidence, awe and familiarity, which, like the centripetal and centrifugal forces, keep man in his orbit around God. Dav.] , confidence, assurance (the same which elsewhere=, Job 8:14; Job 31:24), not folly (LXX.). [The Vav in the second member is the Vav of the apodosis, or of relation. See Green, Gr. 287, 3.The rendering of E. V.: Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? overlooks the parallelism, and is unintelligible. Some (Hupfeld, Merx) cut the knot by transposing to the end of the verse. The construction as it stands is certainly peculiar, yet not enough so to justify any change. Moreover it seems to have escaped all the commentators that the very harshness and singularity of the construction is intentional, having for its object to arrest more forcibly the attention of Job, to stir up his consciousness on the subject of his piety and rectitude, and thus to further the process of probing his soul on which Eliphaz is in this part of his discourse engaged.E.]
Job 4:7-11 Second Strophe: More explicit expansion of Job 4:6, wherein it is shown as the conclusion of experience that the pious never fall into dire affliction, whereas on the contrary the ungodly and the wicked do so often and inevitably.
Job 4:7. Remember now! who that was innocent has perished? [It would be unfair to Eliphaz (as well as quite beside his argument, the purpose of which is to reprove Jobs impatience, and lead him back by repentance to God), to suppose that he argued in this way: Who ever perished being innocent? Thou hast perished; therefore thy piety and the integrity of thy ways have been a delusion. On the contrary his argument is: Where were the pious ever cut off? Thou art pious: why is not thy piety thy hope? Why fall, being a pious man, and as such of necessity to be finally prospered by God, into such irreligious and wild despair? Eliphaz acknowledges Jobs piety, and makes it the very basis of his exhortation; of course, though pious, he had been guilty (as David was) of particular heinous sins, which explained and caused his calamities. The fundamental axiom of the friends produced here both positively and negatively as was meet for the first announcement of it by Eliphaz is, that whatever appearance to the contrary and for a time, yet ultimately and always the pious were saved and the wicked destroyed. Dav.] The annexed to the gives greater vivacity to the question; comp. Job 13:19; Job 17:3; also the similar phrase (Gesen. 122, 2).
Job 4:8. So far as I have seen, they who plough mischief and sow ruin reap the same. , not when (or if) I saw (Vaih., Del.), for this construction of does not allow the omission of the Vav Consec. before the apodosis. But either the whole sentence is to be taken as a statement of the comparison with that which precedes, to which it is annexed, thus: As I have seen: they who plough reap the same (Hirz., Schlott. [Con.]). Or we are to explain with most of the later commentators; So far as I have seen, i.e. so far as my experience goes (Rosenm., Arnh., Stick., Welte, Heiligst., Ew., Dillm. [Dav., Merx], etc.). , lit. nothingness, then sin, wickedness, mischief. as in Job 3:10. The agricultural figure of sowing (or ploughing) and reaping, emphatically representing the organically necessary connection of cause and effect in the domain of the moral life; to be found also in Hos 8:7; Hos 10:13; Pro 22:8; Gal 6:7 seq.; 2Co 9:6, and often.
Job 4:9. By the breath of Eloah they perish: like plants, which a burning hot wind scorches (Gen 41:6). The discourse thus carries forward the preceding figure. On the use of the divine name in our poem, see Introd. 5. The is in b. still more specifically defined as , lit. breath of his nostril, i.e. blast of his anger. Both synonyms are still more closely bound together in Psa 18:16. [As the previous verse describes retribution as a natural necessity founded in the order of the world, so does this verse trace back this game order of the world to the divine causality. Schlott. Lee, criticising the A. V.s rendering of in the first member by blast, says: I know of no instance in which the word will bear this sense. It rather means a slight or gentle breathing. The sentiment seems to be: they perish from the gentlest breathing of the Almighty .. It is added: and from the blast of his nostril, or wrath, they come to an end. From the construction here, blast or storm is probably meant. See Psa 11:6; Hos 13:15, etc., and if so, we shall have a sort of climax here.]
Job 4:10-11. From the vegetable kingdom the figurative representation of the discourse passes over to that of animal life, in order to show, by the destruction of a family of lions, how the insolent pride of the wicked is crushed by the judgment of God.The cry of the lion, and the voice of the roaring lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken; the strong [lion] perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.[Merx rejects these two verses as spurious; but their appropriateness in the connection will appear from what is said below.E.] Not less than five different names of the lion are used in this description, showing the extent to which the lion abounded in the lands of the Bible, and especially in the Syro-Arabian country, which was the scene of our poem. The usual name stands first; next follows the purely poetic designation, , the roarer (Vaih.), comp. Job 10:16; Job 28:8; Psa 91:13; Pro 26:13; Hos 5:14; Hos 13:7; then in Job 4:10 b comes the standard expression for young lions, , comp. Jdg 14:5; Psa 17:12; Psa 104:21; then follows in Job 4:11 a, the strong one, from , to be strong, found again in Pro 30:30, and being thus limited to the diction of poetry, and finally in Job 4:11 b the no less poetic , which here, as well as in Job 38:29; Gen 49:9; Num 24:9, denotes the lioness, for which, however, we have also the distinctive feminine form in Eze 19:2. [The young lions are mentioned along with the old in order to exemplify the destruction of the haughty sinner with all his household. Schlott.] (from , frangere, conterere, an Aramaizing alternate form of , comp. Psa 58:7) signifies: are shattered, are dashed out; an expression which, strictly taken, suits only the last subject , but may by zeugma be referred to both the preceding subjects, to which such a verb as are silenced would properly correspond. Observe the use of the perf. in making vividly present the sudden destruction of the rapacious lions, which is then followed in Job 4:11, first by a present partic. (), then by a present Imperf. (), describing them in their present condition, shattered, broken in strength, and restrained in their rage. [Delitzsch remarks that the partic. is a stereotype expression for wandering about prospectless and helpless, a definition which here, as well as in the passages to which he refers, would considerably weaken the sense. See Hengsten. in loco.E.] , for the lack of; the same as without; comp. Job 4:20; Job 6:6; Job 24:7-8; Job 31:19. [From wicked man his imagination suddenly shifts to his analogue among beasts, the lion, and there appears before him one old and helpless, his teeth dashed out, his roar silenced, dying for lack of prey, and being abandoned by all his kind; a marvellous picture of a sinner once powerful and bloody, but now destitute of power, and with only his bloody instincts remaining to torture and mock his impotency. Dav.]
3. Second Division: describing a heavenly revelation which declared to him the wrongfulness and the folly of frail, sinful mans anger against God.a. Second Double Strophe: the heavenly revelation itself, introduced by a description of the awful nocturnal vision through which it was communicated: Job 4:12-21.
First Strophe: Job 4:12-16. The night-vision.
Job 4:12. And to me there stole a word.Lit. and to me there was stolen, there was brought in a stealthy, mysterious manner. The imperf. is ruled by the following imperf. consec. [The speaker is thrown back again by the imagination into the imposing circumstances of the eventful night. The Pual implies that the oracle was sent. Dav.] The separation of the which properly belongs to the verb , but which is placed here, at the beginning of the verse, before [because he desires, with pathos, to put himself prominent, Del.] rests on the fact that that which is now about to be related, and especially the which came to Eliphaz, is hereby designated as something new, as something additional to that which has already been observed. [This separation is quite often met with in poetry. Comp. Psa 69:22; Psa 78:15; Psa 78:26; Psa 78:29, etc. See Ew. Gr. 346 b.] And mine ear caught a whisper therefrom:i.e., proceeding therefrom, occasioned by that communication of a mysterious . The in (poetic form, for , Ew. 263 b) is therefore causative, not partitive, as Hahn and Delitzsch regard it. signifies here, as in Job 26:14, a faint whisper, or lisp [or murmur], , susurrus, not a little, a minimum, as the Targ., Pesh., the Rabbis [and the Eng. Ver.] render it. The word is to be derived either from , thus denoting a faint, indistinct impression on the ear (Arnheim, Delitzsch), or from the primitive root, ,, to which, according to Dillmann, who produces its thiopic cognate, the idea attaches of lip-closing, dumbness, and low-speaking. [Here the word is designed to show the value of such a solemn communication, and to arouse curiosity. Del. The whole description of the way in which the communication was made indicates, perhaps, the naturalness and calmness and peace of the intercourse of mans spirit and Godshow there is nothing forced or strained in Gods communication to manit droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneathand at the same time mans impaired capacity and receptiveness and dullness of spiritual hearing. Dav. The word was too sacred and holy to come loudly and directly to his ear. Del.
Job 4:13-16 present a more specific description of that which is stated generally in Job 4:12.
Job 4:13. In the confused thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men.Whether with most expositors we connect these words with the verse preceding, as a supplementary determination of the time, or as a preliminary statement of time connected with what follows (Umbreit, Dillmann, Conant, etc.), matters not as to the sense. are here, as also in Job 20:2, thoughts proceeding like branches from the heart as their root, and intertwining themselves (Delitzsch). [The root, according to Del. and Frst, is , to bind; according to Ges., Dav., etc., it is for , to split; hence here and Job 20:2 fissures, divisions, divided counsels (1Ki 18:21), thoughts running away into opposite ramifications, distracting doubts. Dav.] The following indicates that these thoughts proceed from visions of the night, i.e., dream-visions; from which, however, it does not follow that Eliphaz intends to refer what he is about to narrate purely to the sphere of the life of dreams. For the determination of the time in our verse is altogether general, as the second member in particular shows. Hengstenbergs position that Eliphaz includes himself among the men designated here as those on whom deep sleep falls, and that he accordingly represents his vision as literally a dream-vision, has no foundation in the context. (Comp. still further Passavants remark on Job 4:13 under the head Homiletical and Practical). [There are three things contained in the genetic process or progress towards this oracle. First, visions of the night, raising deep questions of mans relation to God, but leaving them unsolved, short flights of the spirit into superhuman realms, catching glimpses of mysteries, too short to be self-revealingthese are the visions. Second, the perturbed, perplexed, and meditative condition of the spirit following these, when it presses into the darkness of the visions for a solution, and is rocked and tossed with fear or longingthe thoughts from the visions. And third, there is the new revelation clearing away the doubts and calming the perturbation of the soul, a revelation attained either by the spirit rising convulsively out of its trouble, and piercing by a new divinely-given energy the heart of things before hidden; or by the truth being communicated to it by some Divine messenger or word. Dav. The oracle was conveyed by a dream, because in the patriarchal age such oracles were of most frequent occurrence, as may be seen, e.g. in the book of Genesis. Ewald]. For , deep sleep, such as is wont to be experienced about the hour of midnight, in contrast to ordinary sleep, , and to the light, wakeful slumber of morning, , comp. Gen 2:21; Gen 15:12; 1Sa 26:12; also below, Job 33:15, where Elihu has a description imitative of the passage before us. [ is the deep sleep related to death and ecstasy, in which man sinks back from outward life into the remotest ground of his inner life. Del. Per contra Davidson says: is used generally of ecstatic, divinely-induced sleep, yet not exclusively (Pro 19:15, and verb, Jon 1:5), and not here. The meaning is that the vision came, not at the hour when prophetic slumber is wont to fall on men (and that El. was under such), but simply at the hour when men were naturally under deep sleep. El. was thus alone with the vision, and the solitary encounter accounts for the indelible impression its words and itself left on him.]
Job 4:14. Shuddering [fear] came upon me (, from =, to meet, befall, come upon, comp. Gen 42:38), and trembling, and sent a shudder through the multitude of my bones: the subject of being the shuddering and the trembling, not the ghostlike something (as Delitzsch says), of which Eliphaz first proceeds to speak in the following verse. [The perf. vbs. in this verse are pluperf. A terror had fallen upon me, like a certain vague lull which precedes the storm, as if nature were uneasily listening and holding in her breath for the coming calamity. So Davidson. in poetry is often used for , all. The terror striking through his bones indicates how deeply and thoroughly he was agitated. Bones, as elsewhere in similar passages, for the substratum of the bodily frame.E.]
Job 4:15. And a spirit passed before me; lit.: passes before me (, glides, flits); for the description as it grows more vivid introduces in this and the following verse the imperf. in place of the introductory perf. For in the sense of a spirit, the apparition of a spirit or an angel, comp. 1Ki 22:21. So correctly the ancient Versions, Umbreit, Ewald, Heiligstedt, Hahn [Good, Lee, Wem., Ber., Noy., Bar., Carey], etc. On the other hand [Schult.], Rosenm., Hirzel, Bttcher, Stickel, Delitzsch, Dillmann [Schlott., Ren., Rod,, Merx] render: and a breath [of wind] passed over me, a current of air, such as is wont to accompany spirit-communications from the other world (comp. Job 38:1; 1Ki 19:11; Act 2:2, etc.). The description in the following verse, however, does not agree with this rendering, especially the , which is unmistakably predicated of the in the sense of an angel, a personal spirit. [It needs no argument to prove that the spirit here introduced is a good spirit, although it may be mentioned in passing that Codurcus, the Jesuit commentator, followed by some others, regards him as an evil spirit. This notion is advanced in the interest of the theory that Jobs friends are throughout to be condemned.E.]The hairs of my body bristled up., Piel intensive, to rise up mightily, to bristle up. , elsewhere the individual hair (capillus), here a collective word (coma, crines), of the same structure as , Job 3:5. [The expression , lit.: the hair of my flesh, shows that the terror, which in Job 4:14 thrilled through all his bones, here creeps over his whole body.E.]
Job 4:16. It stood there, I discerned not its appearanceThe subj. of is not the unknown something of the preceding verse (Rosenm., etc.), but the spirit, as it is already known to be, which has hitherto flitted before Eliphaz, but which now stands still to speak (comp. 1Sa 3:10).An image before mine eyes;, the word which in respect to spiritual phenomena is most nearly expressive of form. In Num 12:8; Psa 17:15 it is used of the or of God. Here it is very suitably used to describe the spiritual or angelic apparition, fading into indefiniteness; for it refers back to , the true subject of , being placed after it in apposition to it.A murmur and a voice I heard., a lisping murmur and a voice, a hendiadys, signifying a murmur uttering itself in articulate tones, a murmuring or whispering voice (Hahn). [So Ges., Frst, Words., Dillm., Del., Dav.]. Umbreit (1st Ed.), Schlottmann [Eng. Ver., Good, Lee, Con., Carey, Ren.] take , but unsuitably, in the sense of silence. For the true sense comp. 1Ki 19:12. [Of those who take in the sense of silence there are two classes, the one, represented by the English Version and commentators, separates between the silence and the voice: first the silence, then the voice, as Renan: in the midst of the silence I heard a voice; the other, represented by Schlottmann and Hengstenberg, combine the two terms as a hendiadys, a commingling of both, a faint, muffled voice (Hengst.) Schlottmann quotes from Gersonides as follows: And I heard his wonderful words as though they were compounded of the voice and of silence. Burke in his Treatise on the Sublime and Beautiful has the following remarks on this vision: There is a passage in the book of Job amazingly sublime, and this sublimity is principally due to the terrible uncertainty of the thing described. We are first prepared with the utmost solemnity for the vision; we are first terrified before we are let even into the obscure cause of our emotion; but when this grand cause of terror makes its appearance, what is it? is it not wrapt up in the shades of its own incomprehensible darkness, more awful, more striking, more terrible than the liveliest description, than the clearest painting, could possibly represent it?E.]
Second strophe, Job 4:17-21. The contents of the revelation communicated through the vision.
Job 4:17. Is a mortal just before Eloah, or before his Maker is a man pure?Already in this question is contained the substance of the revelation; Job 4:18-21 only furnish the proof of this proposition from the universal sinfulness of men. here is not comparative, more just than (Vulg., Luth. [E. V.], etc.), but from the side of any one [Gesenius: marking the author of a judgment or estimate: here in the judgment or sight of God.] Hence is a man just from the side of God? i.e., from Gods stand-point; or, more briefly: before God (LXX.: ). In the same sense with this = coram (for which comp. Num 16:9; Num 32:22), we find in Job 9:2; Job 25:4; and in Job 15:15; Job 25:5. [According to the other (the comparative) rendering, the sentiment is: Whoever censures the course of Providence, by complaining of his own lot (as Job had done), claims to be more just than God, the equity of whose government he thus arraigns. See Conant, Davidson, etc.]
Job 4:18. Lo, in His servants He trusteth not; and to His angels He imputes error.Servants () and angels () are only different designations of the same superhuman beings, who in Job 1:6 are called sons of God. Eliphaz refers to them here in order to introduce a conclusion a majori ad minus. , lit.: to place anything in one, i.e., to ascribe anything to one, imputare. Comp. 1Sa 22:15. is most correctly explained by Dillmann, after the Ethiopic, as signifying error, imperfection (so also Ewald [Frst, Delitzsch], and still earlier Schnurrer, after the Arabic). The derivation from , according to which it would mean folly, presumption (Kimchi, Gesenius [Schlottmann, Renan], etc.), is etymologically scarcely to be admitted [on account of the half vowel, and still more the absence of the Daghesh. Del.] The ancient versions seem only to have guessed at the sense (Vulg., pravum quid; LXX., ; Chald., iniquitas; Pesch, stupor). Hupfeld needlessly attempts to amend after Job 24:12, where the parallel word is given as the object of . [It is not meant that the good spirits positively sin, as if sin were a natural necesary consequence of their creature-ship and finite existence, but that even the holiness of the good spirits is never equal to the absolute holiness of God, and that this deficiency is still greater in man, who is both spiritual and corporeal, who has earthiness as the basis of his original nature. Del.]
Job 4:18. How much more they who dwell in houses of clay. here introducing the conclusion of the syllogism a majori ad minus, begun in Job 4:18, and so = (Job 9:14; Job 15:16; Job 25:6); here, as in 2Sa 16:11, to be translated by quanto magis, because a positive premise (Job 4:18 b.) precedes; comp. Ewald, 354, c. Those who dwell in houses of clay are men generally. There is no particular reference to those who are poor and miserable. For the expression does not point to mens habitations, but to the material, earthly, frail bodies with which they are clothed, their (comp. Job 33:6; Wis 9:15; 2Co 5:1, as well as the Mosaic account of creation which lies at the foundation of all these representations; see Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19). It may be said further that the figurative and indefinite character of the language here justifies no particular deductions either in respect to the nature and constitution of angels (to wit, whether in Eliphazs conception they are altogether incorporeal, or whether they are endowed with supra-terrestrial corporeality), nor in respect to the doctrine which he may have entertained concerning the causal nexus between mans sensuous nature (corporeity) and sin.The foundation of which is in the dust;viz.: of the houses of clay, for it is to these that the suffix points in ; comp. Gen 3:19.Which are crushed as though they were moths.The suffix in again refers back to the houses of clay, only that here those who dwell in them, men, are included with them in one notion. The subj. of is indefinite; it embraces everything that operates destructively on the life of man. , not sooner than the moth is destroyed (Hahn), nor: sooner than that which is devoured by the moth (Kamphsn.), nor: more rapidly than a moth destroys (Oehler, Fries), nor: set before the moth [or worm, after Jarchi] to be crushed (Schlottmann), but: like moths, as though they were moths (LXX: ). accordingly means the same here as in Job 3:24, and the tertium comparationis is the moths frailty and powerlessness to resist, and not its agency in slowly but surely destroying and corroding, to which allusion is made in Hos 5:12; Isa 1:9; Isa 51:8; also below in Job 13:28 of our book. [To the latter idea the verb used here is altogether unsuited, the meaning being to crush, not to consume in the manner of the moth.]
Job 4:20. From morning to evening are they destroyed;i.e., in so short a space of time as the interval between morning and evening they can be destroyed, one can destroy them (, potential and impersonal, like in Job 4:19). For the use of this phrase, from morning till evening, as equivalent to in the shortest time, comp. Isa 38:12; also our proverbial saying: well at morning, dead at night, as well as the name day-fly [comp. day-lily, ephemeron.]Before any one marks it they perish forever. , scil. (comp. Job 1:8; Job 23:6; Job 24:12), without there being any one who gives heed to it, who regards it, and hence the same as unobserved, unawares; not in folly, without understanding (Ewald).
Job 4:21. Is it not so:if their cord in them is torn away, they die, and not in wisdom?The construction is the same as in Job 4:2; the words are an elliptical conditional clause, intercalated in the principal interrogative sentence. (which Olshausen needlessly proposes to amend to , their tent-pin), is neither their residue (Vulgate, Rabb., Luther, etc.); nor their best, their chief excellence (De Wette, Amheim, Schlottmann [Davidson, Barnes, Noyes, E. V.], etc.); nor their bow-string (the string which is drawn out in them as in a bow, and which is unloosed to make the bow useless; Umbreit); [nor their abundance, excess, whether of wealth or tyranny, and which passes away with them (Lee), which does not suit the universality of the description; nor their fluttering round is over with them (Good, Wemyss; taking as a verb, to pass away, and as a noun, fluttering; two forced interpretations)E.]; butthe only interpretation with which the verb , to be torn away, agrees (comp. Jdg 16:3; Jdg 16:14; Isa 33:20)their tent-cord, the thread of their life, here conceived as a cord stretched out and holding up the tent of the body; comp. Job 30:11; Isa 38:12; also Job 6:9; Job 27:8; and especially Ecc 12:6, where this inward hidden thread of life is represented as the silver cord, which holds up the lamp suspended from the tent-canvass (see comment on the passage). This, the only correct construction of the passage (according to which =, tent-cord), is adopted by J. D. Michaelis, Hirzel, Hahn, Delitzsch, Kamphsn., Dillmann [Wordsworth, Renan, Rodwell, Gesenius, Frst]. [ is neither superfluous nor awkward (against Olsh.), since it is intended to say that their duration of life falls in all at once like a tent when that which in them corresponds to the cord of a tent (i.e., the ) is drawn away from it. Del.]And not in wisdom; with, out having found true wisdom during their life, living in short-sightedness and folly to the end of their days; comp. Job 36:12; Pro 10:21 (Dillmann).
b. Third Double Strophe. Application of the contents of the heavenly revelation to Jobs case, Job 5:1-7.
First Strophe. Job 5:1-5. [The folly of murmuring against God asserted and illustrated].
Job 5:1. Call now! is there any one who will answer thee? and to whom of the holy ones wilt thou turn?That is to say: forasmuch as, according to the interpretation of that Voice from God in the night, neither men nor angels are just and pure before God, all thy complaining against God will be of no avail to thee; not one of the heavenly servants of God in heaven, to whom thou mightest turn thyself, will regard thy cry for help, not one of them will intercede with God for thee, and spare thee the necessity of humbling thyself unconditionally and penitently beneath the chastening hand of God. [The question is somewhat ironical in its tone. If thou art disposed to challenge Gods dealings with thee, make the attempt; enter thy protest; but before whom? the angels, the holy ones of heaven? Behold they are not pure before God, and being holy, they are conscious of their inferiority; will they entertain thy appeal? Where then is thy plea to find a hearing? Here as elsewhere in this book, call and answer seem to be law terms, the former denoting the action of the complainant, the latter that of the defendant. Noyes; and so Umbreit.E.] , holy ones [saints, E. V., is misleading, on account of its association with the holy among men], here for angels (as in Job 15:15; Psa 89:6 (5), 8 (7); Dan 4:14 (17); Zec 14:5); thus called with a purpose, because their very holiness, which causes them to subordinate themselves unconditionally to God (comp. Job 4:18), prevents them from entertaining such complaints as those of Job. How little the Roman Catholic commentators are justified in finding in this verse a locus classicus in favor of the invocation of angels and saints under the Old Dispensation needs no proof. Schlott.]
Job 5:2. For grief slayeth a fool. furnishes a reason for the negative thought contained in the preceding verse [complaints against Gods administration will meet with no favorable response from the holy ones of his court, for they are of a character to destroy the fool who utters themE.]; hence it may be properly rendered rather [so far from calling forth sympathy, they will much rather destroy the complainerE.]; comp. Job 22:2; Job 31:18. The before is after the Aramaic usage, introducing the object which is emphatically placed first: quod attinet ad stultum [as for the fool], etc.; so also in Job 21:22; Isa 11:9 (comp. Ewald, 292, e; 310, a). [Denied by Hengstenberg, who explains it as a poetic modification of the sense of the verb: stulto mortem affert, but favored by the position and the accounts.E.] The here is naturally one who impatiently murmurs against God because of his destiny, and presumptuously censures Him; such a one as Job must have seemed to Eliphaz to be in view of his lamentations and curses in Job 3. As synonymous with we have in the second member , the simple one, without understanding [open to evil influences, a moral weakling. Dav.], while to , grief [=unmanly repining] in the first member, we find to correspond in the second , properly zeal, here in the bad sense, insolent murmuring, a rancorous feeling toward God. For the form [peculiar to Job], instead of the usual form, , comp. Job 6:2; Job 10:17. [Some (e.g. Barnes) refer and here to the wrath and jealousy of God against the sinner. But it is certainly better to apply the words here to the emotions of the fool; his own passion and jealousy ruin him. (1) We have then the proper autonemesis of sin; its violence brings no help but only destruction to itself, which is the nerve of all Eliphaz is saying (Job 5:6-7). (2) Job refers to these bitter words of Eliphaz with evident pain in the very opening of his reply (Job 6:2): would God that my were but weighed! (3) The words fit well Jobs state of mind. Dav.]
Job 5:3-5. An example in proof of the statement just made about the destruction of him who murmurs against God.
Job 5:3. I myself have seen a fool taking root, to wit, like a thriving plant, growing in fruitful soil, and hence in a state of prosperity which promised to endure and to increase; compare Psa 1:3; Isa 27:6, etc.Then I cursed his habitation suddenly, i.e., when I perceived how altogether unstable and superficial was his prosperity, and what a fearful judgment all at once burst over his head by the decree of God. It is to the moment of the descent of this judgment that refers, and . to curse, is not to be understood as a prophetic prediction of the ruin which is hereafter to overtake one in prosperity (Ewald, Schlottmann, etc.), but as a recognition accompanying the event, a subjective human echo, so to speak, of Gods curse, which has already actually overtaken its object. [The word suddenly points as with the finger to the catastrophe by which at one stroke Jobs prosperity was laid in the dust, to the Chaldeans and Sabeans, to the lightning and the storm. Hengst. I cursed his habitation suddenly, means accordingly; when sudden destruction smote his habitation, I felt and declared that it was cursed of God.E.] , habitation, abode [homestead, Carey], including the pasture-land belonging to it, not simply the pasturage, or grazing-place of the herds. Comp. Job 5:24; Job 18:15; also , Job 8:6.
Job 5:4. His sons were far from help, and were crushed in the gate without deliverance.The Presents (Imperfects) in this and the following verse, describe the consequences of the judgment on the fool as they extend into the present. , help, deliverance, as in Job 5:11. , Imperf. Hithp., lit.: they must allow themselves to be crushed, viz.: by their unjust accusers and persecutors in the court of justice, before the tribunal; for it is to this that reference is made in ; comp. Job 29:7; Job 31:21; also the same exact form of expression, excepting the Piel instead of the Hithp. in Pro 22:22 : oppress not the poor in the gate. See Com. in loco. [Davidson and Rodwell take the verb in the reflex sense: And crushed each other in the gate. On the uses of the gate of an oriental city, see Smiths Bib. Dict., art. Gate.]
Job 5:5. He whose harvest the hungry devour., not a conjunction, because, or while (Delitzsch), but a relative pronoun, whose; comp. Job 20:22; Job 31:8. The description of the judgment, begun in the preceding verse, is here accordingly continued, with special reference to the property of him who is cast down from the height of his prosperity.And take it away even out of a thorn-hedge, i.e., they are not kept off even by hedges of thorn, hence they carry on their plundering in the most daring and systematic manner. before is here the same as : adeo e spinis (comp. Job 3:22) [and see Ewald, 219, c]And the thirsty swallow up his wealth [lit.: their wealth; the plural suffix indicating that the children are here included]. Instead of , it is better, following out the hint which lies in in the first member, as well as following the lead of almost all the ancient versions, to read , or , perhaps even the singular . So Rosenm., Umbreit, Ewald [who in his Gram., 73, c. suggests that the omission of the may be due to its location between two vowel sounds], Hirzel, Vaihinger, Stickel, Welte, Ezra [Dillmann, Renan, Wordsworth, Barnes, Elzas, Merx]. etc. To this subject, moreover, the verb is best suited, which signifies to snap, greedily to drain, to lap, or sip up anything [Ges. and Frst: to pant; Renan: to look on with longing, couve des yeux ses richesses]. According to the Masoretic text, , the translation should be: and a snare catches their wealth [Dav. and Con.: a snare gapeth for their substance]. , from , nectere = snare, gin, might indeed be used here tropically for fraud, robbery (not, however, for robbers, as the Targ. and some of the Rabbis [also E. V., sing, robber] take it, nor for intriguer, as Delitzsch [Carey, Wemyss] have it). [The meaning snare is adopted by Ges., Frst, Noyes, Con., Dav., Schlottm., Hengsten.] This rendering, however, would be rather harsh, especially in connection with the verb , which favors rather the interpretation we have given above.
Second Strophe. Job 5:6-7. [Human suffering founded on a Divine ordinance].
Job 5:6. For evil goes not forth from the dust, and trouble does not sprout up out of the ground;i.e., the misfortune of men does not grow like weeds out of the earth; it is no mere product of nature, no accidental physical and external ingredient of this earthly life; but it has its sufficient cause, it originates in human sin; God decrees and ordains it for the punishment of sin; whence it follows that the proper remedy against it is the renunciation of sin, and not a gloomy frowardness and mournfulness. and precisely as in Job 4:8.
Job 5:7. But [ adversative, and so Schlott., Dillm., Dav., Del., Ren., Hengst., etc.] man is born to trouble;i.e., it lies in human nature, through sin to bring forth misery (Hirzel, Dillmann, etc.); as man he is now not pure, but impure, not righteous, but unrighteous (comp. Job 4:17), and for that very reason he cannot avoid manifold suffering and hardship, the divinely ordained consequence of sin. Observe how gently Eliphaz seeks to bring home to Job the truth that his suffering is also the consequence of his sin. [ is by some regarded as Pual Perf., the short shureq written with Vav (Green, Gr., 43, b); by others as Hoph. Imperf. (Ewald, 131, c.); while others would point it , as Niph. Imperf. (Merx)].As the sparks of the flame fly upward; lit.: and the sparks, etc.comparationis, as in Proverbs 25-29 often; comp. Job 22:11; Job 14:12; Job 14:19 [otherwise also called Vav adquationis; see Green, Gr. 287, 1]. , sons of the fire, children of the flame (comp. Son 8:6), are naturally neither birds of prey ( , LXX.; comp. the aves of the Vulg. So also J. D. Michaelis, Gesenius [Frst], Vaihinger, Heiligstedt [Umbreit, Good, Wemyss, Conant, Noyes, Renan, Rodwell], etc.; nor angels (Schlottmann, who refers to Jdg 13:20; Psa 104:4); nor angry passions (Bttcher, and similarly Stickel); but simply fire-sparks (Ewald, Hirzel, Hahn, Ebrard, Delitzsch, Dillmann [Wemyss, Conant, Davidson, Barnes, Carey, Merx]). Only of these can it be properly said that they fly upwards by a law of necessity, which constitutes here the tertium comparationis. , lit.: they make high their flight, they fly far up on high, fly unceasingly upwards ( for , Ewald, 285, a.) [It has been objected to the rendering sparks that the expression make high their flight is too strong to be applied to them, being more suitable to the lofty soaring of birds, or angels, or arrows. But an appeal may confidently be taken on this point to the poetic sensibility of the reader who has ever watched the upward flight of sparks by night, when relative altitudes are but vaguely determined, and when these sons of the flame seem literally to soar and vanish among the stars.E.]
[The central thought of the above strophe is that the connection between sin and suffering is a Divine ordinance. In Job 5:1-2 this is presented in the way of warning to Job as a truth against which he can take no appeal to any higher court, and as one of which he is in danger of realizing in his own case the extreme consequences; for the special sin of murmuring against God would infallibly bring about his ruin. In Job 5:3-5 the same truth is vividly enforced by an illustration drawn from actual life. In Job 5:6-7 it is presented in the form of a general law, which, in the statement here given of it is a binary law, consisting of two parts, or propositions, which are complementary of each other; the first (Job 5:6), negative, the second (Job 5:7), positive. The misery which follows sin in general, and in particular the special example of misery following sin mentioned in Job 5:3-5 is a Divine Ordinance: because (, Job 5:6) evil is not from without, not from the earth, not from the material constitution of things, for (, Job 5:7) Man ( emphatic by position) is the cause of his own trouble, being born to it, a sufferer by an internal, not an external necessity, by a law of his own existence; a law as necessary, too, as that which compels the sparks to fly upward. According to this view of the connection the in Job 5:7 is argumentative as well as that in Job 5:6. The source of misery is not without, forMan himself is the source of it. As regards the tense of it follows that if Imperf. (Niph., or more probably Hoph.) the two propositions are co-ordinated in time; evil is not wont to spring from the earth, for man is wont to be born to trouble. If Perf. (Pual), which seems preferable, the internal necessity of suffering in man himself is conceived as logically antecedent to the relation of man to the external world. His afflictions came not from without, for he was born under a law which subjects him to it.
Elzas renders Job 5:7 a: For then man would be born to trouble. But this is to miss the point of Job 5:6, which is to deny not the natural and necessary character of suffering (for that is implied in Job 5:7), but the internality and materiality of its cause.E.]
4. Third Division. Exhortation to repentance, as the only means whereby Job could be restored to the Divine favor, and to the enjoyment of his former prosperity, Job 5:8-27.
a. Fourth Double Strophe. Job should trustfully turn to God, the helper in every time of need, and the righteous Judge, Job 5:8-16.
First Strophe. [Job encouraged to turn trustfully to God by a description of the beneficent operations of God in nature and among men], Job 5:8-11.
Job 5:8. Nevertheless II would turn to God.[Now comes a new turn in this magnificent discourse of Eliphazthe hortatory part.. El. for the first time fully conceives as a whole Jobs attitude. Jobs complaints and murmurs against God terrify and distress him, and with the recoil and emotion of horror he cries: But I would have recourse unto God! The antithetic transition here is as strong as possible, being made by three elements, the particle of opposition (, Job 1:11; Job 2:5), the addition by the pronoun I, and these two intensified and made to stand out with solemn emphasis in utterance, by being loaded with distinctive accents. Dav.] For the conditional sense of , comp. Ges. 127 [Conants Ed., 125], 5 [Green, Gr. 263, 1]. with , sedulo adire aliquem, to turn to any one with entreaty, supplicating help; comp. Deu 12:5; also Job 8:5 of our book.To the Most High would I commit my cause.As in the preceding part of the verse God is called (the strong, the mighty one), as here He is called , for the first time by Eliphaz. In regard to the significance of this change, comp. Del.: is God as the mighty one; is God in the totality of His variously manifested nature. , causa, plea, as elsewhere (comp. on Job 3:4).
Job 5:9-11. A description of the wondrous greatness of God, as a ground of encouragement for the exhortation contained in Job 5:8.
Job 5:9. Who doeth great things which are unsearchable.[El.s object is now to present God under such aspects as to win Job, and his description of Him is Infinite power directed by Infinite goodness. Dav.] in which there is no searching, i.e., which are not to be searched out; comp. , Job 5:4.
Job 5:10. Who giveth rain on the face of the land [and sendeth water on the face of the fields]., lit.; all that is without, the open air [colloquial English: out of doors], in contrast with that which is covered, enclosed. Hence it means either a street, court, market-place, when the stand-point of the speaker is within a house, or the open country, field, plain, when the stand-point is within a city or a camp. The latter is the case here, as also in ch, Job 18:17. [According to Ges. (Lex. 1, b) the contrast between and is that of tilled land and the deserts. To this Conant makes two valid objections: (1) There is nothing to indicate such a limitation of (tilled land); (2) the distinctive meaning of is obscured. Hence it is best to take generally, of the earth at large, in a more limited sense, the fields.] The agency of rain-showers and of spring-water (, comp. Psa 104:10) in making the earth fruitful is an image of frequent occurrence with Oriental writers in general, and with the writers of Scripture in particular, to illustrate the wonderful exercise of Gods power and grace in helping, delivering, and restoring life; comp. Psa 65:10 seq.; Psa 147:9 seq.; Jer 14:22, as also the more comprehensive description in Jehovahs discourse, Job 38:25. [He who makes the barren places fruitful can also change suffering into joy. Del.]
Job 5:11. To set the low in a high place, and the mourning raise up to prosperity.This being the moral purpose of those mighty beneficent activities of God; comp. Psa 74:15; Luk 1:52, etc. is not simply a variation for , as the LXX., Vulg, and several modern commentators, e.g., Heiligstedt, Del. [Con.], explain; at the same time it does not need to be resolved (as by Ewald and Hahn) into: inasmuch as he sets; it is simply declarative of purpose, like the examples of the telic infinitive several times occurring in the Hebraistic Greek of Zachariass song of praise, Luk 1:72-73; Luk 1:77; Luk 1:79 ( , , etc.) [The issue of all the Divine proceeding in nature, unsearchable, uncountable though its wonders were, was ever to elevate the humble and save the wretched. Dav.] In the second member this infinitive construction with is continued by the Perf. precisely as in Job 28:25 (Dillmann [Because the purpose is not merely one that is to be realized, but one that has often been realized already, the Inf. is continued in the Perf. Dillm.], comp. Ewald, 346 b.) To set in a high place, to exalt to a high position, as in 1Sa 2:8; Luk 1:52. , lit.: dirty, squalidi, sordidi, i.e., mourners; comp. Job 30:28; Psa 35:14 [13]; Job 38:7 [6]. , lit., to mount, or climb up to prosperity, a bold poetic construction of a verb in itself intransitive with an accusative of motion.
Second Strophe. Job 5:12-16. Continuation of the description of the exalted activity of God as a helper of the needy, and a righteous avenger.
Job 5:12. Who brings to nought the devices of the crafty. (Partic. without the art., as in Job 5:9), lit., who breaks to pieces, , as in Job 15:5, the crafty, cunning, twisted (from , to twist, to wind).So that their hands cannot do the thing to be accomplished., so that not (comp. Ewald, 345, a.). [, with vowel written defectively in the tone-syllable. Comp. Ewald, 198, a; and Ges., 74, Kal., Rem. 6]. , lit., essentiality, subsistence, firmness (from ), hence the opposite of , well-being and wisdom in one; a favorite notion of the authors of the Old Testament Chokmah-Literature; comp. my Com. on Proverbs, Introd., p. 5, also on Job 2:7 (p. 54). As may be seen from the translation of the Sept., which is essentially correct, , the passage may be translated: so that their hands shall bring about nothing real, nothing solid. (comp. Hahn, Delitzsch, Dillmann [Carey, Merx]).
Job 5:13. Who captures the wise in their craftiness. denotes here those who are wise in a purely worldly sense, who are wise only in their own and in others estimation, who are therefore . 1Co 1:20; comp. Job 3:19, where the idea conveyed by the expression is explained by a special reference to the passage under consideration. The translation of the passage there presented is more correct than that of the LXX., especially in the rendering of by . For (comp. Exo 21:24; Pro 1:4; Pro 8:5), or even the masculine form , which is found indeed only in the passage before us, unmistakably signifies cunning, shrewdness, in the bad sense, not simply sagacity (, LXX.) [He captures them in their craftiness means according to most: He brings it to pass, that the plans, which they have devised for the ruin of others, result in ruin to themselves. So Grotius: suis eos retibus capit, suis jugulat gladiis. According to this view is of the instrument. Better, however, is: in their craft, or in the exercise of their craftiness. He captures the wise not when their wisdom has forsaken them, and they make a false step, but at the very point where they make the highest use of it. Hengst.]And the counsel of the cunning is overset; lit., is precipitated, pushed over (, 3 Perf. Niph.), and so made void, to wit, by Gods judicial intervention.
Job 5:14. By day they run against darkness, and as in the night they grope at noonday.[, they strike upon, stumble on, run into, i.e., they encounter darkness]. , as in the night, i.e., as though it were night. Similar descriptions of a blindness, judicially inflicted by God, of an obscuration of the soul in ungodly men may be seen in Job 12:24 seq.; Isa 19:13 seq.; Isa 59:10; Deu 28:29 (comp. the typical fundamental passage in Gen 19:11; also 2Ki 6:18; Wis 19:16).
Job 5:15. And so He saveth the needy from the sword out of their mouth, and from the hand of the strong., Imperf. consec., as in Job 3:21 [Vav consec. introducing the ultimate residuum of all this commotion and confusion, the result of the whole combined Divine efficiency, when the Divine tendency has reached its object; so He saves. Dav.] (instead of which some MSS. read: , from the sword of their mouth) is equivalent to: from the sword which goes forth out of their mouth; comp. Psa 57:5 (4); Psa 59:8 (7); Psa 64:4 (3); and other passages in which swords, or spears, or arrows of the mouth appear as a figurative expression for maliciously wicked slanders or injurious assaults on the good name of others [and comp. Job 5:21 below, showing that Eliphaz regards this as one of the evils most to be dreaded. The explanation here given is adopted by Umbreit, Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Merx, Renan, Bernard, Barnes, Wordsworth, Noyes, Rodwell, although there is some variation in regard to the relation of the two expressions; some taking the second in apposition to the first, from the sword, even from their mouth, others, like Zckler, regarding the second as qualifying the first: the sword which goeth out of their mouth. Others view the second as explanatory of the first, which is taken as the leading term: from the sword, which is their mouth, which is their organ of devouring, is to them what his mouth is to a wild beast, Davidson, and so substantially Schlottmann and Lee. Others, e.g., Hirzel, take sword, mouth, hand, as three independent terms, designating the instruments and organs of the wicked.E.] In addition to the violation of the ninth commandment referred to in the first member, the second member of the verse mentions acts of violent oppression, or assaults on the liberty and life of men, violations, therefore, of the sixth commandment, as that from which God would deliver. The before seems to be superfluous, and producing as it does a harsh construction, it has led to various attempts at emendation, e.g., , desolated, ravaged by misfortune (L. Capellus, Ewald [Good, Carey, Conant, Elzas and Dillmann favorably inclined. Delitzsch argues against it that it is un-Hebraic according to our present knowledge of the usage of the language, for the passives of are used of cities, countries, and peoples, but not of individual men]). Others would read instead of (so some MSS.; also the Targ. and Vulg.). These suggestions, however, are unnecessary; and the same may be said of Bttchers explanation: without a sword, i.e., without violence or bloodshed [will God save].
Job 5:16. Thus there is hope (again) to the poor [ from , to hang down, and so to be lax, languid, feeble, according to Gesenius: to wave, to totter, and so to be tottering loose, wretched, according to Frst], but iniquity shuts her mouth.For the absolute construction of hope, to wit, to hope for deliverance and exaltation through Gods assisting power and grace, comp. Job 14:7; Job 19:10. In regard to the etymology of , the standard word for hope in the Old Testament, comp. my Dissert.: De vi ac notione voc.in N. To. (1856), p. 5 seq., the full-toned form, with double fem. ending, for , which also stands for (Psa 92:10). Comp. Ewald, 173 g. [also 186, c., Ges., 79, f., Green, 61, 6, a.] For the phrase , to be dumb, i.e., to be ashamed, to own oneself vanquished, comp. the repetition of the present passage in Psa 107:42; also Isa 52:15, and Job 21:5.
[Schlottmann: The beginning of this strophe: But I would turn to God, is again in appearance courteous, friendly, mild. But even here we see lurking in the background that self-sufficient hardness of Eliphaz which has already been noticed. Baldly and sharply expressed the relation of this strophe to the one which precedes and the one which follows is this: Third StropheThy way is wrong; Fourth StropheMy way is right; Fifth StropheIt will be well for thee if thou followest me.]
b. Fifth Double Strophe. Job will have occasion to regard his present suffering as a blessing, if, being accepted as wholesome chastisement, it should result in his repentance, and thus in the restoration even of his external prosperity, Job 5:17-27.
First Strophe. Job 5:17-21. [The happy results of submission to the Divine chastisement, principally on the negative side, as restoration and immunity from evil].
Job 5:17. Lo, happy the man whom God correcteth.The same thought expressed, and derived perhaps from this passage, in Pro 3:11 seq. (Heb 12:5 seq.), and Psa 94:12. Comp. Elihus further expansion of the same thought of the wholesomeness of the Divine chastisements in Job 33. and seq. , to reprove, admonish, to wit, through the discipline of actual events, through suffering and providential dispensations: comp. Job 13:10Therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty, of which one may be guilty by perverse moroseness and rebelliousness, by refusing to accept the needed and salutary teaching of the Divine dispensation, and in general by a want of submission to Gods will. by poetic abbreviation for , Gen 17:1. Comp. the remarks of the editor on the passage.
Job 5:18. For He woundeth and also bindeth up,etc.Comp. the similar passages in Hos 6:1; Deu 32:39; Lam 3:31 seq. he, i.e., one and the same. The form is made as though it were derived from a verb, =; comp. Ges., 75 [ 74], Rem. 21 c. [Green, 165, 3].
Job 5:19. In six troubles He will deliver thee, and in seven no evil shall befall thee;i.e., of course provided thou wilt really be made better by thy chastisement. The further promises of Divine help, Job 5:20 seq., are also subject to the same condition. To the number six seven is added in order to remove the definiteness of the former, and to make prominent only the general idea of multiplicity. Similar enumerative forms of expression are to be found in Amos 1, 2.; also in Pro 6:16; Pro 30:15; Pro 30:18; Pro 30:21; comp. also Mic 5:5; Ecc 11:2.
Job 5:20. In famine He redeems thee from death., lit., he has redeemed thee. Perf. of certainty (Gesen., 126 [124], 4), which is immediately followed by verbs in the Imperf., as in Job 11:20; Job 18:6, etc. In the second member, out of the hands of the sword ( ) is equivalent to out of the power of the sword, or from its stroke (Delitzsch). Compare Isa 47:14; Jer 18:21; Psa 63:11. [The word hands should not be left out. Poetry personifies everything, invests everything with form and life As here hands are attributed to the sword, so elsewhere are a mouth, Exo 17:3, a face, Lev 26:37. Hands are in the Old Testament assigned to the grave, to lions, bears, to the dog, the snare, the flame. Hengstenberg].
Job 5:21. In the scourging of the tongue thou art hidden;i.e., when thou art slandered and reviled (comp. Job 5:15; Jer 18:18; Psa 31:21 (20). Instead of , which we might certainly expect here (with Hirzel), the poet, anticipating the of the second member, which would resemble it altogether too much in sound, has written , in the scourge, i.e., in the stroke of the scourge. [ might be taken as the Infinitive of the verb, as is done apparently by Ewald, who translates: when the tongue scourges.The tongue is here compared with a scourge, as elsewhere with a knife, a sword, arrows, or burning coals (Psa 120:4), because evil speaking hurts, wounds, and works harm. Hengst. We believe that, in introducing this expression the poet has a definite purpose. There lies a certain irony in the fact that Eliphaz should mention as one of the chief evils from which his friend is one day to be preserved that, same calamity which he is now inflicting on him. Schlott.]And thou fearest not destruction when it cometh., which in the following verse is written , a form etymologically more correct, from , signifies any catastrophe, or devastation, whether by flood, or hail, or storm, etc. The word forms an assonance with , as in Isa 28:15, a passage which is perhaps an imitation of the one before us. Substantially the same thought is expressed in Psa 32:6.
Second Strophe. [The happy results of submission to chastisement still further described, principally on the positive side, as involving security, prosperity, peace, etc.]. Job 5:22-26 (Job 5:27 being subjoined as a conclusion, standing properly outside of the strophe).
Job 5:22. At destruction and at famine thou shalt laugh.[The promises of El. now continue to rise higher, and sound more delightful and more glorious. Del.] A continuation of the description of the new state of happiness to which the sufferer will be promoted on condition of a contrite submission to the Divine chastisement. with , to laugh, or mock at anything, as in Job 39:7; Job 39:18; Job 41:21., Aram. equivalent to , famine, dearth; comp. Job 30:3.And thou shalt not be afraid before the wild beasts of the land. [Thou needest not be afraid, , different from (Job 5:21), the latter is objective, merely stating a fact, the former subjective, throwing always over the clause the state of mind of the speaker as an explanation of itexpressing both the statement and the mental state of feeling or thought out of which the statement issued. As Ew. (Lehrb. 320, 1, a.) accurately puts it, , like , denies only according to the feeling or thought of the speaker, thou shalt have no reason to, needest not (Con.) fear. Dav.] Wild beasts were in ancient times the object of far graver terror in the east, and a scourge of far more frequent occurrence than to-day. Comp. Gen 37:20; Gen 37:33; Gen 44:28; Lev 26:6; Pro 22:13; Pro 26:13, etc.; also Ezekiels well-known combination of the four judgments: the sword, famine, wild beasts, and the pestilence (Eze 5:17; Eze 14:21).
Job 5:23. For with the stones of the field thou hast a league, and the wild beasts of the field are become friends to thee.The first half of the verse is a reason for the first member of Job 5:22; the second half in like manner a reason for the second member. Thou hast a league with the stones of the field (lit., thy league is with the stones, etc.; equivalent to ), i.e., storms cannot injure thy tillage of the soil, they shall be far removed from thy fields (comp. Isa 5:2; 2Ki 3:19; 2Ki 3:25). [The stones are personified; they conclude a treaty with the reformed Job, and promise not to injure him, not to be found straying over his tilled land. Hengst.] As regards the contents of the entire strophe, compare the similar ideal descriptions of the paradisaical harmony that is one day to exist between men and the animate and inanimate creation, Hos 2:20 [18], 23 [21] seq.; Isa 11:6 seq. [The view, entertained among others by Barnes, that the verse describes security in travelling (it is to be remembered that this was spoken in Arabia where rocks and stones abounded, and where travelling from that cause was difficult and dangerous), is at variance with the picture here given, which is that of security and happiness in a settled, stationary condition; the picture of a prosperous proprietor of fields, pastures, flocks, not of a travelling Bedouin chiefE.]
Job 5:24. And thou knowest (findest out by experience) that thy tent is peace., Perf. consec. with the tone on the last syllable, connected with Job 5:22. Thy tent is peace, i.e., the state of all thy possessions and household (comp. Job 8:22; Job 11:14; Job 12:6, and often) is one of peace. is predicate, emphatic by position (comp. Mic 5:4, ), and for that reason a substantive. It is weakening the beautiful, rounded, complete idea to take the word either as an adjective, or as an adverbial accusative in the sense of well, safe, uninjured, as, e.g., Ewald, Dillmann, and Hahn, etc., do. [The same remark applies to the use of the preposition, in peace, E. V., Con., etc. The simple rendering is peace is more forcible and expressive.E.]And when thou reviewest thy estate thou missest nothing. as in Job 5:3 [Zckler: Sttte, place, the habitation of himself and his flocks; by most, however, is taken here rather of the pasture of the flocks]. , lit., and thou wilt not miss thy way, i.e., thou wilt miss nothing (Pro 8:36). At variance with the usage of the words, and against the connection, is Luthers translation: and thou wilt care for thy household, and not sin, following the Vulg.: et visitans speciem tuam non peccabis [Eng. Ver.: and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. Hengstenberg, adopting this rendering, explains: in looking over thy possessions thou shalt find thou art not treated by God as a sinner, but as a friend, being richly blessed by Him; an explanation which involves a needless constraint of the expression.E.] The thought is rather the same with that expressed in Schillers fine lines:
Er zhlt die Hupter seiner Lieben,
Und sieh, ihm fehlt kein theures Haupt.2
[In negative sentences, where the object of the verb is wanting, may be rendered nothing. See Ewald, 303, c.]
Job 5:25. And thine offspring as the green herb of the earth, used here of the issue of the body, as in Job 21:8; Job 27:14. Comp. the like promise in Psa 72:16 b. [The word found only in Isaiah and Job].
Job 5:26. Thou shalt go into the grave in a ripe old age., etymologically related to , to be full, to be completed (to which it stands related as a variation, with a somewhat harsher pronunciation, just as , in Job 39:16, stands related to ), signifies, according to the parallel expression in the second member, the full ripeness of the life-period, the complete maturity of age. It is used somewhat differently in Job 30:2, where it denotes the full maturity of strength, complete unbroken vigora sense which Fleischer in Delitzsch (II. 138, n.) quite inappropriately assigns to it here also. [So Frst. Merx gives the same sense to the passage, but reads .E.]As sheaves are gathered in their season. , lit., as the heap of sheaves mounts up, is gathered up, to wit, into the threshing-floor, which was an elevated place; comp. 2Sa 24:16; Psa 1:4, etc. The rendering of Umbreit and Hahn: as the sheaves are heaped up, is unsuitable, and at variance with the true meaning of the figure, as describing the ingathering of ripe sheaves. , in its season, i.e., when the ears are fully ripened, a most striking simile to illustrate old age when satiated with life; comp. Job 42:17; Gen 15:15; Gen 25:8; Gen 35:29.
Job 5:27. Lo, this we have searched out; so it is: hear it, and mark it well for thyself!A closing verse of warning, which, because it refers back to all that has been said by Eliphaz, stands outside of the last strophe. Comp. the similar short epiphonemas, or epimythions in Job 18:21; Job 20:29; Job 26:14; also the short injunctions of the New Testament, enjoining men to mark and ponder that which is said, such as Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9; Rev 2:7; Rev 13:18; Rev 22:2, etc. The Plur. , because Eliphaz speaks not in his own name alone, but also in that of his two friends, younger indeed than himself, but of whom he knows that their experience has been the same with his own.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
The writer is certainly far from being disposed to put forth Eliphaz in the preceding discourse as an advocate of views which are decidedly untrue, and opposed to God, or as a propounder of diabolical wisdom ( , Jam 3:15; comp. 1Ti 4:1). If it had been his purpose to represent him as one who made common cause with Satan, as an advocatus diaboli, or the Evil Ones armor-bearer, he would certainly have made some such sentiment as that of Job 2:9renounce God and diethe fundamental theme of his remarks. But this tone of remark is limited to Jobs wife (and the fact is strongly indicative of the attitude of an unregenerate woman, who simply follows the impressions of her own nature), who had lost alike her patience and resignation to the will of God. The poet does not introduce any one of Jobs friends as sympathizing with itleast of all Eliphaz, whose superiority to the experimental stand-point of the other two friends, and to the entire circle of their ethical and intellectual insight, is so definitely and significantly apparent. Even in respect of its formal sthetic structure he has impressed on the discourse the characteristics which mark it as the product of a genuine devout oriental sage, a Chakam of the same category with Solomon, Heman, Ethan, Chalcol, Darda, etc. This is shown by the numerous correspondences of expression between this discourse and the noblest products of the Old Testament Chokman-literature as elsewhere to be met withcorrespondences which appear in part in the subject-matter, such as the emphasis laid on the fear of God and Gods remedial discipline (Job 4:6; Job 5:8; Job 5:17) as fundamental conditions of true prosperity, the use of the term fools (Job 5:2 seq.) in characterizing the wicked: in part in the language, as in the use of such expressions as (Job 4:21), (Job 5:12), or of such poetic forms as the numeral expressions in Job 5:19, or of such figures and similes as sowing and reaping, taking root and growing, the soaring sparks, the inward cord (Job 5:21), the sword of the mouth, and the scourge of the tongue, etc. In general it may be said that all that profound, physiological, or rather physico-theological Wisdom which forms the background of the discourse, and which accounts for the brilliant tints and fragrant aroma which are spread over the whole of it, evince the writers purpose to represent the speaker as intellectually akin to Solomon, the student of nature among the sages (1Ki 4:29 seq.; Job 5:12), and as possessing a knowledge of God which if not accurate, such as belonged to the theocracy, was nevertheless truly monotheistic, such as belonged to the pious of the patriarchal world.
2. As regards the theological contents of this first discourse of Eliphaz, there is really scarcely anything to be pointed out in it which contradicts the true Old Testament religion of Jehovah, and the purity of the moral principles which rest on it.3 A confessor of Eloah, of Shaddai, he speaks altogether like a member of the theocracy, like a pious man belonging to Jehovahs commonwealth. He is apparently right in everything; and it is certainly with full, conscious purpose that the poet introduces him into the discussion with precisely such a discourse as the present; for only thus could a real entanglement arise with Job, and only thus could the attention of readers be secured for Jobs opponents (Dillm.) What Eliphaz holds up before Job, who, although indeed he does not blaspheme, does nevertheless utter imprecations, and, in a state of extreme dejection, curses himself, consists almost without exception of beautiful and profound religious and ethical truths, to which Job can successfully oppose only one thingthat they do not touch him, who is just as firmly convinced of their correctness as his opponents, that they cannot apply to his peculiar condition. So e.g. the position that Gods sentence of destruction falls not on the innocent but only on the wicked: a general fundamental truth of religion, which is not only most strikingly confirmed by the issue of Jobs own history, but is also often enough emphasized by him in his subsequent discourses, and is expressed in a manner altogether similar to what we find in so many of the holy songs of the Psalter, beginning with the first Psalm, the Motto of the entire collection. The same is no less true of the proposition concerning the universal sinfulness of all men, and indeed concerning the impurity even of the angels, when compared with the absolute holiness of God; a proposition which, presupposing, as it certainly does, the influences of a revolution from above (comp. Job 4:12 seq.), was the common property of all the pious and the wise of the Old Testament, and is one of the most conspicuous marks distinguishing the religious and moral knowledge, thought, and activity of those men from what is found in the heathen world. So again the affirmation of the necessity of disciplinary and purifying suffering for every man; the stern rebuke of the presumptuous discontent of him who will not submit to this rigid and yet loving, mild law of the Divine administration; the friendly counsel to the sorely tried Job to turn to God, and to take refuge only with Him (Job 5:8 seq.); finally the promise that his happiness would be gloriously renewed if he should rightly improve his calamities, and derive from them the benefits properly connected with them, which again seems to indicate the complete harmony of the speakers views with those of the poet, and to have a strictly prophetic relation to the final account of Jobs restoration and glorious vindication in the Epilogue.
3. Notwithstanding this it is hardly correct to say with Delitzsch (I. 105) that there is no doctrinal error to be discovered in the speech of Eliphaz. A certain work-righteousness may be found in it, notwithstanding the solemn emphasis with which it makes the universal sinfulness of all mankind the central point of the discussion. The way in which Job is exhorted, as in Job 4:6, to trust in his fear of God, and in the uprightness of his ways, and on account of the same to cherish hope in God, has doubtless something analogous in many expressions found in the Psalms (comp. Psa 18:20 seq.; Psa 119:168); but the connection of the passage, especially that which immediately follows, shows distinctly that the fundamental propositionif pious, then prosperous; if unfortunate, then wickedis here handled with a certain harsh one-sidedness and superficiality, which might easily develop into unjust judgments concerning the sorely tried sufferer, and in which accordingly was contained the germ of that difference which subsequently waxed more and more violent between the friends and Job. Still more doubtful than this tendency towards an external conception of the doctrine of retribution, a tendency which manifests itself but slightly and timidly, is the absolute silence of Eliphaz in respect to the possibility that Jobs extraordinarily severe sufferings might nevertheless have another cause than particular sins of corresponding magnitude. Herein he shows his ignorance in regard to those deeper spiritual perceptions and experiences, by virtue of which pious persons, even before the coming of Christ, were able to recognize, in addition to the suffering inflicted for chastisement, and to that inflicted for purification, a suffering inflicted simply to try men. Such suffering they recognized as possible, and as sometimes decreed by God in His wisdom, as is sufficiently evident from such passages as Deu 8:2; Deu 8:16; Pro 17:3; Psa 66:10; Jer 6:27 seq.; Eze 22:22; Zec 13:9; also Sir 2:1 seq. (Of suffering borne as testimony, martyrdom, nothing needs to be said here, its necessity being first clearly recognized in the New Testament, after Christ had suffered on the cross). Finally, there lies a departure from the doctrine, which is clearly taught everywhere else in the Old Testament Revelation, in the statements of Job 5:6-7, where not only mans punishment for sin, but sinning itself is represented as something which attaches necessarily to human nature as such. In other words, it is here implied that to be a man and to commit sin are two things which are by no means to be separated from each other, being thus regarded, as in the doctrinal system of Schleiermacher and the majority of the critical rationalistic theologians of to-day as something that attaches to mans sensuous nature (see exeg. remarks on the passage).From what has been said it follows that Eliphaz cannot indeed be regarded as a Pelagian before Pelagius; the poet has, however, unmistakably intended to set forth a certain theory of the holiness of works, and a legal narrowness in the circle of his ethical and religious perception, as lying at the foundation of his views. He has purposed to present him as a representativeone of the noblest, most thoughtful and profound indeedbut still a representative of the doctrine of external retribution, which was the popular opinion of antiquity before the coming of Christ, and has succeeded in expressing with a masterly skill which no one can question the fine shading by which that which is erroneous in his views, as compared with the profounder truth which afterwards comes gradually into prominence, is outlined forth. If we were to compare his Eliphaz with any ecclesiastical representative of one-sided theories, and more particularly of those in the department of anthropologic soteriology, which teach a legal righteousness of works, instead of turning our attention to Pelagius and Pelagianism, it would be decidedly more correct to think of such fathers as Jerome, the Gregories, Cassianus, etc. Especially does Jerome, the zealous champion of the proposition of universal sinfulness in opposition to Pelagius, who, however, had sunk almost as deeply as that heresiarch into an external self-righteousness and legality, give evident tokens of intellectual affinity with our sage. A point which, it would seem, would tend to lend special interest to any attempt to elaborate more fully the parallel between Eliphaz and Jerome, is the remarkable similarity which the description of the nocturnal spirit-vision (Job 4:12 seq.) with its emotional vividness and presentative power, bears to the celebrated Anti-Ciceronian Vision of Jerome in the Epistle to Eustachius (comp. my Jerome, p. 45 seq.), a similarity which is more than simply external, or accidental, as the closely related ethical tendencies of both visions show.
4. That which injures the religious and moral value of the speech of Eliphaz more than all these weak and one-sided doctrinal features, which emerge into but slight prominence, and which would be scarcely noticed by an untrained eye, is a series of defects which lead us to infer in the speaker a defective character rather than an erroneous theory. The discourse, with all the beauty and truth of the greater part of its thoughts, is nevertheless heartless, haughty, stiff and cold. It dwells self-complacently on general truths, known as well to Job and acknowledged by him, which are presented not without rhetorical pathos, but which are not brought into anything like a tenderly considerate, or profoundly apprehended relation to the special circumstances of him who is addressed. (1) It exhibits not a trace of genuine sympathy with the extraordinarily high measure of misery which has overwhelmed the unhappy sufferer; instead of consoling him, it goes off into moralizing reflections, which bring him no comfort, which serve rather to embitter him. (2) It unqualifiedly identifies his complaint with that of a fool, i.e., of a man of abandoned wickedness and ungodliness (Job 5:2 seq.; comp. Job 4:8 seq.), without the slightest effort to make a critical examination of the question, whether his essential character is not incomparably purer and more godly than that of a despairing blasphemer. (3) It assumes on his part hypocrisy, defective self-knowledge, entanglement in a self-righteous delusion, and seeks to cure these defects by bringing forward that night-oracle, but by this very course he betrays a serious deficiency in knowledge of men, and in the power of a finer psychological observation. (4) It takes no account whatever of the great fact of the former purity of his life, and of his uncomplaining patience, and thus coarsely (not to say maliciously) makes no distinction between Job and the great mass of men. (5) Worst of all, it is not free from disingenuousness and deception; back of what it openly says, it suggests the existence of something worse yet, of which it regards Job as capable, if not as being already guilty, and thus deprives even that in it which seems adapted really to minister comfort, refreshment, and a wholesome stimulus (e.g., the description in Job 5:17 seq. of the blissful blossoming anew of the prosperity of him who repents and is reconciled with God), of its beneficent influence on the feelings of the sorely tempted sufferer. These indirect suggestions of certain defects in the disposition and character of Eliphaz (which, like those one-sided, doctrinal peculiarities, present a striking parallel with Jerome; comp. the work cited above, p. 332 seq., 391 seq.) are whatchiefly at leastaccording to the poets purpose, furnish the occasion for further controversy, and incite Job to the comparatively passionate reply which he makes.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The homiletic expositor, especially if he treats the discourse of Eliphaz not as a unit, as the theme of one sermon, but only in detached passages (and it is scarcely possible that he should treat it otherwise), need not have the enjoyment, which its many glorious passages minister, marred by the manifold features which tend to quench and disturb it, and which indicate the one-sidedness of the stand-point occupied by the speaker. As opportunity offers it may be shown that Eliphaz is not a representative of the complete truth of Scripture, but is the champion of a party-doctrine, which later is expressly condemned by God as one-sided and erroneous; especially might it be indispensable to call attention to this in the passages found in Job 4:6; Job 5:6 seq, according to what has been said above (Doctrinal and Ethical Remarks, No. 3). But why it should be necessary to make anxious mention of the heterodoxy of the speaker in connection with all that Eliphaz says in harmony with all the other wise men of God under the Old Testament, all which does not contradict the analogia fidei of the Old Testament, and which immediately commends itself by its truth, beauty, and inward powerwhy this should be necessary is certainly not apparent. All requirements of this sort will be sufficiently satisfied if it be shown in the Introduction to the Sermon, or Meditation, that the text under consideration belongs to a discourse by a man who, as is evident from the fact that he is finally rebuked and censured by God, does not present the truth of Scripture in its fulness and entireness, but who none the less belongs to the class of divinely-enlightened sages and saints of the Old Testament, and whose utterances, in so far as they accord with those of other representatives of this class, such as Solomon, Asaph, the author of Ecclesiastes, etc., must be recognized as equally important and valuable with those; nay, more, whose words, in so far as they express (if not directly, still indirectly) the poets objective opinion, have the same right to be regarded as inspired as those of his counterpart, Job, who in truth falls often enough into one-sided views and grievous errors.
In a detached treatment of the text the Second Division (Job 4:12 to Job 5:7) and the Third (Job 5:7-26) stand forth as pericopes of some length, which are suitably defined as to their limits. In view of the richness of their contents, however, the division of both into smaller sections may be recommended, in which case it will be most natural, or indeed unavoidable, to be governed by the preceding division into strophes.As respects the formal statement of themes and the more specific arrangement, the following remarks on particular passages, taken from the older homiletic treatments of the book, will supply suggestive hints:
Job 4:2 seq. Starke: A friend can indeed reprove another, if he has seen or heard anything wrong on his part (Sir 20:2); but he must not put the worst construction on everything. We should hear the admonitions and reproofs of our neighbor patiently, and take them for our improvement (Psa 141:5).
Job 4:7 seq. Brentius: It is not so much absurd, as impious, for human reason to infer from afflictions that God is angry. Rather, as a father chastises his son whom he loves, and spares not the rod, so God crucifies those whom He elects together with His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord Eliphaz discourses truly, but he interprets the case according to his own carnal judgment of it; for the innocent, although they do not perish, are nevertheless afflicted; they are not destroyed, but they are oppressed.Hengstenberg: The proposition which Eliphaz puts at the foundation of his argument: that true spiritual rectitude and complete destruction cannot accompany each other, is true. Instead, however, of taking for granted what he does in regard to Job, he ought to have done him the friendly service of controverting the assumption. He should have set out before him that often when the need is greatest, succor is nearest. He should have furnished him the right clue to his suffering by propounding the proposition: Whom God loveth He chasteneth. He was not, however, prepared to do this, as long as he, in common with Job, was wanting in the right perception of sin.
Job 4:12 seq. Zeyss: God taught the ancients His will by visions and dreams, and by such a revelation did for them that which He has since done by His word, written and preached (Gen 28:12; Num 12:6). He has revealed Himself thus even to the heathen (Gen 20:3). Hence they are without excuse (Rom 1:20).Passavant (in his work on Vital Magnetism, 2d Ed., p. 131): In the dreams of a deep, sound sleep (comp. Job 5:13) the soul seems to put forth a higher form of activity, and it may be that all significant dreams belong to this very condition, which seems furthest removed from the working consciousness.
Job 4:17 seq. Cramer: God has concluded all under sin, in order that He might have mercy upon all, that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world be guilty before God, in order that by the works of the law no flesh should be justified in His sight (Rom 3:20).Wohlfarth: Erroneous as was the opinion of Eliphaz, that sinners only are punished here on account of their sins, no less true is the commnication here made to him by a Divine revelation, that no man is pure before God, Gen 8:21; Ezek. 4:18; Mat 15:19; 1Co 2:14, etc.
Job 4:19 seq. Brentius: This thought should be treasured up in the depth of our minds, in order that by it we may cast down the arrogance of our flesh. For why should you be proud of your noble lineage, your wealth, power, royal majesty? Consider, I pray you, what you were, what you are, and, what you will be, and cease to stick up your crest; you were clay, you are a dung-hill, you will be corruption and the food of wormswhy then should you boast (1Co 1:31)?Cramer: Death sends no messenger, but when men least expect him, he enters all doors, even those of palaces (Jer 9:21; Luk 12:20).
Job 5:3 seq. Brentius: This passage teaches parents the fear of God, for who does not desire for his children everything that is best, and the most ample inheritance? Take care, therefore, to live piously, and to bring up your children in piety and in the admonition of the Lord. You cannot leave them a more ample patrimony than this; whereas if you live wickedly, and your children fill up the measure of the iniquity which they have derived from you, not only will you be cursed, but your children also will inherit their fathers curse.
Job 5:6-7. Seb. Schmidt: This remarkable passage contradicts the notion of mans free will in spiritual matters, and not only proves original sin, but also that by virtue of it there is no man who does not sin.Hengstenberg: To sin is just as much a property of human nature as it is of sparks to fly upward. The doctrine of innate corruption, which rests on Gen 3:4; Gen 5:3 is already expressed here. (Is the statement here given of it, however, absolutely correct, and free from all one-sided admixture? Zckler.See above in the Critical and Doctrinal Remarks).
Job 5:8 seq. Seb. Schmidt: When we commend anything to God we do it by prayer, and hope or trust in God: so that although prayer is not expressly mentioned here, it is nevertheless implied in the words, and must not be neglected (1Pe 5:7).
Job 5:10. Starke: Although the rain has its own purely natural causes, we must still look up in connection with it to God, as the One who has so established nature, that the rain can fall, the sun shine, etc. (Jer 14:22).
Job 5:17 seq. Cramer: The dear cross [das liebe Kreuz, the affliction, adversity, whose uses are sweet] has great benefits connected with it (Rom 5:3 seq.; Jam 1:2 seq.); we come by means of it to the knowledge of our sins (Psa 119:67); we stop sinning (1Pe 4:1), we learn to give heed to the Word, and to pray diligently (Isa 28:19), we become satiated with the world (Php 1:23), and are made conformable to the example of Christ (Rom 8:29).Compare Fr. de la Motte. Fouqus poemGods Chastisements (especially 3d and 4th stanzas).
Job 5:19. Brentius: The Lord delivers in six afflictions (i.e., in every time of trouble), not by taking away the cross from our shoulders, but by ministering strength and patience to bear it. But in the seventh affliction (i.e., when the season of trial is over) He gives deliverance both by taking away the cross, and by giving pure and unalloyed happiness (comp. 1Co 10:13).Zeyss: There is no distress so great so strange, so manifold, but God can deliver His people out of it (Psa 91:14 seq.; Isa 43:2; Dan 3:17; Dan 6:16; Dan 6:22).
Job 5:20 seq. Brentius: He enumerates the blessings of the godly man, who takes hold by faith of the Lords hand. For the godly man, possessing the Lord by faith, remains perfectly serene in the face of all calamities, fearing neither famine, nor sword, nor rumors of war, nor desolation, nor the beasts of the earth. Yea, even though the heavens should fall, and the earth be wrecked, the ruins would smite him undismayed.Cocceius: If any one should think that Eliphaz said these things in the spirit of prophecy about Job, as the type of Christ in obedience, afflictions, patience and exaltation, I should not, be disposed to blame him. He who should maintain this would say that the present and the future are blended and treated as present; seeing them in the Spirit he depicts them as present.For the limitation and partial correction of this typical and Messianic interpretation, comp. further Seb. Schmidts remarks on the passage: But who can believe that Eliphaz with all his recriminations against Job, would have prophesied good concerning him, nay, have made him even a type of Christ? (The passage could thus be regarded only as an involuntary prophecy, like that of Balaam, or of Caiaphas).
Footnotes:
[1]In all essentials Cocceius had already recognized these three divisions in the discourse of Eliphaz, both as regards the lines of separation between them and the significance of their contents.
[2]
The heads he numbers of his darlings,
And, lo! no precious head is missed.
[3]Comp. Cocceius: The first discourse of Eliphaz, if you except the charge of impatience brought against Job (although that is stated mildly, and is not altogether without cause), and the offensive interpretation put on the words of Job, has in it nothing that is not holy, true, and excellent, and which is not most admirably adapted to strengthen patience, etc.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The speech of Eliphaz is continued through the whole of this chapter. He dwells upon several circumstances concerning sin and its consequent affliction, and recommends in affliction a crying unto God.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? (2) For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy 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 robber swalloweth up their substance. (6) Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; (7) Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Eliphaz still harps upon the same string in these verses, that affliction is sure mark of sin, and therefore it is plain, that in his mind his conclusions were unfavorable concerning Jobadiah And there is somewhat invidious in his several expressions, as referring to the short-lived triumphs of the wicked, because he referred to Job’s former prosperity. Certain it is that all the prosperity of the wicked is but as the grass. But then, this was nothing in respect to Jobadiah Eliphaz had no consciousness, notwithstanding what he here saith of affliction not coming forth from the dust, that, though the LORD sends chastisement, yet, to his children, love is at the bottom. Heb 12:5-6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Memorable Sights in Life
Job 5:3
How many passages are there in Scripture that begin with ‘I have seen’? Probably no man has counted the number. Let us keep, however, to that formula; it is interesting and useful to deal with a personal witness, to have a man so to say face to face and in your very grip. How many voices we shall hear if we listen well the solemn voice, the monotone that has not heart enough to vary its expression, a gamut in one note, and then the lightsome tone of youth and the cheeriness of the early days when all things were dripping with dew and all the dew shot through and through with morning light. These days are gone, but there is a joy in melancholy, there is a species of festival in misery. All that some people now have is their grief; that grief is their wealth, their song, their hope.
I. Take the wonderful instance in the text, ‘I have seen the foolish taking root’. That is impossible! No, it is not impossible, it is a fact. It must have been a fact only in very ancient times? No, it is not only a fact in ancient times, it is this morning’s fact, God’s journal of this day. Such things are permitted. We cannot understand them, they baffle our faith, they confound our imagination. The whole scheme of a righteous universe seems to be turned upside down by that one fact. A bad man can take root, a upas-tree can strike its roots into the earth and from its bending branches can shed deadly poison; the thief and the gambler and the fraudulent may have more money than the man who prays every morning and says amen as if he would hand the case over to high heaven to answer in heaven’s own way. Yes, the wicked take root, the foolish have a kind of standing-place; but some things come only for a moment. The “mushroom has a root, and so has the oak. We must define even the word root, we must get at its history and its environment, and tear it open that we may read the secret of its fibre. Do not be content with glittering generalities when you judge Providence and propound some critical theory concerning the government of these trembling, awful, gladsome things which we gather up under the name of human life.
II. The Psalmist saw also very much what Eliphaz saw; he says in one Psalm, ‘I have seen’ what? ‘the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree’. You saw that? I saw it You have no doubt whatever that it was a real fact? I have no doubt whatever as to the actuality of the circumstances. I have seen the wicked in great power, I have seen him taking up so much of the fresh air that there seemed to be no room for any other tree. In everything he seemed to have his own way; he asked, and received; he spake, and ’twas done; he had all manner of things at his immediate disposal. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree; yet he passed away, and lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but not a fibre of him could be found even in the dust. It is very wonderful how fortune even seems to change. That is not the man we knew five-and-twenty years ago, who was surrounded by all things comfortable, who was indeed characterized by an entourage of extreme richness and delight; he had everything that heart could wish. Yes, that is the man. What! that doubled-up, bent-backed old creature there who seems to have hardly a rag to wear? That is the same man. What has happened? God has happened. There is no real abidingness in the stuff which is wrongfully gotten or atheistically appropriated, though there may be nothing commercially dishonourable in the mere process of acquisition. It is not blessed bread, there is no nourishment in it.
III. Do not let us yield to the spirit of disappointment. What did you expect? Disappointment is the measure of expectation. You must correct yourself at the point of expectancy.
‘I have seen that they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.’ This is a great law. There must be something behind the plougher and the sower. Yes, there is something behind the ploughman and the seed-sower. What is that something? It is less a something than a personality. It is God who is conducting the whole thing, do what you like.
If the wicked man reaps his black harvest, the good man reaps his honest and nourishing wheat. This is not a law that goes on one side; the whole case of life is contemplated by the inspired writers, and the wide outlook and complete grasp at once explains and vindicates their inspiration. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, good or bad, he shall reap the same. That is discouraging on the one side, and encouraging on the other. Seed does not die, it grows, and it cries as it were to be reaped; and the good man, who has sown in tears and in self-distrust and with some measure of gloomy disappointment, was bidden to go forth with his sickle; and lo, he returned in the gloaming with sheaves, and with sheaves of song in his heart.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. IV. p. 250.
Job 5:6-7
Prince Louis de Rohan is one of those select mortals born to honours, as the sparks fly upwards; and alas also (as all men are) to trouble no less.
Carlyle, The Diamond Necklace, chap. IV.
Job 5:17-18
So long as any fault whatever seems trifling to us, so long as we see, not so much the culpability of as the excuses for imprudence or negligence so long, in short, as Job murmurs, and as providence is thought too severe, so long as there is any inner protestation against fate, or doubt as to the perfect justice of God, there is not yet entire humility or true repentance. It is when we accept the expiation that it can be spared us; it is when we submit sincerely that grace can be granted to us. Only when grief finds its work done can God dispense us from it. Trial then only stops when it is useless; that is why it scarcely ever stops.
Amiel.
Reference. V. 17-27 A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Job, p. 33.
Job 5:21-23
In the fourth volume of Modern Painters Ruskin speaks of the repose amid the wild, torn crags of the Alpine valleys. ‘It is just where “the mountain falling cometh to naught, and the rock is removed out of his place” (XIV. 18), that, in process of years, the fairest meadows bloom between the fragments, the clearest rivulets murmur from their crevices among the flowers, and the clustered cottages, each sheltered beneath some strength of mossy stone, now to be removed no more, and with their pastured flocks around them, safe from the eagle’s stoop and the wolf’s ravin, have written upon their fronts, in simple words, the mountaineer’s faith in the ancient promise “Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh”; “For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee”.’
Job 5:26
Lord Jeffrey said in his old days, which were some of the gentlest and most affectionate that could be passed: ‘It is poor wine that grows sour with ye’… And now her latter days embodied a storehouse of all that had gone before, with the latest and ripest fruit added. She had deeply studied the successive lessons of life, and met the last and gravest with reverence and thankfulness. She grew gentle and tender, at no sacrifice of courage and brilliancy. She clung more and more to her friends and to her kindred, and became a centre, round which gathered the tenderest deference and affection.
Lady Eastlake on Mrs. Grote.
Pass through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.
Marcus Aurelius.
The spectacle of an old man with his intellect keen, with his experience bitter, with his appetites un-satiated, with the memory of past enjoyment stinging him, and deprived of the physical power to enjoy it, is so familiar that we accept it as one of the commonplaces of life. Scarcely anyone of us remembers that he will in turn live on into such an old age, if he does not sacrifice daily to the invisible powers.
C. H. Pearson.
The Parable of Harvest
Job 5:26
This text is a perfect vision of the closing days of harvest. Every harvest-field is a place of reconciliation between God and man.
I. The first parable of harvest is that harvest is God’s memorial, and the parable of His love. His promise is that while the bow is in the heaven, springtime and harvest shall not fail.
II. The order of the world is use first and beauty second. Christ never illustrates Himself by a superfluity. He is bread, water, light, life; He never says that He is fragrance, or colour, or luxury. He is something we all need.
III. Harvest is the parable of life itself. Youth is wedded to age as spring is wedded to summer and springtime to harvest, and that which a man sows in youth he likewise reaps in manhood.
IV. Harvest is again the parable of death. Nothing perishes, because there is no waste in nature.
V. The purpose of life is use. That is the great lesson of nature from first to last.
W. J. Dawson, Harvest and Thanksgiving Services, p. 50.
References. V. 26. H. Woodcock, Sermon Outlines, p. 240. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i. No. 43. V. 27. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2175.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Argument of Eliphaz. II.
Job 5
Having looked at the general aspect of the argument of Eliphaz, let us take up in detail some of the separate sayings, or sentences, which make that argument so remarkable for terseness and brilliance. Were we in these expositions in search of mere texts, we might linger long and profitably over the speech of Eliphaz. We are not in search of texts, but of a central thought and purpose, used in argument and condolence in reference to a specific case of human suffering. We have heard the reasoning: let us look at some of the diamond words the precious, memorable, and ever-quotable sentences of this great speaker.
“I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation” ( Job 5:3 ).
This is a word of sympathy when the circumstances of Job are fully understood. Job may have been thinking that innocence ended in nothing, that prayer but returned upon the suppliant with new exasperations, showing how life was rich in nothing but disappointment and sorrow. He might have heard that houses in which no prayer was offered were standing foursquare, and that flockmasters who had no conscious God were increasing daily in flocks and herds and all manner of substance. Who can tell what subtle influences may have been operating upon his mind in this matter? He may have been an Asaph in anticipation. Eliphaz tells him that he has noticed all these things: he has actually seen a foolish family as if it were about to become established by roots; getting a real solid hold upon the earth, and sucking up its juices, and lifting itself up to the sun as if it would absorb all the light. Eliphaz says, I have seen that, but, in the name of God, and speaking in the spirit and genius of history, knowing as we know facts not in their occasional aspects, but in their complete significance I cursed his habitation; I threw a shadow of disapprobation upon it; for I said, All this is mere seeming, transient surface work; there is no root; this family prayerless, godless, spiritless is but growing up to its own destruction. A testimony of this kind could not but be healing to a man whose mind had been unbalanced for the moment. We are sometimes victimised by apparent facts; we say, How can God live and rule when such and such events transpire? Are not the events to be regarded as arguments? and do not all the arguments point to the impossibility of a reigning and loving God? Then how bewildered the mind is; how it spins and whirls, and cannot steady itself, or see anything as it really is! In such hours of bewilderment and distress we need some strong man, with round, clear, sympathetic voice, to tell us that he sees more clearly than we do, that the old foundations of things all remain, and that history is not a succession of accidents, but the outworking of a sublime philosophy, the end of which is the coronation of righteousness, the enthronement of purity and nobleness. Such comforters are sent to us as from the very presence of God.
Job 5
Yet Eliphaz will be complete in his statement Job must have the whole case presented to him, and not be misled by mere aspects or sections of the troubled reality:
“Athough affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” ( Job 5:6-7 ).
A remarkable thing to have been said by a man who lived, as we have seen, somewhere between Abraham and Moses; in a time far, far away, when man, as we know him, was comparatively young even then this sad philosophy had become established. “As the sparks fly upward” is a sentence which is variously read. We read it as simply metaphorical: as certainly as sparks fly off, fly upward, so certainly is man born unto trouble. If that is not a fact, you must have the evidence at hand. Why allow a statement like this to be preached from every pulpit, to be declared in every family, to be published in every form of Christian literature, if you have evidence in your possession the production of which would upset this calumny against heaven? But if man is born unto trouble, this is not only a fact; if it were merely a fact it might be dismissed as such, but in addition to being a fact it must be a doctrine: it is not a solitary circumstance, how unique soever in its individuality, it is full of pregnant and far-reaching suggestion; it compels the mind to ask direct and searching questions. Is it true that man is born unto trouble? Is there no happy man to stand up and say, No, that is a mistake; trouble I have had none; my days have been days of laughter and mirthfulness and festival: a summer-life has been mine, without one touch or breath or chill of cruel winter? There is no mention of trouble in what we have in the Bible as an account of the creation of man. There is a communing as between invisible and omnipotent persons. The communing runs after this fashion: Let us make man in our own image and in our own likeness. Not a word about trouble. There was no intended sorrow in the purpose of the Creator. Then something must have happened. What has happened? Account for it as we may, there is no explanation of this trouble, its personality and universality and permanence, so complete, so direct, so rational, as that which is given in Holy Scripture. If man is born unto trouble, there must be some collateral evidence of it, as well as the direct proof of actual and positive suffering. Trouble means weakness as well as pain. When a man is in trouble he is not his full self; he is but half a man, or less than half: his faculties are clouded, his hands have lost their cunning, his whole system feels the influence of the tremendous stroke which has involved his life in trouble. As a matter of fact, have we such collateral evidence? Is man strong completely anywhere? Or vary the question: Is there any point at which man has not felt the influence of trouble, the enfeeblement of sorrow? Look at his works. He never built a house that time did not unroof, that time did not take down again. Poor man! Has he not skill enough to build a house that shall defy old time ruinous, cruel time? Man never built a ship that God’s great sea could not swallow up like a pebble. Poor man! Something must have happened to him at some time, or surely he could have made at least one vessel that would have defied all possibilities, and tempest, and stress of weather? Man never made a chronometer that keeps pace with the sun exactly, astronomically, punctually; his poor chronometer is always falling out of beat, is always in need of survey and repair! Whatever man does what he builds, what he writes, what he invents we find upon it the seal of trouble, which is weakness, weakness which is sin, sin which has to be accounted for. When man writes his book he finds that he has omitted all the important matter. When man has completed his parliamentary statutes he finds that they admit of being interpreted in a thousand conflicting ways. Poor man! He dips his pen in weakness; he represents his story in one long spell of sorrow. If this be not so, produce the evidence. How glad we should be to find a man who had discovered a Bible which said man was not born unto trouble; who would tell us that he had found a nation all young, all happy, all moving and living in the spirit of music. Until that nation is discovered we abide in the rock of our own experience, we stand in the sanctuary of what we ourselves have known and felt and handled. What man calls his progress is but a series of self-amendments. Why not face these facts, and search into their origin? If it be science to take some little stone back in its geological history until it is discovered as to its origin, it cannot surely be other than a greater science to take back some human emotion, some sad, awful human experience, and trace it to the starting-point.
Job 5
Then Eliphaz changes the point of view. Speaking of God he says:
“He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong…. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night” ( Job 5:12-14 ).
So the Bible is not only rich in spiritual testimony of what may be called a religious or Christian kind; it writes the history of the wicked as graphically as it writes the history of the godly. Eliphaz acknowledges the presence in human life of craftiness, cunning, inventiveness of an evil kind, counsel that is not ennobled by righteousness or made beautiful by charity. But he says he has seen all the pranks and antics of this craft, he has watched its way, and it has always come to ruin, and not to ruin of a dignified kind, but to ruin clothed with humiliation. If this be otherwise, again we utter the challenge, Produce the evidence. We shall take no refuge on superstitious altars and sanctuaries, saying, We are enclosed within these walls and cannot make any reply to you. We will stand right out upon the roof of the sanctuary, to be shot at by any man who can smite us from the eminence; or we will come out at the front door of the sanctuary, and say, If you have evidence contrary to that which we have produced, we only await its production on your part. This evidence is historically old; this is no new invention of modern theologians; the very words as used by Eliphaz are hoary with antiquity, that is to say, they were not new even in his remote day, but even then they were the words of old history venerable, unanswerable.
Now look at the view of God presented in the argument of Eliphaz. We have seen how he represents God as holy. Having discussed the question, “Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?” now consider God’s approachableness:
“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause” ( Job 5:8 ).
In this instance the pronoun “I” is to be read with emphasis; that is not always the case; frequently, indeed, an emphasis is laid upon the “I” which destroys the music of the passage; but in this case Eliphaz ventures to put himself forward as a personal example of what he would do under given circumstances. We are to consider Eliphaz, therefore, as laying a great emphasis upon this opening word in the eighth verse ” I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause.” Thus we are encouraged by another man’s bravery. If he would but tell us explicitly what he would do, we might be impelled graciously to attempt the experiment as he has proposed it. This is what we want everywhere a man who will boldly tell us what he would do under the stress and agony of life. He must not draw pictures, or suggest what other men should do, but should himself incarnate the necessity, and be what he would have others be. But has Eliphaz any ground upon which to base this decision of his with regard to coming before God? He says he has, for he describes God as one “which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number” ( Job 5:9 ). But we may be repelled by dignity. The very majesty of God may overwhelm and discourage us. We would rather go to our own poor old mother than go to some god clothed only with the terribleness of universal government, conspicuous only for dazzling and unapproachable majesty. Eliphaz knew that; so he supplied the very element which we require “who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields” ( Job 5:10 ). Judge God by what he does in nature: let his showers of rain be accepted as a revelation of his quality; let his shepherdliness among the flocks be taken as the first chapter in which he reveals his real personality: watch the orchards in the springtime, rich with blossom, and see in all the many colours of that magical writing the Bible of nature. He who cares for oxen cares for men. He without whom the sparrow cannot fall to the ground numbers the hairs of the heads of men. Reason upwards. Do not stop arbitrarily, saying, Here is wisdom, here is goodness, here is even what men call grace; but here we will draw a line. The patriarchs, the prophets, the psalmists, Christ and the apostles, all say, Carry on the argument fearlessly; then you will come to this sublime conclusion: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” If men, then God; if nature, then grace; if providence, then redemption: “The meanest flower that blows” has in it the mystery of the redeeming cross. What we want is the piercing eye, the seeing heart, the pure spirit.
But is there no tenderness in Eliphaz? We have been struck by his sublimity, by his mental nobleness, and by his gift in the utterance of august and overwhelming words and images; but a little tenderness would now soften the great argument and make us glad. Nowhere in all Scripture is there an example of purer tenderness than is given in the conclusion of the speech of Eliphaz. We find the proof from Job 5:17-26 . “Happy is the man whom God correcteth.” That is a new tone. Before, we had never associated happiness with correction. The general impression is that correction means misery, and that correction was sent to chastise sin: to what human heart has it ever occurred that loss, pain, disease, helplessness were elements, somehow, in the marvellous chemistry which expresses its results in happiness? “Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up:” trace the disease and the cure to the same great power; “he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” These wounds are other than satanic; they were incidentally and secondarily inflicted by another hand; but taken in all their meaning, and in all their fulness, there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having a hand in it, doing it by permission or directly, a mystery not to be explained with lame words, mocking, self-convicting words, but to be felt as benedictions are felt, and as the sublimest philosophies compel the assent of the mind. “He shall deliver thee in six troubles:” will he stop there? Can he not go beyond six? “Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.” These were bold words to be uttered to man who was lying flat on the ground, without being able to move a hand in his own deliverance. But it is just under such circumstances that gospels are seen to be what they are: it is in the darkness that we see the stars; it is when we are nothing that God is all: the cross without the sin would have been an irony not to be tolerated by reason or to be trusted by faith: “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us;” it was a propitiation, an answer to a reality, a medicament for a fatal disease.
Eliphaz numbers the foes that can assault men. He calls one Famine “In famine he shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword” ( Job 5:20 ). He names a third Slander “Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh” ( Job 5:21 ). All nature shall be thy friend: “thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee” ( Job 5:23 ). All nature is the friend of him who is the friend of God. The stars in their courses fought against Sisera, but the stones of the field, and the beasts thereof, were in league with the man who suffered with resignation, and accepted his chastisement even with some degree of suppressed thankfulness. Yes, there is a community of things; an organic federacy. Even the beasts of the field shall be quiet in the presence of the man who can really pray: he shall be known in the forest, he shall be recognised on the sea. He has not yet come but in one personality, namely, the personality of the Son of God; but the time is coming when humanity, now redeemed, then educated by many a providence and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, shall trample upon the serpent and the adder, and hold the lion at bay. This shall be the result of things! Saints shall judge the world, and holy men shall be a little lower than God.
And Job was comforted with the assurance that his flocks and herds would be all right in the end:
“And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin” ( Job 5:24 ).
That is an extraordinary expression, but literally it is full of beauty. It should be read thus: And thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt miss nothing: everything will be there, sons and daughters, and houses and lands, and flocks and possessions and riches: seek thou first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto thee, and thou shalt miss nothing. That is a figure under which sin is often represented in the Bible. Sin misses the mark. Sin aims but never hits. Using the word in its literal sense, therefore, Eliphaz says: Thou shalt visit thine habitation, and shalt miss nothing; and then as to the end “Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season” ( Job 5:26 ). Oh! he was poet as well as saint; he was philosopher, and therefore comforter; he had a great reserve of mental power, and therefore his fingers were tipped with delicacy, and what wound he touched he left without exasperation. “Like as a shock of corn cometh in,” literally, Like as a shock of corn cometh up. The threshing-floors were on high, and the shocks of corn were taken up to the high threshing-floors, there to be used with a view to being turned into bread: so, Job, thou shalt come up to God’s threshing-floor in due time. We must all die: the question is, How shall we die? We cannot escape that fate. There is no discharge in that war. When the enemy has mocked us, taunted us at the altar, smitten us in the face, laughed at the Bible, scorned us with bitter scorning, what has he done? He has left every great fact and tragedy of life untouched, unaccounted for. He cannot save us from the hour and article of death. It is, therefore, a serious question, How shall we meet that great event? It cometh alike to all, sometimes without notice, often suddenly: the Judge standeth at the door. Sad it will be after all if we have no answer to that black guest but the laugh of the mocker, and the jibe of him who made unseasonable merriment. Let me die the death of the righteous; let my last end be like his. As a rational man, having seen somewhat of life, and read somewhat of history, and considered somewhat the ways of men, and having given a whole lifetime to the study of the Book of God, I wish to put it on record, here and now, that I know of no influence that can so sustain the spirit, so illumine the last darkness, as the presence of the Son of man, Immanuel, God with us!
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Job’s Answer to Eliphaz
Job 6-7
The speech of Eliphaz, which we have already considered, was not the kind of speech to be answered off-handedly. We have been struck by its nobleness and sublimity, its fulness of wisdom; and, indeed, we have not seen any reason, such as Job seems to have seen, for denying to that great speech the merit of sympathy. Why, then, does Job break out into these lamentations? The reason appears to be obvious. We must come upon grief in one of two ways, and Job seems to have come upon grief in a way that is to be deprecated. He came upon it late in life. “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” Observe how Job comes before us a master, a chief, a very prince, a great flockmaster, and in possession of all comforts, privileges, and enjoyments usually accounted essential to solid prosperity and positive and genuine comfort Grief must tell heavily whenever it comes upon a man in such a condition. This accounts for his lamentation, and whine, and long-drawn threnody. He was not accustomed to it. Some men have been born into trouble, and they have become acclimatised; it has become to them a kind of native condition, and its utterances have been familiar as the tongue of nativity. Blessed are they who come upon grief in that method. Such a method appears to be the method of real mercy. Sad is it, or must it be, to begin life with both hands full, with estate upon estate, with luxury upon luxury, so that the poor little world can give nothing more! When grief strikes a child born under the disadvantage of riches, it must make him quail it must be hard upon him. Grief must come. The question would seem to be, When? or, How? Come it will. The devil allows no solitary life to pass upward into heaven without fighting its way at some point or other. It would seem to me as if the suggestion that Job came upon grief late in life was a kind of key to many utter ances of suffering, and many questions as to the reality and beneficence of God’s government. Yet, what is to be done? No doubt there is a practical difficulty. Who can help being born into riches? Not the child. The responsibility, then, is with the father. What do you want with everything? When are you going to stop the self-disappointing process of acquisition? You think it kind to lay up whole thousands for the boy. In your cruel kindness you start him with velvet. Secretly or openly, you are proud of him as you see him clothed from head to foot, quite daintily, almost in an aesthetic style, without a sign on his little hands of ever having earned one solitary morsel of bread. You call him beautiful; you draw attention to his form and air and whole mien, and inwardly chuckle over the lad’s prospects. Better he had been born in the workhouse! And you are to blame! You are the fool! But grief must come. You cannot roof it out with slates and tiles, nor keep it at bay with stone walls. Let us say, again and again, “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth”; and you know it, because you bore the yoke in your youth. Your father, or grandfather, was quite in a small way of business: but oh, how you enjoyed the bread! You had to run an errand before breakfast, and came back with an appetite, your boy comes down late, without any soul for his food; and you think him not well, and call in aid, and elicit neighbourly sympathy! Oh, how unwise! How untrue to the system of things which God has established in his universe! Make your acquaintance with a man who has seven sons, three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she asses, and a very great household; and you might well say, What a field there is for the devil to try temptation in! Yet how to obviate the difficulty is certainly a question not easily answered. We can but approach the possible solution of the problem little by little, ordering everything in a spirit of discipline, without ever touching the meanness of oppression. It is one thing to be Job, and another to read his book. We do not read it well. We read it as if it had all been done with in an hour or two; whereas the book ought to be spaced out almost like the first chapter of Genesis. We have had occasion to say that the first chapter of Genesis would create less confusion if we inserted a millennium now and then if we punctuated it with a myriad ages here and there. But we rush through it. Quite in a hot gallop we finish the Book of Job. Who can understand such a dramatic history so reading it? Why not remember that seven days and seven nights elapsed before a word was spoken by Eliphaz, after he had seen that the grief of Job was very great? Observe where the period of silence comes in; and consider the thought that it is possible that days and nights may have elapsed as between the various speeches, setting them back in time, giving them an opportunity for taking upon themselves the right atmosphere and colour, and affording the speakers also an opportunity of uttering their grief with appropriate gesture and accent. The speeches were punctuated with sobs. The sentences were never uttered flippantly, but were drawn out as is the manner of sorrow, or were ejected, thrown out, with a jerk and hurry characteristic of some moods of grief. Let us allow, then, that the speech of Eliphaz had been uttered, and had lain as it were some time in the mind of Job. Grief delights in monologue. Job seems scarcely to lay himself down mentally upon the line adopted by Eliphaz. It is most difficult to find the central line of Job’s speech, and yet that very difficulty would seem to show the reality of his grief, the tumult of his ungovernable emotion. Too much logic would have spoiled the grief. Reasoning there is, but it comes and goes; it changes its tone now hardly like reason in its logical form; now a wave, an outburst of heart-sorrow; and then coming firmly down upon realities it strikes the facts of life as the trained fingers of the player might strike a chord of music.
Note how interrogative is the tone of Job’s speech, and found an argument upon its interrogativeness. More than twenty questions occur in Job’s reply. He was great, as grief often is, in interrogation. What do these marks of interrogation mean? They almost illustrate the speech; for he who asks questions after this fashion is as a man groping his way in darkness. A blind man’s staff is always asking questions. You never saw a blind man put out his hand but that hand was really in the form of an interrogation, saying, in its wavering and quest, Where am I? What is this? What is my position now? Am I far from home? Do I come near a friend? The great speeches of Demosthenes have been noted for their interrogation; the marks of interrogation stand among the sentences like so many spears, swords, or implements of war; for there was battle in every question. It would appear as if grief, too, also took kindly to the interrogative form of eloquence. Job is asking, Are the old foundations still here? things have surely been changed in the night-time, for I am unaccustomed to what is now round about me: is the sky torn down? does the sun still rise? does the sun still set? is old sweet mother nature still busy getting the table ready for her hungry children? or has everything changed since I have passed into this trance of sorrow? All this is natural. It is not mere eloquence. It is eloquence coloured with grief; eloquence ennobled by pain. The great words might be read as a mere school exercise; whereas they ought to be read by shattered men, who can annotate every sentence by a corresponding record in their own experience. Is it not what men do just now in times of change and great stress and fear? They ask one another questions; they elevate commonplaces into highly-accentuated inquiries; things that have been perfectly familiar to them now startle them into questioning and wonder, because surely since they themselves have been so unbalanced, caught in so tremendous an uproar and tumult, things must have been decentrailsed, or somehow thrown out of equipoise and shape.
Notice how many misunderstandings there are in this speech of the suffering man:
“Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea” ( Job 6:2-3 ).
Who ever thought that his grief was exactly comprehended by his friends? Job makes much of the grief with which a thousand other men had been familiar all their lives. When the rich man loses any money, what an outcry there is in his house! When the poor man loses something, he says As usual! well, we must hope that tomorrow will be brighter than today! But let a great, prosperous, space-filling rich man lose any money, and he loses a whole night’s sleep immediately after it; he says, “Oh that my grief were throughly weighed!” He likes “thorough” work when the work is applied to sympathising with him. So we misunderstand our friends; then we misunderstand our pain:
“Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! Then should I yet have comfort” ( Job 6:8-10 ).
We do not know that our pain is really working out for us, if we truly accept it, the highest estate and effect of spiritual education. No man can enjoy life who has not had at least one glimpse of death. What can enjoy food so keenly as hunger? Who knows the value of money so well as he who has none, or has to work hardly for every piece of money that he gains? Such is the mystery of pain in human education Have not men sometimes said: It was worth while to be sick, so truly have we enjoyed health after the period of disablement and suffering? Pain cannot be judged during its own process. From some pictures we must stand at a certain distance in order to see them in proper focus, and get upon them interpreting and illuminating lights. It is sympathetically so with pain. The pain that tears us now like a sharp instrument, working agony in the flesh, will show its whole meaning tomorrow, or on the third day God’s resurrection day, and day of culmination and perfecting. “Let patience have her perfect work.”
Job not only misunderstood his friends and misunderstood his pain, he misunderstood all men, and the whole system and scheme of things. He said::
“My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid: what time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish. The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them” ( Job 6:15-19 ).
How suffering not rightly accepted, or not rightly understood, colours and perverts the whole thought and service of life! Job said:
“Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling? As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: so am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me” ( Job 7:1-3 ).
So we return to our starting-point, that sorrow must come. It is difficult for the young to believe this. The young have had but a transient ache or pain, which could be laughed off, so superficial was it. So when preachers talk of days that are nights, and summers that are made cold by unforgotten or fast-approaching winters, the young suppose the preachers are always moaning, and the church is but a painted grave, and it is better to be in the lighted theatre and in the place of entertainment, where men laugh wildly by the hour and take hold of life with a light and easy touch. The preachers must bear that criticism, committing themselves to time for the confirmation of their words, which indicate the burden, stress, and the weariness of life. Life has been one continual grief. Death soon came into the house, and made havoc at the fireside. Poverty was a frequent visitor at the old homestead lean, wrinkled, husky-voiced poverty, without a gleam of sunlight on its weird face, without a tone of music in its exhausted voice; want painted upon every feature, necessity embodied in every action and attitude: then every enterprise failed; the letter that was to have brought back the golden answer was either never received or never answered. Now the natural issue of sorrow is gloom, dejection, despair of life. To this end will sorrow bring every man who yields himself to it. Suffering will pluck every flower, destroy every sign of beauty, put back the dawn, and lengthen the black night. This is what sorrow, unblessed, must always do. It will blind the eye with tears; it will suffocate the throat with sobs; it will enfeeble the very hand when it is put out to make another effort at self-restoration. But has it come to this, that sorrow must be so received and yielded to? Is there any way-by which even sorrow can be turned into joy? The Bible discloses such a way. The Bible never shrinks from telling us that there is grief in the world, and that that grief can be accounted for on moral principles. The Bible measures the grief: never lessens it, never makes light of it, never tells men to shake themselves from the touch and tyranny of grief by some merely human effort; the Bible says, The grief must be recognised: it is the black child of black sin; it is God’s way of showing his displeasure; but even sorrow, whether it come in the form of penalty or come simply as a test, with a view to the chastening of the man’s heart and life, can be sanctified and turned into a blessing. Any book which so speaks deserves the confidence of men who know the weight and bitterness of suffering. Look at the old family Bible, and observe where it is thumbed most. Have we not said before that we can almost tell the character of the household from the finger-marks upon the old family Bible? Did we not once say, Turn to the twenty-third Psalm, and see how that has been treated? Ah! there how well thumbed it is! There has been sorrow in this house. Turn to the fourteenth chapter of John, and see whether that chapter is written upon a page unstained by human touch; and behold how all the margin seems to be impressed as by fingers that were in quest of heaven’s best consolations! Do not come to the Bible only for condolence and sympathy; come to it for instruction, inspiration, and then you may come to it for consolation, sympathy, tenderest comfort for the very dew of the morning, for the very balm of heaven, for the very touch of Christ. We must not make a convenience of the Bible, coming to it only when we are in sore straits; we must make a friend of it a great teacher. God’s statutes should be our songs in the house of our pilgrimage, and if we are faithful at Sinai we shall be welcomed at the Mount of Beatitudes. If we have struggled well as faithful servants there will not be wanting at last the welcome which begins and means all the reward of heaven.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
(See the Job Book Comments for Introductory content and general conclusions and observations).
V
THE FIRST ROUND OF SPEECHES
Job 4-14.
This debate extends from Job 4-31 inclusive. There are three rounds of speeches by all the four except that Zophar drops out in the last round. Each round constitutes a scene in Act II of the drama.
In this chapter we will discuss Scene I and commence with the first speech of Eliphaz (Job 4-5) the points of which are as follows:
Introduction (Job 4:1-2 ). In his introduction he deprecates grieving one so afflicted but must reprove Job,
1. For weakness and inconsistency. The one who had instructed, comforted, and strengthened others in their troubles, faints when trouble comes to him (Job 4:3-5 ).
2. Because Job had neither the fear of God nor personal integrity, for the fear of God gives confidence, and integrity gives hope, but Job’s complaint implies that he had neither confidence nor hope, therefore he must be devoid of the fear of God and of integrity (Job 4:6 ).
3. Because the observation of the general trend of current events argued Job’s guilt. The innocent do not perish; those who reap trouble are those who have sowed trouble and plowed iniquity. Ravening lions, though strong and terrible, meet the hunter at last (Job 4:7-11 ).
4. Because revelation also convicts him. Eliphaz relates one of his own visions (Job 4:12-17 ), very impressively, which scouted the idea that mortal man could be more just than God, or purer than his maker. But Job’s complaint seemed to embody the idea. Eliphaz argues from his vision that a pure and just God crushes impure and unjust men and suggests the application that Job’s being crushed reproves his impurity and injustice (Job 4:18-21 ).
5. Because Job’s outcry against God was foolish and silly, and since no angels would hear such complaint, or dare to avert its punishment (Job 5:1-2 ) there can be no appeal from the supreme to the creature.
6. Because observation of a particular case illustrates Job’s guilt (Job 5:3-5 ). The circumstances of this case seen by Eliphaz, make it parallel with Job’s case; a certain foolish man took root and prospered for a while, but the curse smote him suddenly and utterly; his children perished, his harvest was eaten by the hungry, and all his substance was snatched away.
7. Because these results are not accidental, nor of earthly origin, but must be attributed to God who punishes sin. Because man is a sinner he is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward (Job 5:6-7 ).
The remedy suggested to Job by Eliphaz is as follows:
1. Take your case to God confession of sin and repentance are suggested (Job 5:8 ) who will exalt the penitent (Job 5:11 ) as certainly as he has frustrated their craftiness (Job 5:12-14 ) and so the poor may have hope after the mouth of their iniquity is stopped (Job 5:15-16 ).
2. Instead of murmuring, count yourself happy in receiving this punishment, and after penitence expect restoration of prosperity (Job 5:17-27 ).
On comparing this analysis with that given by Dr. Tanner (see his Syllabus on the speech of Eliphaz) it will be noted that the author here differs widely with Tanner in his analysis and interpretation of this speech. Tanner presents Eliphaz as assuming the position that Job was a righteous man and that God would deliver him. The author presents Eliphaz as taking the position that Job had sinned, which was the cause of his suffering and that he should confess and repent; that he should count himself happy in receiving this punishment, and thus after penitence expect the restoration of prosperity. It will be recalled here that the author, in commending the Syllabus of Dr. Tanner noted the weakness of his analysis at this point.
There are several things notable in this first speech of Eliphaz, viz:
1. The recurrence in all his speeches of “I have seen,” “I have seen,” “I saw,” showing that the experience and observation of a long life constituted the basis of his argument.
2. The good elements of his arguments are as follows: (1) He refers to the natural law of sowing and reaping (Cf. Gal 6:7 ); (2) the sinner’s way to happiness is through confession and repentance; (3) chastisement of an erring man should be recognized as a blessing, since it looks to his profit (Cf. Pro 3:11 and the use made of it as quoted in Heb 12:5 ).
3. The bad elements in his speech are as follows: (1) His induction of facts ignores many other facts, particularly that all suffering is not penal; (2) He fails in the application of his facts, since the case before him does not come in their classification; in other words, through ignorance he fails in his diagnosis of the case, and hence his otherwise good remedies fall short of a cure.
4. The exquisite simplicity and literary power of his description of his vision, makes it a classic gem of Hebrew poetry.
The following points are noted in Job’s reply (Job 6-7) :
1. The rash words of my complaint are not evidence of previous sins, but the result of immeasurable calamities from the hand of God. They cannot be weighed; they are heavier than the sandy shores which confine the ocean; they are poisoned arrows from the quiver of the Almighty which pierce my very soul and rankle there; they are terrors marshalled in armies by the Almighty (Job 6:1-4 ).
2. The braying of an ass and the lowing of an ox are to be attributed to lack of food, not meanness. Let the favorable construction put upon the discordant noise of hungry animals be applied to my braying and lowing (Job 6:5 ), for in my case also there is the hunger of starvation since the food set before me is loathsome and without savor (Job 6:6-7 ).
3. I repeat my prayer to God for instant death, because I have not the strength to endure longer, nor the wisdom to understand (Job 6:8-9 ; Job 6:11-13 ) but while exulting in the pain that slays me, my consolation still is, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One (Job 6:10 ).
4. Instead of moralizing on the causes and rebuking suspected sins, friends should extend kindness to one ready to faint, even though he forsake the fear of God (or lest he forsake, Job 6:14 ). This is like the story of the drowning boy who asked the moralizing man on the bank to help him out first and then inquire into the causes of his mishap.
5. In your treatment of me, ye are like a deceitful brook, roaring with water only while the snow on the mountains is melting, but being without springs, directly you run dry. The caravans from the desert that come to it hoping, turn aside from its dusty channels and perish. So you that seemed like a river when I was not thirsty, put me to shame by your nothingness now that I thirst. Compare “Wells without water . . . clouds without rain” in Jud 1:12-13 .
6. Is it possible that you condemn me because you apprehend that otherwise I might ask you for help? In your moralizing are you merely hedging against the expectation of being called on to help a bankrupt sufferer, by furnishing a reward or ransom for the return of my stolen flocks and herds? Do you try to make me guilty that you may evade the cost of true friendship (Job 6:21-23 )? I have asked for no financial help, but for instruction. How forcible are right words !
7. But you, instead of explaining my calamities have been content to reprove the words of my complaint, extorted by the anguish of my calamities, words that under the circumstances should have been counted as wind, being only the speeches of one that is desperate.
8. The meanness of such treatment in your case would prompt in other cases to cast lots for the orphans of the dead and make merchandise out of a stranded friend by selling him as a slave (Job 6:27 ). This is a terrible invective, but more logical than their argument, since history abundantly shows that some believers in their creed have done these very things, the argument being that thereby they are helping God to punish the wicked.
9. He begs them to turn from such injustice, look on his face and behold his sincerity, concede his ability to discern a thing which is wicked, and accept his deliberate statement that he is innocent of the things which they suspect (Job 6:28-30 ).
10. He laments his case as hopeless (Job 7:1-10 ). Here Job asks if there is not a warfare to man and his days like the days of a hireling. His waiting for relief was like a hireling waiting for his wages, during which time he is made to pass months (moons) of misery. In this hopeless condition he longs for relief and would gladly welcome death from which there is no return to the walks of this life.
11. Job now lifts his voice in complaint to God (Job 7:11-21 ). In the anguish of his spirit he could not refrain from complaining that God had set a watch over him and terrified him with dreams and visions. He was made to loathe his life and again to wish for death. Then he closes this speech by raising the question with the Almighty as to why he would not pardon him if he had sinned (as his accusers had insinuated) and take away his iniquity. Here he addresses God as a “watcher of men”; as one who had made him a target for his arrows. Now we take up the first speech of Bildad, the Shuhite (Job 8 ).
The substance of this speech is as follows:
1. He charges that Job seeks to make himself better than God, then he hints at the sins of his children and insinuates that Job does not pray, for prayer of the right sort brings relief (Job 8:1-7 ).
2. He exhorts Job to learn the lesson from the past. The wisdom of the fathers must be good. Therefore, learn the lesson of the ancients (Job 8:8-10 ).
3. He contrasts the fate of the wicked and that of the righteous, reasoning from cause to effect, thus insinuating that Job’s condition was the result of a cause, and since (to him) all suffering was the result of sin, the cause must be in Job (Job 8:11-22 ).
The substance of Job’s reply is,
1. True enough a man cannot be righteous with God, since he is unable to contend with him. He is too wise and powerful; he is invincible. Who can match him (Job 9:1-12 )?
2. Praying does not touch the case. He is unjust and proves me perverse. Individual righteousness does not avail to exempt in case of a scourge. He mocks at the trial of the innocent and the wicked prosper. Then Job says, “If it be not he, who then is it?” This is the climax of the moral tragedy (Job 9:13-24 ).
3. There is no daysman betwixt us, and I am not able to meet him in myself for Judgment (Job 9:25-35 ).
4. I will say unto God, “Why? Thou knowest I am not wicked.” Here it will be noted that a revelation is needed in view of this affliction (Job 10:1-7 ).
5. God is responsible for my condition; he framed and fashioned me as clay, yet he deals with me as milk or cheese; it is just the same whether I am wicked or righteous; changes and warfare are with me (Job 10:8-17 ).
6. Why was I born? or why did I not die at birth? Then would I have escaped this great suffering, but now I must abide the time until I go into the land of midnight darkness (Job 10:18-22 ).
The substance of Zophar’s first speech is this:
1. What you have received is not as much as you deserve; you are full of talk and boastful; you are self-righteous and need this rebuke from God (Job 11:1-6 ).
2. You cannot find out God; he is far beyond man; he is all-powerful and omniscient; man is as void of understanding as a wild ass’s colt (Job 11:7-12 ).
3. Put away your wickedness; you need to get right and then you will be blessed; you should set your heart and house in order, then all will clear up; then you will be protected from the wicked (Job 11:13-20 ).
Job’s reply to the first speech of Zophar embraces three chapters, as follows:
1. No doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you; I am not inferior to you; you mock and do not help; I, though upright, am a laughingstock and you, who are at ease, have contempt for misfortune; God brought this about (Job 12:1-6 ).
2. Learn the lessons from nature; the beasts, the birds, the earth, and the fishes can teach thee; everybody knows these things; the ear tries words and the palate tastes food, and wisdom is learned by age (Job 12:7-12 ).
3. God is the source of wisdom and power; he deals wisely with all men; he debases and he exalts (Job 12:13-25 ).
4. I understand it all as well as you; ye are forgers of lies; ye are physicians of no value; your silence would be wisdom; you speak wickedly for God, therefore your sayings are proverbs of ashes and your defenses are defenses of clay (Job 13:1-12 )
5. Why should I take my life in my hand thus? I want to be vindicated before I die; “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him”; I know that I am righteous; therefore I have hope (Job 13:13-19 ).
6. He pleads his cause with God; he asks two things of God, viz: (1) that he would put an end to his bodily suffering and (2) that he would abstain from terrifying him; then he challenges God to call him; then he interrogates God relative to his sins, God’s attitude toward him and his dealings with him; and finally charges God with unjust dealings with him (Job 13:20-28 ).
7. Man that is born of woman is frail and sinful; man’s weakness should excite pity with the Almighty; that which is born of an unclean thing is unclean and since a man’s days and months are numbered, why not turn from him as an hireling and let him rest (Job 14:1-6 ).
8. The hope of a tree, though it be cut down, is that it will sprout again but man’s destiny to lie down in death and rise no more till the heavens pass away should be a cause for mercy from God (Job 14:7-12 ).
9. In despair of recovery in this life Job again prays for death; that God would hide him in the grave till his wrath be past; that he would appoint him a day, in the hope that if he should die he would live again; his destiny is in God’s hands and therefore he is hopeless for this life (Job 14:13-17 ).
10. Like the mountain falling, the rock being removed out of its place and waters wearing away the stones, the hope of man for this life is destroyed by the providences of God; man is driven by them into oblivion; his sufferings become so great that only for himself his flesh has pain and only for himself his soul mourns (Job 14:18-22 ).
In this round of speeches the three friends have followed their philosophy of cause and effect and thus reasoning that all suffering is the effect of sin, they have, by insinuations, charged Job of sin, but they do not specify what it is. Job denies the general charge and in a rather bad spirit refutes their arguments and hits back at them some terriffic blows. He is driven to the depths of despair at the climax of the moral tragedy where he attributes all the malice, cunning, and injustice he had felt in the whole transaction to God as his adversary. They exhort him to repent and seek God, but he denies that he has sinned; he says that he cannot contend with the Almighty because he is too high above him, too powerful, and that there is no umpire, or daysman, between them. Here Job is made to feel the need of a revelation from God explaining all the mysteries of his providence. In this trial of Job we have ‘Satan’s partial victory over him -where he led Job to attribute the evils that had come upon him to God. This is the downfall in Job’s wrestle with Satan. He did not get on top of Job but gave him a great deal of worry. We will see Job triumphing more and more as he goes on in the contest.
QUESTIONS 1. What the points of Eliphaz’s first speech?
2. What things are notable in this first speech of Eliphaz?
3. What the points of Job’s reply (Job 6-7)?
4. What the substance of Bildad’s first speech?
5. What the substance of Job’s reply?
6. What the substance of Zophar’s first speech?
7. What Job’s reply?
8. Give a summary of the proceedings and results of the first round.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Job 5:1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
Ver. 1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee ] The beginning of this chapter is hard, saith Mercer, till you come to the seventh or eighth verses, and then all is plain and easy. That which Eliphaz driveth at here is, to drive Job out of all good conceit of his own condition, and to persuade him that never any good man suffered such hard and heavy things as he, or, at least, suffered them so untowardly and impatiently. Call, I pray thee, saith he, call over the roll, look into the records of former saints, and see if thou canst find among them all such another knotty piece as thyself, that needed so much hewing, and made such a deal of complaining. Was there ever the like heard of? Call now, if there be any one answerable to thee. Broughton rendereth it, Call now, if there be any one that will defend thee, that is, be thy patron or advocate, in word, or in the example of their lives.
And to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job Chapter 5
Well, Eliphaz pursues it. He says (Job 5 ), “Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. I have seen the foolish taking root” – he was an aged man and was fond of looking back upon his experience – “I have seen the foolish taking root; but suddenly I cursed his habitation.” Ah, there it is! No prayer for him – cursing his habitation! No pity for him! Well, that was just the spirit that was produced by this readiness to judge, and to found the judgment upon appearance. “Judge not according to the appearance,” said the law. We are bound to wait for solid fact. Take a person who has a bad appearance. Sometimes a bad man puts on a good appearance. Well, we are not at all deceived by that. Sometimes a good man may be in such circumstances that appearances are very much against him. There we have to take great care. So that judgment according to appearance is a very dangerous ground. That is exactly where they were. “His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.” That was a very painful word for Job to hear. Job had been most careful about his children. Job watched over them with much prayer to God, and burnt offerings, as was the nature of things at that time – the way in which piety expressed itself. Eliphaz did not make it personal; nevertheless there are many ways of giving a hint. “Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robbers walloweth up their substance.” Something very like that had happened to Job. I do not say that he imputed it to him, but still that was the spirit that was at work.
“Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. I would seek unto God.” Oh, yes, Eliphaz, all right – you are the man! It was a word meant for Job. He did not think that Job was seeking unto God. But he – he was very calm; and he could say, ‘Yes, if I were in your case I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause, instead of crying out so loudly and complaining so bitterly’ (as poor Job did); ‘unto God would I commit my cause’ – “which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields; to set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.” But does not God sometimes try people? and the rains are not merely for fruitful seasons, but to destroy the fruit. The rains may be such as to greatly try the poor farmer and the husbandman; and it may all turn out quite the other way It is entirely special pleading that we find in these men. It is not the whole case at all; it is never the full case. It is not the judge; it is the mere advocate; and in this case Job was the poor defendant. They were all on the side of hounding out Job, and finding where the secret iniquity was that they believed was at the bottom of all his trial. They were all wrong. “He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.” Not a thought about the bad people that prosper; he only looks up certain ones that were punished; and the idea is, Job must be one of them.
Well, we find that he does at last fall upon a real truth, quite different from all this random talk. “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth” (ver. 17). He never thought that that was the case with Job. “Happy is the man.” He knew that Job was very unhappy, and therefore he did not count him one of these at all. “Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty” – there he does venture to exhort – “For he maketh sore and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” There certainly is a milder vein running through these reproaches of Eliphaz as compared with the others, as we shall see at a later date. “He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall be no evil to touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh” – and so on. The end would be that “That shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.” And the remarkable thing is that that was the end; and little did Eliphaz think that it would be verified in Job’s case. It was more a homily in a vague way; and although he called Job to apply it, he had no idea that God would apply it, and that God would bring out Job more blest than ever.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
to which . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6. In the Vulgate versions this is changed to a command: and it is quoted in support of “the invocation of saints”.
saints = holy ones: i.e. the angels. Compare Job 15:15. Deu 33:2. Jud 1:14. So Septuagint. See note on “holy”. Exo 3:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Call now ( Job 5:1 ),
Eliphaz is saying to Job.
if there be any that will answer you; and to which of the saints will thou turn? ( Job 5:1 )
Now it would seem that maybe in those days there were those who… they had already developed saints that they were turning to in trouble. Which saint do you have for boils, you know?
For wrath killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the silly. I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them ( Job 5:2-4 ).
Now he’s accusing Job of foolishness and silliness and all of this because, you see, Job’s children were crushed when the house fell. So he said, “I’ve seen the foolish and all. Their children are crushed in the gate and all.”
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance ( Job 5:5 ).
The Sabaeans and the Chaldeans had come in and stolen everything that Job had; so this is all…he’s trying to make it all applicable to Job. “This is what’s happened to you. You’re the foolish one and you had taken root, but suddenly you’re cursed and all.”
Although affliction comes not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward ( Job 5:6-7 ).
Now that’s a great philosophy for life, isn’t it? “Man, you were born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” But unfortunately, such is the case.
I would seek unto God ( Job 5:8 ),
Now he’s advising Job. “I would seek unto God.”
and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night. But he saves the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty ( Job 5:8-17 ):
Now Solomon, no doubt, was familiar with Job, because in his advice to his son, he said, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be thou weary with His correction” ( Pro 3:11 ). And of course, Paul picked it up in the New Testament, or whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, and my assumption is that it was Paul. But whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, picks it up in the book of Hebrews and again says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord” ( Heb 12:5 ). And happy is everyone who is scourged by Him. So, here in Job, Eliphaz first of all says, “Hey, don’t despise God’s chastening. Happy is the man whom God corrects.” Don’t despise the chastening of the Almighty.
For he makes sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee ( Job 5:18-19 ).
Now he really doesn’t give us the seven. He speaks of the couple here. Couple things, well, three things at least. God will spare you in the time of famine.
In famine he will redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh ( Job 5:20-21 ).
And so there are four of the seven. He doesn’t give us the other three. He comes back now to destruction and famine.
thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the eaRuth ( Job 5:22 ).
That’s five.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know it for your own good ( Job 5:23-27 ).
So here’s the way it is, Job. This is the way the cows eats its cabbage, you know. So listen to me. It’s for your own good, man. Just get right with God.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Job 5:1-7
Introduction
THE CONCLUSION OF ELPIHAZ’ FIRST SPEECH
Eliphaz’ speech revealed some good qualities in him. He no doubt believed that Job had been a righteous man; and in spite of the fact that he even suggested that the terrible misfortunes that came upon Job might have been in the category of `chastening’ rather than as punishment, his smug and erroneous belief that such calamities were usually if not always the proof and punishment of wickedness must have been quite painful to Job.
Job 5:1-7
ELIPHAZ’ WORD THAT JOB’S CASE WAS HOPELESS
“Call now; is there any that will answer thee?
And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
For vexation killeth the foolish man,
And jealousy slayeth the silly one.
I have seen the foolish taking root:
But suddenly I cursed his habitation..
His children are far from safety,
And they are crushed in the gate,
Neither is there any to deliver them:
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,
And taketh it even out of the thorns;
And the snare gapeth for their substance.
For affliction cometh not forth from the dust,
Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground:
But man is born unto trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.”
“Is there any that will answer thee” (Job 5:1)? Such a question in Hebrew was an emphatic negative, with the meaning that, “Not even any of the angels would hear Job’s prayer.” “What he says is that, `it is futile to call out in prayer,’ for no one will answer.” Eliphaz himself had just claimed that God heard him in prayer; so, “It is Job himself who is disqualified to pray.”
“Vexation killeth the foolish man” (Job 5:2). Eliphaz has concluded that Job’s vexation and jealousy show that Job has become a fool. In his description of what happens to the fool, “Eliphaz deliberately goes through a whole roll of disasters corresponding so exactly to what had happened to Job, that each word is a poisoned arrow.”
“His children are far from safety” (Job 5:4). The implication of this is that Job’s sins have also brought sorrow to his children. Of course, it is true that sin injures others besides the sinner. It is against God, against the sinner’s family, against society, and against the sinner himself; “It is inevitable that when a man disgraces himself that his family share in it.” However. the tragedy of Eliphaz’ observation here is that it had no application whatever to Job.
“Eliphaz and the other friends of Job were like men who close their eyes to the real facts, rock back on their heels, and speak of general principles, every one of which is contradicted by the indisputable facts before them.”
“And taketh it even out of the thorns” (Job 5:5). The imagery here is that of ancient harvests which were protected from raiders and vandals, “by thorn hedges.”
“Affliction cometh not forth from the dust … Man is born unto trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:6-7). “Here Eliphaz says that trouble comes naturally to man; but he had just said the opposite,” that trouble did not just rise up out of the dust, but it came as a consequence of wickedness.
Eliphaz’ idea that disasters and calamities were invariably due to the sin of those who suffered such things was generally received throughout the ancient world. Even the Twelve asked Jesus, concerning the man born blind, “Who sinned? This man or his parents that he should have been born blind”? (Joh 9:2). Jesus put that old lie to rest with the declaration that neither the blind man nor his parents had sinned, but, “That the glory of God should be manifested in him.”
It is true, of course that sin is the root and cause of all the sorrow and suffering of mankind; but that cannot mean that an individual sufferer of this or that misfortune is suffering because of his personal sin. David, Jeremiah, Jacob, Tamar, Uriah, – call the roll of Old Testament heroes; they all suffered from the sins of others, not from their own wickedness. “And what about Our Saviour himself?. He did no wrong, in fact, committed no sin whatever, yet he suffered the agony of the Cross. The argument of Eliphaz does not hold water.”
“As the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). In the Hebrew, this reads, “As the sons of Reseph, an old Canaanite god. Here Eliphaz has given up his attempt at a moral explanation of Job’s disasters, offering dismal comfort.”
E.M. Zerr:
Job 5:1. Eliphaz challenged Job to appeal to some righteous person to see if he could obtain any help. The argument was that if he had not done something wrong, the saint would come to his rescue upon his appeal to him.
Job 5:2. It is true that wrath will kill a foolish man, but it likewise will kill a righteous one who happens to be a victim. See the comments at Job 4:1,
Job 5:3. Taking root is a figure of speech referring to the former good estate of Job. Cursed means he thought little of it because of its reversed condition; even so, Job’s good situation was made low through the effects of his own folly according to the argument of the speaker.
Job 5:4. The gates of cities were the places where the citizens came and went, and if all was prosperous the happiness of the children was assured. However, if a man became unworthy his children would have to suffer for it when they attempted to return through the usual channel at the entrance to the city.
Job 5:5. The children of the wicked will even be deprived of the necessities of life at the hands of evil persons. There will be no relief for them because their father has gone wrong and thrown himself outside of the help of God.
Job 5:6. The gist of this verse is the same as if he had said: “Affliction and trouble do not came from just nowhere or without a cause.”
Job 5:7. The argument of Eliphaz is as follows: “All natural effects come from natural causes, so Job’s afflictions are the logical effect of something.” The argument is correct but misapplied; just because there can be no effect without a cause is no reason for referring to Job’s case. There could be numerous causes for the effects that were present, therefore it cannot be claimed that the particular cause designated by Eliphaz was the true one.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Proceeding, Eliphaz asked Job to whom he would appeal, to which of the holy ones, that is, as against the truth which he had declared, or in defense of himself. In the light of evident guilt, all vexation and jealousy, such as Job had manifested, constitute such sin as produces final undoing. His attempted explanation of the meaning of suffering he then crystallized into proverbial form:
Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. That is to say again that there must have been a sowing for such a harvest.
Eliphaz then proceeded to utter his advice to Job by telling him what he would do. He “would seek unto God,” and to Him commit his cause. This declaration is followed by a passage of great beauty, in which he tells of the faithfulness and might of the Most High. In order to persuade his suffering friend to such action, he described the confidence and ultimate deliverance and restoration which would come to him if his trust was in God. It is all very beautiful, but absolutely short-sighted. Eliphaz had no knowledge of those secret councils in heaven, and was making the mistake of attempting to press all things into the compass of his philosophy.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Benefits of Chastisement
Job 5:1-27
In this chapter Eliphaz closes his first speech. He had already suggested that Jobs sufferings were the result of some secret sin. It could not be otherwise according to his philosophy. Affliction and trouble did not come by chance. It was as much a law of nature, so Eliphaz thought, for calamity to follow sin as for sparks to fly upward. However deeply evil men had rooted themselves, they were doomed to be destroyed. Was it not obvious that Job had in some way offended? Let him confess and be restored!
The ideal life which will ensue on a genuine repentance is described in the most thrilling and glowing terms, Job 5:8-17. Each sentence is a priceless jewel, and each has been tested by generations of returning prodigals, for whom each promise has been countersigned by the Yea of Christ, 2Co 1:20. Paul quotes Job 5:13 in 1Co 3:19.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Job 5:8-9
The truth which was here held up before Job is an inspiring one. We have to do with a God who does unsearchably marvellous things, not a few, but many, things, literally numberless.
I. Why then do we not expect marvellous things from God? (1) One reason is that we go too much by past experience. We often read our past experience in a most imperfect, careless, and unfair way, forgetting important parts and misinterpreting others. But even though we read it correctly, we should be wrong in forecasting our future by it. We have no right to measure God by our experience. (2) Some, again, think too much of law. They forget two things-freedom and God. A spirit is something not included in the rigid system of law. A spirit is itself a cause, and originates. It produces. It makes a new start. That lies in the very nature of a moral being, and God is infinitely free. He deals with the soul in ways unsearchable. (3) Some think only of their own working, and not of God’s. Feeling and knowing their own force, and not thinking of God’s, men settle down into small expectations. They do not realise the possible by God’s power and promise. (4) We fear to lessen our own diligence by the expectation of great and marvellous things being done for us by God.
II. Notice some reasons why we should cherish the expectation of the great and marvellous. (1) Such an expectation is essential to the fulness of the praying spirit. (2) It would raise our zeal in God’s cause to live in expectation of the vast promises in His word being fulfilled any day. (3) Such a thought would fill us with courage and joy, and elevate us above present care, and toil, and sorrow.
J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 51.
Job 5:19
I. The Friend spoken of in the text is none other than God Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus. “In six troubles He will be with you; yea, in seven no evil shall happen unto you.” When trouble comes, it is trouble, say what we will; and when misfortune happens, it cannot do so without the evil of it touching us in some way. But if the Lord Jesus be with us in our trouble, then the trouble will be found easy to bear; and if when misfortune happens Christ is with us, we shall find that His presence outweighs in good all the evil that would crush us if it could. Learn then to cultivate nearness to Jesus. Go to Him constantly. Pray often. Read His holy word. Do His holy will. Then He will always be with you, ready to help in time of need.
II. A traveller has told us that he once witnessed a battle between a poisonous spider and an insect which it attacked. Every time the insect was bitten by the spider, and before the poison could work it settled on the leaves of a plant hard by and sucked them; and as it sucked them it was healed, and returned to the battle as strong and brave as before. But the traveller was cruel enough to take away the plant. The poor insect when bitten went as usual to look for it, but could not find it, and presently died on the spot. Here you have a picture of what is going on continually. Just like this feeble insect, you have to wage a battle with a poisonous enemy-Satan. As the insect, every time it was bitten, went to the healing plant, so you must go to the Healer likewise. There is but one; it is the Lord Jesus. Go to Him, and you will come back to the battle as brave and fresh as ever. Nobody and nothing can remove Christ out of the way. He remains an everlasting refuge to all who choose to flee to Him.
G. Litting, Thirty Sermons for Children, p. 168.
References: Job 5:23.-W. Burrows, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 68. Job 5:24.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 314. Job 5:26.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 43. Job 6:1.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 208. Job 6:10.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1471. Job 6:15-17-Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 71. Job 6:25.-Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 79. Job 6-7-S. Cox, Ibid., 1st series, vol. iv., p. 401; Ibid., Commentary on Job, p. 88. Job 7:1.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1258; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 286. Job 7:6.-E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons, 1st. series, p. 1. Job 7:12.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 262.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
and to which: Job 15:8-10, Job 15:15, Isa 41:1, Isa 41:21-23, Heb 12:1
the saints: Job 4:18, Job 15:15, Deu 33:2, Deu 33:3, Psa 16:3, Psa 106:16, Eph 1:1
turn: or, look
Reciprocal: Job 13:4 – ye are forgers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 5:1. Call now, &c. Wouldst thou know the reason why I relate to thee this night vision? I do it with an intent that thou mayest apply it to thyself, and thy present circumstances. Thou hast heard how weak and imperfect the best of men must be in comparison with God, but if this does not satisfy thee, if thou dost not believe what has been advanced, thou mayest inquire of others. Try, therefore, if there be any one that will defend thee in these thy bold expostulations with God. Thou mayest find fools or wicked men that will do it, but not one of the children of God. There is no good man but is of my opinion; and if an angel should appear to thee as one did to me, thou wouldst receive no other information but this.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 5:1. To which of the saints wilt thou turn? Men in anguish look every way for help, but how can either angel or departed spirit of the just help us, without a special command from heaven. Men should therefore bear their afflictions till God relieve them.
Job 5:4. His childrenare crushed in the gate, when brought before the elders for their wicked deeds. The gate of the city was the ancient bench of justice.
Job 5:15. He saveth the poorfrom [the threats] of their mouth.
Job 5:17. Happy is the man whom God correcteth. Those three friends of Job were perfectly acquainted with the blessings of the Noachial, the Abrahamic, and Mosaic covenant. They partly enumerated them in the following verses: and though Eliphaz might not know it, his words imply a prophecy of Jobs restoration, that his tabernacle should be in peace, and his offspring like the grass. Yea, that Job, like a shock of corn, should come to his grave in a good old age.
Job 5:23. In league with the stones. Covenants, laws, and actions were often written on rocks. A Swedish prince of the seventh century caused the actions of his father to be cut in a high rock of that country; where stones of this description are of frequent occurrence.The beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. In ancient times, the wild beasts devoured many shepherds and husbandmen, especially during the sultry seasons, when the sun was in the sign of Leo, at which time the lions came to drink at the rivers.
REFLECTIONS.
Eliphaz, continuing his discourse, enlarges on the perfections of God in governing the world, and with a view to reprehend Job for murmuring and execrating his calamities. He asks where he would find a precedent of any saint afflicted as he was; and of any saint who had cursed the day of his birth? On the contrary, it is the wicked who perish; and their children being wicked also are brought before the judges at the gate, and crushed at the bar of their country. Wrath kills the foolish, for they are ever involving themselves in war and mischief. Hence he saw, so far as reason could suggest, that Job and his house were for ever undone; and he endeavoured to bring him to repentance, and to a reliance on God for the salvation of his soul. He was quite confident that those unheard of afflictions came not by chance, nor sprung up out of the ground as a plant in a natural way. They all came from God, who exerts his power a thousand ways to succour the poor and oppressed, and to take the wise in their own craftiness: and how admirable is that providence which suffers the wicked to prepare their own punishment.
If Job should turn to the saints, Eliphaz farther pleads, he would not find them afflicted and forsaken. Perhaps Eliphaz had never known any heavy affliction, and therefore builds on theory rather than experience. He exclaims, happy is the man whom God correcteth, but thou art miserable; thou art all despair and gloom. If thy conscience was pure, if thy faith was sound; God would bind up thy sore. He would deliver thee out of six troubles; he would preserve thee from the wild beasts, and thou shouldest come to thy grave in a good old age like a shock of corn. 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 friends case. In all mysterious occurrences let us be swift to learn, and slow to speak, for God is the ultimate and unerring judge.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 5:1-7 contains the application of the principles just laid down.
Job 5:1-2. If the angels are imperfect, it is no use for Job to appeal to them as intercessors with God. Duhm, following Siegfried, rejects this verse connecting Job 4:21 closely with Job 5:2. The foolish man, he says, means in this context, the man without the fear of God. A man must be an impious fool, Eliphaz would say, in agreement with the Job of the Volksbuch (Job 2:10), if in misfortune, instead of, like a wise man, feeling his worthlessness and submitting to God, he allows himself to be carried away into rebellion against God and therewith invokes upon himself instant destruction, as Jobs wife advised him (Job 2:9). It must be admitted that this is attractive. But Peake defends the text, arguing that the connexion is only superficially good: Job 4:21 speaks of the common lot of frail man, Job 5:2 of the destruction of the fool through his own irritation. He gives the following meaning to the passage: Do not appeal to the angels who cannot help you, and thus draw down the penalty of your exasperation, but commit your cause to the all-powerful omniscient God, who can save you out of your distress. Translate Job 5:2 : Impatience killeth the foolish one, and the simple one his indignation slayeth. A rebellious impatience is with Eliphaz the sin of sins:
It shows a will most incorrect to Heaven.
Eliphaz wishes to point out to Job whither his impatience must necessarily lead. He enforces his teaching by examples from his own experience (Job 5:3). He has seen the miserable end of the foolish, and of his children (Job 5:4). The habitation of the foolish decays and his children have no one to stand up for them, but are crushed in the gate, i.e. overpowered at law (contrast Job 31:21, Psa 127:5*). The gate is the place of justice, where the elders of the city sit to hear causes. For the precepts implied in 4, that the children suffer for the sin of the father, cf. Exo 20:5.
Job 5:5-7 are all difficult. The usual explanation of Job 5:5 is that the hungry break through the thorn hedge (Job 1:10) to get at the harvest. This is not very probable; why should they trouble to do this in order to get into the field? (Peake). Perhaps the text is corrupt: the last clause of the verse is also questioned by many scholars. The text, however, seems better than mg. Duhm gets a good sense by the emendation and the thirsty draws out of their well. Davidson explains Job 5:6 f. as follows: Eliphaz now sums up into an aphorism the great general principle which he seeks to illustrate in this section of his speech (Job 4:12 to Job 5:7). It is that affliction is not accidental, nor a spontaneous growth of the earth, but men acting upon the impulses of their evil nature bring it upon themselves. According to this explanation Job 5:6 repeats in another form the maxim they that sow trouble reap the same (Job 4:8); while the words man is born unto trouble mean, it is his nature through his sin to bring trouble upon himself; evil rises up out of his heart as the sparks fly up out of the flame. It is not, however, really certain that the sons of flame or of lightning (mg.) are to be understood as the sparks; and it has to be admitted that Davidsons explanation in general reads a good deal into the text which is not clearly expressed in it. A possible view is that the sons of flame are the demons, who are here regarded as the ultimate cause of human trouble. The meaning of the two verses must, however, be regarded as in the end uncertain.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
FURTHER OBSERVATIONS BY ELIPHAZ
(vv.1-27)
Eliphaz suggests to Job that he call out to creatures for help, even to holy ones – holy men or angels, – and see if anyone will answer him (v.1). He is implying that Job is not seeking God in his affliction, while in contrast to Job, Eliphaz claims, “As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause” (v.8). He fears that Job has been guilty of too closely resembling a foolish man (v.2), and warns him as to what he had observed in the foolish taking root (v.3) but was suddenly exposed to a curse, his sons being far from safety, being crushed in the gate (v.3), Job’s sons had died suddenly. Was Job therefore a foolish man? Eliphaz did not say so, but he implied that Job might be perilously close to such a charge, for Eliphaz had observed foolish people suffering, and reasoned that since Job was suffering as he did there must be in Job something seriously wrong. Job’s harvest (all the substance he had gained) was eaten up (v.5). Why? For he says affliction does not come from the dust or trouble from the ground (v.6). In other words, trouble does not happen by chance. This is true, for there is no doubt that God is behind it; and the observation of Eliphaz in verse 7 is very true also, “man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. “Eliphaz was thinking of Job when he said this. But trouble is the portion of all mankind.
“But as for me,” Eliphaz says, “I will seek God, and to God I would commit my cause” (v.8). Of course it is good to do this, but Eliphaz says it as though he was above Job’s level. He continues to speak rightly of how great God is, doing great things, unsearchable and marvellous, sending rain for man’s blessing, lifting up the lowly to places of dignity (vv.9-11). But Job at the time was not lifted up, so Eliphaz thought Job was not right with God!
On the other hand, he said God “frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that they cannot carry out their plans. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them” (vv.12-13). He does not at first accuse Job of deceit, but implies this might be the case since Job’s plans had been frustrated. Eliphaz had observed that such things happened to crafty men, but why did he not also observe that the righteous oftentimes suffered similar frustration?
He had observed too that the Lord saves the needy from the sword and from the mouth (the cruel accusations) of powerful men and from their persecution, so that the poor have hope and injustice is silenced (vv.15-16). This is true in the long run: God will certainly silence injustice. But in the meantime injustice often seems to prevail, and for this Eliphaz had no answer.
Again, he voices an excellent principle, “Happy is the man whom God corrects” (v.17). But Job did not feel happy. Of course, God was only beginning His correcting work with Job, and Job did not discern it. Eliphaz could tell him, “Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty, for He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole. He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you” (vv.17-19). If Eliphaz had spoken this to Job in a kind and encouraging way, it may have helped Job, but he was blaming Job for not having gained such blessing by confessing he was guilty of secret sin.
In verses 20 to 27 Eliphaz describes the many blessings that would be Job’s if he took the advice of Eliphaz. Actually, these blessings were eventually given to Job after God spoke to him in Chapters 38-41, and Job was broken down to judge the pride of his own sinful nature, but Eliphaz had not discerned what Job really needed, the same need that Eliphaz himself had. Perhaps Eliphaz learned this in some measure also after God spoke to him (Ch.42:7-9). But in verse 27 of chapter 5, he confidently told Job, “Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear it, and know for yourself.” Again, it is his own observation that he depends on, but he urges Job to hear it and know for himself. 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.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
5:1 Call now, if there be any that will {a} answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
(a) He wills Job to consider the example of all who have lived or live godly, whether any of them are like him in raging against God as he does.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Eliphaz’s counsel to Job 5:1-16
Job’s friend did not deny that the wicked fool (cf. Psa 14:1) prospers temporarily (Job 5:3), but he believed that before a person dies, God will punish him for his sins. Jesus disagreed (Luk 13:4). The well-known comparison in Job 5:7 is true to an extent, but Eliphaz was again wrong in connecting this truth with the reason for Job’s suffering. People certainly do experience trouble in life as surely as sparks ascend from an open fire. [Note: For a synthesis of God’s revelation about man in the Book of Job, see Zuck, "A Theology . . .," pp. 226-31.]
"What God did in Job’s case, Eliphaz implied, was to bring suffering into his life as a wake-up call, an alarm to help him come to grips with the reality of his sin." [Note: Merrill, p. 380.]
"Most people will agree that ultimately God blesses the righteous, His own people, and judges the wicked; but that is not the question discussed in Job. It is not the ultimate but the immediate about which Job and his three friends are concerned, and not only they but also David (Psalms 37), Asaph (Psalms 73), and even the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer 12:1-6)." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 17.]
Eliphaz’s counsel to seek God and be restored was partially good. Job would do well to appeal to God, but not for the reason Eliphaz assumed. Eliphaz also believed God was disciplining Job for sins that he had committed (Job 5:17). Job’s suffering did have a refining effect and caused him to grow personally, but that was not God’s primary purpose in allowing Satan to afflict him, as is clear from Job 1:6 to Job 2:10. Job was not the first or the last person to find it difficult to rejoice that he was experiencing the Lord’s reproofs. Eliphaz’s oblique advice to do so was ineffective.
"Eliphaz as a counselor is a supreme negative example. Great truths misapplied only hurt more those who are already hurting." [Note: Smick, "Job," p. 896.]
"You do not heal a broken heart with logic; you heal a broken heart with love." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 17.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
VII.
THE THINGS ELIPHAZ HAD SEEN
Job 4:1-21; Job 5:1-27
ELIPHAZ SPEAKS
THE ideas of sin and suffering against which the poem of Job was written come now dramatically into view. The belief of the three friends had always been that God, as righteous Governor of human life, gives felicity in proportion to obedience and appoints trouble in exact measure of disobedience. Job himself, indeed, must have held the same creed. We may imagine that while he was prosperous his friends had often spoken with him on this very point. They had congratulated him often on the wealth and happiness he enjoyed as an evidence of the great favour of the Almighty. In conversation they had remarked on case after case which seemed to prove, beyond the shadow of doubt, that if men reject God affliction and disaster invariably follow. Their idea of the scheme of things was very simple, and, on the whole, it had never come into serious questioning. Of course human justice, even when rudely administered, and the practice of private revenge helped to fulfil their theory of Divine government. If any serious crime was committed, those friendly to the injured person took up his cause and pursued the wrong doer to inflict retribution upon him. His dwelling was perhaps burned and his flocks dispersed, he himself driven into a kind of exile. The administration of law was rude, yet the unwritten code of the desert made the evildoer suffer and allowed the man of good character to enjoy life if he could. These facts went to sustain the belief that God was always regulating a mans happiness by his deserts. And beyond this, apart altogether from what was done by men, not a few accidents and calamities appeared to show Divine judgment against wrong. Then, as now, it might be said that avenging forces lurk in the lightning, the storm, the pestilence, forces which are directed against transgressors and cannot be evaded. Men would say, Yes, though one hide his crimes, though he escape for long the condemnation and punishment of his fellows, yet the hand of God will find him: and the prediction seemed always to be verified. Perhaps the stroke did not fall at once. Months might pass; years might pass; but the time came when they could affirm, Now righteousness has overtaken the offender; his crime is rewarded; his pride is brought low. And if, as happened occasionally, the flocks of a man who was in good reputation died of murrain, and his crops were blighted by the terrible hot wind of the desert, they could always say, Ah! we did not know all about him. No doubt if we could look into his private life we should see why this has befallen. So the barbarians of the island of Melita, when Paul had been shipwrecked there, seeing a viper fasten on his hand, said, “No doubt this is a murderer whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet justice suffereth not to live.”
Thoughts like these were in the minds of the three friends of Job, very confounding indeed, for they had never expected to shake their heads over him. They accordingly deserve credit for true sympathy, inasmuch as they refrained from saying anything that might hurt him. His grief was great, and it might be due to remorse. His unparalleled afflictions put him, as it were, in sanctuary from taunts or even questionings. He has done wrong, he has not been what we thought him, they said to themselves, but he is drinking to the bitter dregs a cup of retribution.
But when Job opened his mouth and spoke, their sympathy was dashed with pious horror. They had never in all their lives heard such words. He seemed to prove himself far worse than they could have imagined. He ought to have been meek and submissive. Some flaw there must have been: what was it? He should have confessed his sin instead of cursing life and reflecting on God. Their own silent suspicion, indeed, is the chief cause of his despair; but this they do not understand. Amazed they hear him; outraged, they take up the challenge he offers. One after another the three men reason with Job, from almost the same point of view, suggesting first and then insisting that he should acknowledge his fault and humble himself under the hand of a just and holy God.
Now, here is the motive of the long controversy which is the main subject of the poem. And, in tracing it, we are to see Job, although racked by pain and distraught by grief-sadly at disadvantage because he seems to be a living example of the truth of their ideas-rousing himself to the defence of his integrity and contending for that as the only grip he has of God. Advance after advance is made by the three, who gradually become more dogmatic as the controversy proceeds. Defence after defence is made by Job, who is driven to think himself challenged not only by his friends, but sometimes also by God Himself through them.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar agree in the opinion that Job has done evil and is suffering for it. The language they use and the arguments they bring forward are much alike. Yet a difference will be found in their way of speaking, and a vaguely suggested difference of character. Eliphaz gives us an impression of age and authority. When Job has ended his complaint, Eliphaz regards him with a disturbed and offended look. “How pitiful!” he seems to say; but also, “How dreadful, how unaccountable!” He desires to win Job to a right view of things by kindly counsel; but he talks pompously, and preaches too much from the high moral bench. Bildad, again, is a dry and composed person. He is less the man of experience than of tradition. He does not speak of discoveries made in the course of his own observation; but he has stored the sayings of the wise and reflected upon them. When a thing is cleverly said he is satisfied, and he cannot understand why his impressive statements should fail to convince and convert. He is a gentleman, like Eliphaz, and uses courtesy. At first he refrains from wounding Jobs feelings. Yet behind his politeness is the sense of superior wisdom-the wisdom of ages, and his own. He is certainly a harder man than Eliphaz. Lastly, Zophar is a blunt man with a decidedly rough, dictatorial style. He is impatient of the waste of words on a matter so plain, and prides himself on coming to the point. It is he who ventures to say definitely: “Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth,”-a cruel speech from any point of view. He is not so eloquent as Eliphaz, he has no air of a prophet. Compared with Bildad he is less argumentative. With all his sympathy-and he, too, is a friend-he shows an exasperation which he justifies by his zeal for the honour of God. The differences are delicate, but real, and evident even to our late criticism. In the authors day the characters would probably seem more distinctly contrasted than they appear to us. Still, it must be owned, each holds virtually the same position. One prevailing school of thought is represented and in each figure attacked.
It is not difficult to imagine three speakers differing far more from each other. For example, instead of Bildad we might have had a Persian full of the Zoroastrian ideas of two great powers, the Good Spirit, Ahuramazda, and the Evil Spirit, Ahriman. Such a one might have maintained that Job had given himself to the Evil Spirit, or that his revolt against providence would bring him under that destructive power and work his ruin. And then, instead of Zophar, one might have been set forward who maintained that good and evil make no difference, that all things come alike to all, that there is no God who cares for righteousness among men; assailing Jobs faith in a more dangerous way. But the writer has no such view of making a striking drama. His circle of vision is deliberately chosen. It is only what might appear to be true he allows his characters to advance. One hears the breathings of the same dogmatism in the three voices. All is said for the ordinary belief that can be said. And three different men reason with Job that it may be understood how popular, how deeply rooted is the notion which the whole book is meant to criticise and disprove. The dramatising is vague, not at all of our sharp, modern kind like that of Ibsen, throwing each figure into vivid contrast with every other. All the authors concern is to give full play to the theory which holds the ground and to show its incompatibility with the facts of human life, so that it may perish of its own hollowness.
Nevertheless the first address to Job is eloquent and poetically beautiful. No rude arguer is Eliphaz, but one of the golden-mouthed, mistaken in creed but not in heart, a man whom Job might well cherish as a friend.
I.
The first part of his speech extends to the eleventh verse. With the respect due to sorrow, putting aside the dismay caused by Jobs wild language, he asks, “If one essay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?” It seems unpardonable to add to the sufferers misery by saying what he has in his mind; and yet he cannot refrain. “Who can withhold himself from speaking?” The state of Job is such that there must be thorough and very serious communication. Eliphaz reminds him of what he had been-an instructor of the ignorant, one who strengthened the weak, upheld the falling, confirmed the feeble. Was he not once so confident of himself, so resolute and helpful that fainting men found him a bulwark against despair? Should he have changed so completely? Should one like him take to fruitless wailings and complaints? “Now it cometh upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art confounded.” Eliphaz does not mean to taunt. It is in sorrow that he speaks, pointing out the contrast between what was and is. Where is the strong faith of former days? There is need for it, and Job ought to have it as his stay. “Is not thy piety thy confidence? Thy hope, is it not the integrity of thy ways?” Why does he not look back and take courage? Pious fear of God, if he allows himself to be guided by it, will not fail to lead him again into the light.
It is a friendly and sincere effort to make the champion of God serve himself of his own faith. The undercurrent of doubt is not allowed to appear. Eliphaz makes it a wonder that Job had dropped his claim on the Most High; and he proceeds in a tone of expostulation, amazed that a man who knew the way of the Almighty should fall into the miserable weakness of the worst evildoer. Poetically, yet firmly, the idea is introduced:-
Bethink thee now, whoever, being innocent, perished,
And where have the upright been destroyed
As I have seen, they who plough iniquity
And sow disaster reap the same.
By the wrath of God they perish,
By the storm of His wrath they are undone.
Roaring of the lion, voice of the growling lion,
Teeth of the young lions are broken;
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,
The whelps of the lioness are scattered.
First among the things Eliphaz has seen is the fate of those violent evildoers who plough iniquity and sow disaster. But Job has not been like them and therefore has no need to fear the harvest of perdition. He is among those who are not finally cut off. In the tenth and eleventh verses (Job 4:10-11) the dispersion of a den of lions is the symbol of the fate of those who are hot in wickedness. As in some cave of the mountains an old lion and lioness with their whelps dwell securely, issuing forth at their will to seize the prey and make night dreadful with their growling, so those evildoers flourish for a time in hateful and malignant strength. But as on a sudden the hunters, finding the lions retreat, kill and scatter them, young and old, so the coalition of wicked men is broken up. The rapacity of wild desert tribes appears to be reflected in the figure here used. Eliphaz may be referring to some incident which had actually occurred.
II.
In the second division of his address he endeavours to bring home to Job a needed moral lesson by detailing a vision he once had and the oracle which came with it. The account of the apparition is couched in stately and impressive language. That chilling sense of fear which sometimes mingles with our dreams in the dead of night, the sensation of a presence that cannot be realised, something awful breathing over the face and making the flesh creep, an imagined voice falling solemnly on the ear, -all are vividly described. In the recollection of Eliphaz the circumstances of the vision are very clear, and the finest poetic skill is used in giving the whole solemn dream full justice and effect.
Now a word was secretly brought me,
Mine ear caught the whisper thereof;
In thoughts from visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
A terror came on me, and trembling
Which thrilled my bones to the marrow.
Then a breath passed before my face,
The hairs of my body rose erect.
It stood still-its appearance I trace not.
An image is before mine eyes.
There was silence, and I heard a voice-
Shall man beside Eloah be righteous?
Or beside his Maker shall man be clean?
We are made to feel here how extraordinary the vision appeared to Eliphaz, and, at the same time, how far short he comes of the seers gift. For what is this apparition? Nothing but a vague creation of the dreaming mind. And what is the message? No new revelation, no discovery of an inspired soul. After all, only a fact quite familiar to pious thought. The dream oracle has been generally supposed to continue to the end of the chapter. But the question as to the righteousness of man and his cleanness beside God seems to be the whole of it, and the rest is Eliphazs comment or meditation upon it, his “thoughts from visions of the night.”
As to the oracle itself: while the words may certainly bear translating so as to imply a direct comparison between the righteousness of man and the righteousness of God, this is not required by the purpose of the writer, as Dr. A.B. Davidson has shown. In the form of a question it is impressively announced that with or beside the High God no weak man is righteous, no strong man pure; and this is sufficient, for the aim of Eliphaz is to show that troubles may justly come on Job, as on others, because all are by nature imperfect. No doubt the oracle might transcend the scope of the argument. Still the question has not been raised by Jobs criticism of providence, whether he reckons himself more just than God; and apart from that any comparison seems unnecessary, meeting no mood of human revolt of which Eliphaz has ever heard. The oracle, then, is practically of the nature of a truism, and, as such, agrees with the dream vision and the impalpable ghost, a dim presentation by the mind to itself of what a visitor from the higher world might be.
Shall any created being, inheritor of human defects, stand beside Eloah, clean in His sight? Impossible. For, however sincere and earnest any one may be toward God and in the service of men, he cannot pass the fallibility and imperfection of the creature. The thought thus solemnly announced, Eliphaz proceeds to amplify in a prophetic strain, which, however, does not rise above the level of good poetry.
“Behold, He putteth no trust in His servants.” Nothing that the best of them have to do is committed entirely to them; the supervision of Eloah is always maintained that their defects may not mar His purpose. “His angels He chargeth with error.” Even the heavenly spirits, if we are to trust Eliphaz, go astray; they are under a law of discipline and holy correction. In the Supreme Light they are judged and often found wanting. To credit this to a Divine oracle would be somewhat disconcerting to ordinary theological ideas. But the argument is clear enough, -If even the angelic servants of God require the constant supervision of His wisdom and their faults need His correction, much more do men whose bodies are “houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth”-that is, the moth which breeds corrupting worms. “From morning to evening they are destroyed”-in a single day their vigour and beauty pass into decay.
“Without observance they perish forever,” says Eliphaz. Clearly this is not a word of Divine prophecy. It would place man beneath the level of moral judgment, as a mere earth creature whose life and death are of no account even to God. Men go their way when a comrade falls, and soon forget. True enough. But “One higher than the highest regardeth.” The stupidity or insensibility of most men to spiritual things is in contrast to the attention and judgment of God.
The description of mans life on earth, its brevity and dissolution, on account of which he can never exalt himself as just and clean beside God, ends with words that may be translated thus:-
“Is not their cord torn asunder in them? They shall die, and not in wisdom.”
Here the tearing up of the tent cord or the breaking of the bow string is an image of the snapping of that chain of vital functions, the “silver cord,” on which the bodily life depends.
The argument of Eliphaz, so far, has been, first, that Job, as a pious man, should have kept his confidence in God, because he was not like those who plough iniquity and sow disaster and have no hope in Divine mercy; next, that before the Most High all are more or less unrighteous and impure, so that if Job suffers for defect, he is no exception, his afflictions are not to be wondered at. And this carries the further thought that he ought to be conscious of fault and humble himself under the Divine hand. Just at this point Eliphaz comes at last within sight of the right way to find Jobs heart and conscience. The corrective discipline which all need was safe ground to take with one who could not have denied in the last resort that he, too, had
“Sins of will, Defects of doubt and taints of blood.”
This strain of argument, however, closes, Eliphaz having much in his mind which has not found expression and is of serious import.
III.
The speaker sees that Job is impatient of the sufferings which make life appear useless to him. But suppose he appealed to the saints-holy ones, or angels-to take his part, would that be of any use? In his cry from the depth he had shown resentment and hasty passion. These do not insure, they do not deserve help. The “holy ones” would not respond to a man so unreasonable and indignant. On the contrary, “resentment slayeth the foolish man, passion killeth the silly.” What Job had said in his outcry only tended to bring on him the fatal stroke of God. Having caught at this idea, Eliphaz proceeds in a manner rather surprising. He has been shocked by Jobs bitter words. The horror he felt returns upon him, and he falls into a very singular and inconsiderate strain of remark. He does not, indeed, identify his old friend with the foolish man whose destruction he proceeds to paint. But an instance has occurred to him-a bit of his large experience-of one who behaved in a godless, irrational way and suffered for it; and for Jobs warning, because he needs to take home the lesson of the catastrophe, Eliphaz details the story. Forgetting the circumstances of his friend, utterly forgetting that the man lying before him has lost all his children and that robbers have swallowed his substance, absorbed in his own reminiscence to the exclusion of every other thought, Eliphaz goes deliberately through a whole roll of disasters so like Jobs that every word is a poisoned arrow:-
Plead then: will any one answer thee;
And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
Nay, resentment killeth the fool,
And hasty indignation slayeth the silly,
I myself have seen a godless fool take root;
Yet straightway I cursed his habitation:-
His children are far from succour,
They are crushed in the gate without deliverer
While the hungry eats up his harvest
And snatches it even out of the thorns,
And the snare gapes for their substance.
The desolation he saw come suddenly, even when the impious man had just taken root as founder of a family, Eliphaz declares to be a curse from the Most High; and he describes it with much force. Upon the children of the household disaster falls at the gate or place of judgment; there is no one to plead for them, because the father is marked for the vengeance of God. Predatory tribes from the desert devour first the crops in the remoter fields, and then those protected by the thorn hedge near the homestead. The man had been an oppressor; now those he had oppressed are under no restraint and all he has is swallowed up without redress.
So much for the third attempt to convict Job and bring him to confession: It is a bolt shot apparently at a venture, yet it strikes where it must wound to the quick. Here, however, made aware, perhaps by a look of anguish or a sudden gesture, that he has gone too far, Eliphaz draws back. To the general dogma that affliction is the lot of every human being he returns, that the sting may be taken out of his words:-
“For disaster cometh not forth from the dust,
And out of the ground trouble springeth not;
But man is born unto trouble
As the sparks fly upward.”
By this vague piece of moralising, which sheds no light on anything, Eliphaz betrays himself. He shows that he is not anxious to get at the root of the matter. The whole subject of pain and calamity is external to him, not a part of his own experience. He would speak very differently if he were himself deprived of all his possessions and laid low in trouble. As it is he can turn glibly from one thought to another, as if it mattered not which fits the case. In fact, as he advances and retreats we discover that he is feeling his way, aiming first at one thing, then at another, in the hope that this or that random arrow may hit the mark. No man is just beside God. Job is like the rest, crushed before the moth. Job has spoken passionately, in wild resentment. Is he then among the foolish whose habitation is cursed? But again, lest that should not be true, the speaker falls back on the common lot of men born to trouble-why, God alone can tell. Afterwards he makes another suggestion. Is not God He who frustrates the devices of the crafty and confounds the cunning, so that they grope in the blaze of noon as if it were night? If the other explanations did not apply to Jobs condition, perhaps this would. At all events something might be said by way of answer that would give an inkling of the truth. At last the comparatively kind and vague explanation is offered, that Job suffers from the chastening of the Lord, who, though He afflicts, is also ready to heal. Glancing at all possibilities which occur to him, Eliphaz leaves the afflicted man to accept that which happens to come home.
IV.
Eloquence, literary skill, sincerity, mark the close of this address. It is the argument of a man who is anxious to bring his friend to a right frame of mind so that his latter days may be peace. “As for me,” he says, hinting what Job should do, “I would turn to God, and set my expectation upon the Highest.” Then he proceeds to give his thoughts on Divine providence. Unsearchable, wonderful are the doings of God. He is the Rain-giver for the thirsty fields and desert pastures. Among men, too, He makes manifest His power, exalting those who are lowly, and restoring the joy of the mourners. Crafty men, who plot to make their own way, oppose His sovereign power in vain. They are stricken as if with blindness. Out of their hand the helpless are delivered, and hope is restored to the feeble. Has Job been crafty? Has he been in secret a plotter against the peace of men? Is it for this reason God has cast him down? Let him repent, and he shall yet be saved. For
Happy is the man whom Eloah correcteth,
Therefore spurn not thou the chastening of Shaddai.
For He maketh sore and bindeth up;
He smiteth, but His hands make whole.
In six straits He will deliver thee;
In seven also shall not evil touch thee.
In famine He will rescue thee from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.
When the tongue smiteth thou shalt be hid;
Nor shalt thou fear when desolation cometh.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh;
And of the beasts of the earth shalt not be afraid.
For with the stones of the field shall be thy covenant;
With thee shall the beasts of the field be at peace.
So shalt thou find that thy tent is secure,
And surveying thy homestead thou shalt miss nothing
Thou shalt find that thy seed are many,
And thy offspring like the grass of the earth;
Thou shalt come to thy grave with white hair,
As a ripe shock of corn is carried home in its season.
Behold! This we have searched out: thus it is.
Hear it, and, thou, consider it for thyself!
Fine, indeed, as dramatic poetry; but is it not, as reasoning, incoherent? The author does not mean it to be convincing. He who is chastened and receives the chastening may not be saved in those six troubles, yea seven. There is more of dream than fact. Eliphaz is apparently right in everything, as Dillmann says; but right only on the surface. He has seen that they who plough iniquity and sow disaster reap the same. He has seen a vision of the night, and received a message; a sign of Gods favour that almost made him a prophet. He has seen a fool or impious man taking root, but was not deceived; he knew what would be the end, and took upon him to curse judicially the doomed homestead. He has seen the crafty confounded. He has seen the man whom God corrected, who received his chastisement with submission, rescued and restored to honour. “Lo, this we have searched out,” he says; “it is even thus.” But the piety and orthodoxy of the good Eliphaz do not save him from blunders at every turn. And to the clearing of Jobs position he offers no suggestion of value. What does he say to throw light on the condition of a believing, earnest servant of the Almighty who is always poor, always afflicted, who meets disappointment after disappointment, and is pursued by sorrow and disaster even to the grave? The religion of Eliphaz is made for well-to-do people like himself, and such only. If it were true that, because all are sinful before God, affliction and pain are punishments of sin and a man is happy in receiving this Divine correction, why is Eliphaz himself not lying like Job upon a heap of ashes, racked with the torment of disease? Good orthodox prosperous man, he thinks himself a prophet, but he is none. Were he tried like Job he would be as unreasonable and passionate, as wild in his declamation against life, as eager for death.
Useless in religion is all mere talk that only skims the surface, however often the terms of it may be repeated, however widely they find acceptance. The creed that breaks down at any point is no creed for a rational being. Infidelity in our day is very much the consequence of crude notions about God that contradict each other, notions of the atonement, of the meaning of suffering, of the future life, that are incoherent, childish, of no practical weight. People think they have a firm grasp of the truth; but when circumstances occur which are at variance with their preconceived ideas, they turn away from religion, or their religion makes the facts of life appear worse for them. It is the result of insufficient thought. Research must go deeper, must return with new zeal to the study of Scripture and the life of Christ. Gods revelation in providence and Christianity is one. It has a profound coherency, the stamp and evidence of its truth. The rigidity of natural law has its meaning for us in our study of the spiritual life.