Bible Commentary

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance. 5. even out of the thorns ] i. e. from within the enclosed field, protected by the thorn-hedge. The roving, hungry Bedawin carry their thievish depredations up to the very homestead and in-fields of … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:5”

His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither [is there] any to deliver [them]. 4. they are crushed in the gate ] The gate of the town is the seat of the Oriental court of law, where justice is administered, ch. Job 29:7, Job 31:21; Psa 127:5. The words … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:4”

I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. 3. the foolish ] Rather perhaps, a foolish man, the same word as in Job 5:2. Eliphaz cites an instance from his own experience confirming the truth stated in Job 5:2. He saw a man of this character taking root, and for … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:3”

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. 2. Job 5:1 asked, Will any one answer thy complaint? will complaining bring any deliverance? This verse gives the other side nay, rather, such murmuring betrays a mind “most incorrect to heaven,” and such a fool will by his impatience but bring upon … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:2”

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 … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 5:1”

Doth not their excellency [which is] in them go away? they die, even without wisdom. 21. their excellency go away ] This verse is obscure. The word rendered go away means to pull out, as a pin or the posts of a gate, Jdg 16:3; Jdg 16:14 (English version, went away with), or the stake … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 4:21”

They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish forever without any regarding [it]. 20. from morning to evening ] i. e. from a morning to an evening, in the course of a single day, cf. Isa 38:12. They are short-lived as ephemerids. without any regarding ] i. e. without any one noticing it; so … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 4:20”

How much less [in] them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation [is] in the dust, [which] are crushed before the moth? 19. houses of clay ] The verse refers to men, and their “houses of clay” are their bodies, which are of the dust, Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19; 2Co 5:1. whose foundation ] … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 4:19”

Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: 18. he put no trust ] Better, he putteth. he charged with folly ] Rather, he chargeth with error. The “servants” of God are here His heavenly ministers, as the parallel, “angels”, indicates. The word “folly” ( tohlah) does not … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 4:18”

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? 17. be more just than God ] This translation is possible. It is very unnatural, however; for though, if a man were found complaining of God’s ways, the immediate inference might be that he was making himself more … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 4:17”