Teks -- Job 5:1-9 (NET)

5:1 “Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? 5:2 For wrath kills the foolish person, and anger slays the silly one. 5:3 I myself have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his place of residence. 5:4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed at the place where judgment is rendered, nor is there anyone to deliver them. 5:5 The hungry eat up his harvest, and take it even from behind the thorns, and the thirsty swallow up their fortune. 5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust, nor does trouble spring up from the ground, 5:7 but people are born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward.

Blessings for the One Who Seeks God

5:8 “But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would set forth my case. 5:9 He does great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number;

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Job 5:1 - Call

Call them all as it were by their names: will not every good man confirm what I say? If - Try if there be any one saint that will defend thee in these bold expostulations with God. Thou mayst find fools or wicked men, to do it: but not one of the children of God.

Wesley: Job 5:2 - Killeth

A man's wrath, and impatience, preys upon his spirit, and so hastens his death; and provokes God to cut him off.

Wesley: Job 5:2 - The foolish

The rash and inconsiderate man, who does not weigh things impartially.

Wesley: Job 5:2 - Envy, &c.

I perceive thou art full of envy at wicked men, who seem to be in a happier condition than thou, and of wrath against God; and this shews thee to be a foolish and weak man. For those men, notwithstanding their present prosperity, are doomed to great and certain misery. I have myself seen the proof of this.

Wesley: Job 5:3 - Foolish

The wicked man.

Wesley: Job 5:3 - Root

Not only prosperous for the present, but, as it seemed, firm and secure for the future.

Wesley: Job 5:3 - Suddenly

In a moment, beyond mine, and his own, and all other mens expectation.

Wesley: Job 5:3 - Cursed

l saw by the event which followed his prosperity, that he was a man accursed of God.

Wesley: Job 5:4 - Children

Whose greatness he designed in all his enterprizes, supposing his family would be established for ever.

Wesley: Job 5:4 - Safely

Are exposed to dangers and calamities, and can neither preserve themselves, nor the inheritance which their fathers left them. There is no question but he glances here, at the death of Job's children.

Wesley: Job 5:5 - Harvest

Which they confidently expect to reap after all their cost and labour, but are sadly and suddenly disappointed.

Wesley: Job 5:5 - The hungry

The hungry Sabeans eat it up.

Wesley: Job 5:5 - Thorns

Out of the fields: in spite of all dangers or difficulties in their way.

Wesley: Job 5:6 - The dust

It springs not up by merely natural causes, as herbs grow out of the earth: but from God. Eliphaz here begins to change his voice, as if he would atone for the hard words he had spoken.

Wesley: Job 5:7 - Is born

He is so commonly exposed to various troubles, as if he were born to no other end: affliction is become natural to man, and is transmitted from parents, to children, as their constant inheritance; God having allotted this portion to mankind for their sins. And therefore thou takest a wrong course in complaining so bitterly of that which thou shouldest patiently bear, as the common lot of mankind.

Wesley: Job 5:7 - As

As naturally, and as generally, as the sparks of fire fly upward. Why then should we be surprized at our afflictions as strange, or quarrel with them, as hard?

Wesley: Job 5:8 - I would

If I were in thy condition.

Wesley: Job 5:8 - Seek

By prayer, and humiliation, and submission, imploring his pardon, and favour.

Wesley: Job 5:9 - Who, &c.

_Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection of God's nature and works; which he doth as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God, Job 5:8, because God was infinitely able either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him; or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him: and that by a representation of God's excellency and glory, and of that vast disproportion which was between God and Job, he might convince Job of his great sin in speaking so boldly and irreverently of him.

Wesley: Job 5:9 - Marvellous

Which (though common, and therefore neglected and despised, yet) are matter of wonder to the wisest men. The works of nature are mysteries: the most curious searches come far short of full discoveries: and the works of Providence are still more deep and unaccountable.

JFB: Job 5:1 - if there be any, &c.

Rather, "will He (God) reply to thee?" Job, after the revelation just given, cannot be so presumptuous as to think God or any of the holy ones (Dan 4:17, "angels") round His throne, will vouchsafe a reply (a judicial expression) to his rebellious complaint.

JFB: Job 5:2 - wrath . . . envy

Fretful and passionate complaints, such as Eliphaz charged Job with (Job 4:5; so Pro 14:30). Not, the wrath of God killeth the foolish, and His envy, &c.

JFB: Job 5:3 - the foolish

The wicked. I have seen the sinner spread his "root" wide in prosperity, yet circumstances "suddenly" occurred which gave occasion for his once prosperous dwelling being "cursed" as desolate (Psa 37:35-36; Jer 17:8).

JFB: Job 5:4 - His children . . . crushed in the gate

A judicial formula. The gate was the place of judgment and of other public proceedings (Psa 127:5; Pro 22:22; Gen 23:10; Deu 21:19). Such propylæa have been found in the Assyrian remains. Eliphaz obliquely alludes to the calamity which cut off Job's children.

JFB: Job 5:5 - even out of the thorns

Even when part of the grain remains hanging on the thorn bushes (or, "is growing among thorns," Mat 13:7), the hungry gleaner does not grudge the trouble of even taking it away, so clean swept away is the harvest of the wicked.

JFB: Job 5:5 - the robber

As the Sabeans, who robbed Job. Rather, translate "the thirsty," as the antithesis in the parallelism, "the hungry," proves.

JFB: Job 5:6 - Although

Rather, "for truly" [UMBREIT].

JFB: Job 5:6 - affliction cometh not forth of the dust

Like a weed, of its own accord. Eliphaz hints that the cause of it lay with Job himself.

JFB: Job 5:7 - Yet

Rather, "Truly," or, But affliction does not come from chance, but is the appointment of God for sin; that is, the original birth-sin of man. Eliphaz passes from the particular sin and consequent suffering of Job to the universal sin and suffering of mankind. Troubles spring from man's common sin by as necessary a law of natural consequences as sparks (Hebrew, "sons of coal") fly upward. Troubles are many and fiery, as sparks (1Pe 4:12; Isa 43:2). UMBREIT for "sparks" has "birds of prey;" literally, "sons of lightning," not so well.

JFB: Job 5:8

Therefore (as affliction is ordered by God, on account of sin), "I would" have you to "seek unto God" (Isa 8:19; Amo 5:8; Jer 5:24).

Clarke: Job 5:1 - Call now, if there be any

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 succor

Clarke: Job 5:1 - To which of the saints wilt thou turn?

To which of the saints wilt thou turn? - To whom among the holy ones, ( קדשים 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?

Clarke: Job 5:2 - For wrath killeth the foolish man

For wrath killeth the foolish man - Foolish, silly, and simple, are epithets given by Solomon to sinners and transgressors of all kinds. Such parallelisms have afforded a presumptive argument that Solomon was the author of this book. See the preface. The words of Eliphaz may be considered as a sort of maxim, which the wisdom and experience of ages had served to establish; viz., The wrath of God is manifested only against the wicked and impious; and if thou wert not such, God would not thus contend with thee.

Clarke: Job 5:3 - I have seen the foolish taking root

I have seen the foolish taking root - I have seen wicked men for a time in prosperity, and becoming established in the earth; but I well knew, from God’ s manner of dealing with men, that they must soon be blasted. I even ventured to pronounce their doom; for I knew that, in the order of God’ s providence, that was inevitable. I cursed his habitation.

Clarke: Job 5:4 - His children are far from safety

His children are far from safety - His posterity shall not continue in prosperity. Ill gotten, ill spent; whatever is got by wrong must have God’ s curse on it

Clarke: Job 5:4 - They are crushed in the gate

They are crushed in the gate - The Targum says, They shall be bruised in the gate of hell, in the day of the great judgment. There is reference here to a custom which I have often had occasion to notice: viz., that in the Eastern countries the court-house, or tribunal of justice, was at the Gate of the city; here the magistrates attended, and hither the plaintiff and defendant came for justice.

Clarke: Job 5:5 - Whose harvest

Whose harvest - Their possessions, because acquired by unjust means, shall not be under the protection of God’ s providence; he shall abandon them to be pillaged and destroyed by the wandering half-starved hordes of the desert banditti. They shall carry it suddenly off; even the thorns - grain, weeds, thistles, and all, shall they carry off in their rapacious hurry

Clarke: Job 5:5 - The robber swalloweth us

The robber swalloweth us - Or, more properly, the thirsty, צמים tsammim , as is plain from their swallowing up or gulping down; opposed to the hungry or half-starved, mentioned in the preceding clause. The hungry shall eat up their grain, and the thirsty shall drink down their wine and oil, here termed חילם cheylam , their strength or power, for the most obvious reasons

There seem to be two allusions in this verse: 1. To the hordes of wandering predatory banditti, or half-starved Arabs of the desert, who have their scanty maintenance by the plunder of others. These descendants of Ishmael have ever had their hands against all men, and live to this day in the same predatory manner in which they have lived for several thousands of years. M. Volney’ s account of them is striking: "These men are smaller, leaner, and blacker, than any of the Bedouins yet discovered. Their wasted legs had only tendons without calves. Their belly was shrunk to their back. They are in general small, lean, and swarthy, and more so in the bosom of the desert than on the borders of the more cultivated country. They are ordinarily about five feet or five feet two inches high; they seldom have more than about six ounces of food for the whole day. Six or seven dates, soaked in melted butter, a little milk, or curd, serve a man for twenty-four hours; and he seems happy when he can add a small portion of coarse flour, or a little ball of rice. Their camels also, which are their only support, are remarkably meagre, living on the meanest and most scanty provision. Nature has given it a small head without ears, at the end of a long neck without flesh. She has taken from its legs and thighs every muscle not immediately requisite for motion; and in short has bestowed on its withered body only the vessels and tendons necessary to connect its frame together. She has furnished it with a strong jaw, that it may grind the hardest aliments; and, lest it should consume too much, she has straitened its stomach, and obliged it to chew the cud."Such is the description given of the Bedouin and his camel, by M. Volney, who, while he denies the true God, finds out a deity which he calls Nature, whose works evince the highest providence, wisdom, and design! And where does this most wonderful and intelligent goddess dwell? Nowhere but in the creed of the infidel; while the genuine believer knows that nature is only the agent created and employed by the great and wise God to accomplish, under his direction, the greatest and most stupendous beneficial effects. The second allusion in the verse I suppose to be to the loss Job had sustained of his cattle by the predatory Sabeans; and all this Eliphaz introduces for the support of his grand argument, to convict Job of hidden crimes, on which account his enemies were permitted to destroy his property; that property, because of this wickedness, being placed out of the protection of God’ s providence.

Clarke: Job 5:6 - Affliction cometh not forth of the dust

Affliction cometh not forth of the dust - If there were not an adequate cause, thou couldst not be so grievously afflicted

Clarke: Job 5:6 - Spring out of the ground

Spring out of the ground - It is not from mere natural causes that affliction and trouble come; God’ s justice inflicts them upon offending man.

Clarke: Job 5:7 - Yet man is born unto trouble

Yet man is born unto trouble - לעמל leamal , to labor. He must toil and be careful; and if in the course of his labor he meet with trials and difficulties, he should rise superior to them, and not sink as thou dost

Clarke: Job 5:7 - As the sparks By upward

As the sparks By upward - ובני רשף יגביהי עוף ubeney resheph yagbihu uph ; And the sons of the coal lift up their flight, or dart upwards. And who are the sons of the coal? Are they not bold, intrepid, ardent, fearless men, who rise superior to all their trials; combat what are termed chance and occurrence; succumb under no difficulties; and rise superior to time, tide, fate, and fortune? I prefer this to all the various meanings of the place with which I have met. Coverdale translates, It is man that is borne unto mysery, like as the byrde for to fle. Most of the ancient versions give a similar sense.

Clarke: Job 5:8 - I would seek unto God

I would seek unto God - Were I in your place, instead of wasting my time, and irritating my soul with useless complaints, I would apply to my Maker, and, if conscious of my innocence, would confidently commit my cause to him.

Clarke: Job 5:9 - Which doeth great things

Which doeth great things - No work, however complicated, is too deep for his counsel to plan; none, however stupendous, is too great for his power to execute. He who is upright is always safe in referring his cause to God, and trusting in him.

Defender: Job 5:7 - born unto trouble

Eliphaz here indicates his knowledge of the primeval curse on human birth: "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (Gen 3:16)."

TSK: Job 5:1 - and to which // the saints // turn

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

TSK: Job 5:2 - wrath // the foolish // envy // one

wrath : Job 18:4; Jon 4:9

the foolish : Psa 14:1, Psa 75:4, Psa 92:6, Psa 107:17; Pro 1:22, Pro 1:23, Pro 8:5; Ecc 7:9

envy : or, indignation, Gen 30:1; 1Sa 18:8, 1Sa 18:9; Rom 2:8

one : Hos 7:11; 2Ti 3:6

TSK: Job 5:3 - taking // cursed

taking : Job 27:8; Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36, Psa 73:3-9, Psa 73:18-20, Psa 92:7; Jer 12:1-3

cursed : Deu 27:15-26; Psa 69:25; Act 1:20

TSK: Job 5:4 - children // they are crushed // neither

children : Job 4:10, Job 4:11, Job 8:4, Job 18:16-19, Job 27:14; Exo 20:5; Psa 109:9-15, Psa 119:155, Psa 127:5

they are crushed : Job 1:19; Luk 13:4, Luk 13:5

neither : Job 10:7; Psa 7:2

TSK: Job 5:5 - harvest // the thorns // the robber // swalloweth

harvest : Deu 28:33, Deu 28:51; Jdg 6:3-6; Isa 62:8

the thorns : Jdg 6:11; 2Ch 33:11

the robber : Job 1:15, Job 1:17, Job 12:6, Job 18:9; Hos 8:7

swalloweth : Job 2:3, Job 20:15; Jer 51:34, Jer 51:44; Lam 2:5, Lam 2:16

TSK: Job 5:6 - affliction // trouble // spring out

affliction : or, iniquity

trouble : Job 34:29; Deu 32:27; 1Sa 6:9; Psa 90:7; Isa 45:7; Lam 3:38; Amo 3:6

spring out : Hos 10:4; Heb 12:15

TSK: Job 5:7 - man // trouble // sparks fly upward

man : Job 14:1; Gen 3:17-19; Psa 90:8, Psa 90:9; 1Co 10:13

trouble : or, labour, Ecc 1:8, Ecc 2:22, Ecc 5:15-17

sparks fly upward : Heb. sons of the burning coal lift up to fly

TSK: Job 5:8 - seek // unto God

seek : Job 8:5, Job 22:21, Job 22:27; Gen 32:7-12; 2Ch 33:12, 2Ch 33:13; Psa 50:15, Psa 77:1, Psa 77:2; Jon 2:1-7

unto God : Psa 37:5; 2Ti 1:12; 1Pe 2:23, 1Pe 4:19

TSK: Job 5:9 - doeth // unsearchable // marvellous // without number

doeth : Job 9:10, Job 11:7-9, Job 37:5; Psa 40:5, Psa 72:18, Psa 86:10; Rom 11:33

unsearchable : Heb. there is no search, Isa 40:28

marvellous : Job 26:5-14

without number : Heb. till there be no number, Psa 40:5, Psa 139:18

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Job 5:1 - Call now // If there be any // That will answer thee // if there be any that doth answer thee // The saints // Wilt thou turn

Call now i.e. invite, or make proclamation, as this word is oft used, as Deu 20:10 Jud 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 Job’ s conviction than of angels.

Wilt thou turn or look ? look about thee, view them all, and see if thou canst find one like thee.

Poole: Job 5:2 - The foolish man // Envy // The silly one

Either,

1. The wrath of God; or rather,

2. A man’ s own wrath, fretting, and impatience, and indignation; which kills men, partly, naturally, as it preys upon a man’ s spirit, and wasteth him inwardly, and so hastens his death, of which see Pro 14:30 17:22 ; partly, morally, as it prompts him to those rash, and furious, and wicked actions which may procure his death; and partly, meritoriously, as it provoketh God to cut him off, and to bring upon him those further and severe strokes which he mentions in the following words.

The foolish man either,

1. The rash and inconsiderate man, who doth not ponder things impartially; but, like a man mad, rageth against God, and torments himself and all that hear him. Or,

2. The ungodly man, who is frequently called a fool in Scripture language, and who is here opposed to the saints, Job 5:1 .

Envy: he taxeth Job, who spoke with great envy at those that were never born, or were in their graves, Job 3:10,12 , &c.

The silly one properly, the man who, for want of true wisdom, is soon deceived with false opinions, and appearances, and present things; which is thy case, O Job. The sense of the verse may be this, I perceive, O Job, that thou art full of envy at wicked men, who at present are, or seem to be, in a happier condition than thou; and of wrath against God, who denies thee that mercy, and loads thee with afflictions; and this shows thee to be a foolish and weak man. For those men, notwithstanding their present prosperity, are doomed to great and certain misery, as it here follows. And so this verse coheres with the following as well as the foregoing verses.

Poole: Job 5:3 - The foolish // Taking root // Suddenly // I cursed // His habitation

I have oft observed it in my experience. Having severely rebuked Job for his transports of passion and intemperate speeches against God, he now returns to his former argument, and proves that such dreadful and destructive judgments of God do not befall the righteous, but the wicked, as he observed, Job 4:7,8 . Withal, he answers an objection concerning the present and seeming prosperity of the wicked, which he confesseth that he himself had sometimes observed.

The foolish i. e. the wicked man, who is quite destitute of true, i.e. of spiritual and heavenly, wisdom.

Taking root not only prosperous for the present, but, as it seemed, from all secure for the future, being strongly fortified with power, and riches, and children too, so as there was no appearance nor danger of a change.

Suddenly in a moment, besides and before mine, and his own, and all other men’ s expectation.

I cursed either,

1. I judged that he was a cursed creature, notwithstanding all his prosperity; and I foresaw and foretold it by the rules of Scripture, or the direction of God’ s Spirit, that he would certainly sooner or later be stripped of all his blessings, and have God’ s curse fall heavily upon him. Or rather,

2. I saw and perceived, by, the event which followed his prosperity, that he was a man accursed of God. For he speaks not in these words of what his estate constantly was, even in the midst of his happiness, though even then he was really accursed; but of what it was by a sudden change.

His habitation or, as the Hebrew word signifies, his pleasant or commodious habitation ; persons or things in it, or belonging to it, being comprehended in that word by a usual metonymy.

Poole: Job 5:4 - His children // Are far from safety // In the gate // Neither is there any to deliver them

His children whose greatness and happiness he designed in all his enterprises, supposing that his family was and would be established for ever.

Are far from safety i.e. are exposed to great dangers and calamities in this life, and can neither preserve themselves, nor the great inheritance which their fathers got and left for them. Thus to be far from peace, Lam 3:17 , is to be involved in desperate troubles.

In the gate i.e. in the place of judicature; to which they are brought for their offences, and where they will find severe judges, and few or no friends; partly because, being wickedly educated, and trusting to their own greatness, they were insolent and injurious to all their neighbours; and partly because those many persons whom their powerful fathers defrauded or oppressed do seek for justice, and the recovery of their rights, which they easily obtain against such persons as plainly declared by their actions that they neither feared God nor reverenced him, and therefore were hated by all sorts of men.

Neither is there any to deliver them they can find no advocates nor assistants, who are either able or willing to help them; but, like Ishmael, as their hand was formerly against every man , so now every man’ s hand is against them .

Poole: Job 5:5 - Whose harvest // The hungry // Out of the thorns

Whose harvest which they now justly and confidently expect to reap, after all their cost and labour for that end, but are sadly and suddenly disappointed; which is a great aggravation of their misery.

The hungry i.e. the poor, whose necessities make them greedy and ravenous to eat it all up; and from whom he can never recover it, nor any thing in recompence of it.

Out of the thorns i.e. out of the fields, notwithstanding the strong thorn hedges wherewith it is enclosed and fortified, and all other dangers or difficulties which may be in their way. They will take it, though they be scratched and wounded by the thorns about it. The robbers ; so called from their long hair, which such persons nourished, either because of their wild and savage kind of life, which made them neglect the trimming of their hair and body; or that they might look more terribly, and so affright all those who should endeavour to oppose them. Or, the thirsty , as the word may signify from another root. And so it answers well to the hungry, in the former branch. Swalloweth up greedily , and so as there is no hope of recovering it.

Poole: Job 5:6 - Although // Affliction // trouble

Although or for , or rather, because . So the following words may contain a reason why he should seek unto God , as he exhorts him, Job 5:8 . Or, surely , as that particle is oft used. And so it is a note of his proceeding to another argument.

Affliction or iniquity , as this word oft signifies; and of this the following sentence is true. And so this first branch speaks of sin, and the next branch of trouble, which is the fruit of sin; and both sin and trouble are said to come from the same spring. But this word signifies also affliction , or misery , or trouble , as Psa 90:10 Pro 12:21 ; which seems most proper here, both because it is so explained by the following words,

trouble and again, trouble , Job 5:7 , the same thing being repeated in several words, as is usual in Holy Scripture; and because the great thing which troubled Job, and the chief matter of these discourses, was Job’ s afflictions, not his sins. Cometh not forth of the dust ; it springs not up by chance, as herbs which grow of their own accord out of the earth; or, it comes not from men or creatures here below; but it comes from a certain and a higher cause, even from God, and that for man’ s sins; and therefore thou shouldst seek to him for redress, as it follows, Job 5:8 .

Poole: Job 5:7 - As the sparks fly upward

i.e. He is so commonly exposed to many and various troubles, as if he were born to no other end. Affliction is become in some sort natural and proper to man, and it is, together with sin, transmitted from parents to children, as their most certain and constant inheritance; God having allotted this portion to mankind for their sins. And therefore thou takest a wrong course in complaining so bitterly of that which thou shouldst patiently bear, as the common lot of mankind; and thy right method is to seek unto God, who inflicts it, and who only can remove it.

As the sparks fly upward i.e. as naturally and as generally as the sparks of fire fly upward , which do so universally and constantly. Heb. and the sparks , &c. But the particle and is oft used comparatively for as , as Job 12:11 14:11 34:3 Pro 25:21 Mar 9:49 .

Poole: Job 5:8 - Seek unto God // Would I commit my cause

If I were in thy condition; and therefore I would advise thee to the same course.

Seek unto God to wit, by prayer, and humiliation, and submission, imploring his pardon, and favour, and help, and not repine at him, and accuse his providence, as thou dost.

Would I commit my cause i.e. commend my afflicted condition to him by fervent prayer, and resign myself and all my concerns to him, and humbly hope for relief from him. Or, propound my matters , i.e. make known my afflictions and requests to him; or, put or dispose my words, i.e. pray to him, and pour out my complaints before him.

Poole: Job 5:9 - Unsearchable // Marvellous things

Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection and greatness of God’ s nature and works; which he doth partly as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God , Job 5:8 , because God was infinitely able, either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him, or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him; and partly that by a true representation of God’ s excellency and glory, and of that vast disproportion which was between God and Job, he might both convince Job of his great sin in speaking so boldly and irreverently of him, and prevent his relapse into the same miscarriage.

Unsearchable either such things as we may not boldly and curiously search into, Deu 29:29 Rom 11:33 Col 2:18 ; or such as by searching we cannot find out, Job 11:7 ; such as we cannot thoroughly understand, either the works themselves, or God’ s way and manner of doing them, or God’ s designs or ends in doing them. And therefore, O Job, thou art guilty of great impiety and folly to censure the ways and works of God as unreasonable, Job 3:11,20 , because thou dost not fully understand the nature and use of them.

Marvellous things which (though common, as the following works are, and therefore neglected and despised, yet) are just matter of wonder even to the wisest men.

Haydock: Job 5:1 - Scourge // Calamity

Scourge. Ecclesiasticus (xxvi. 9., and xxviii. 21.) has the same expression. See James iii. 6. (Calmet) ---

Calamity, from robbers, as the Hebrew shod, (Haydock) intimates. The word is rendered destruction, vastitate, ver. 22. (Menochius)

Haydock: Job 5:1 - Saints

Saints. This is a proof of the invocation of the saints (Calmet) and angels. (Haydock) ---

The Jews often begged God to have mercy on them for the sake of the patriarchs, 2 Paralipomenon vi. 42. (Calmet) ---

Eliphaz, therefore, exhorts Job, if he have any patron or angel, to bring him forward in his defence. (Menochius) ---

Septuagint, "Invoke now if any one will hear thee, or if thou perceive any of the holy angels," (Haydock) as I have done. (Menochius) ---

He extols himself, to correct the pretended presumption of his friend, (Calmet) and other defects, which none will dare to deny, as he supposes. See St. Gregory, v. 30. (Worthington)

Haydock: Job 5:2 - Foolish and....little

Foolish and....little, here denote the wicked, as in the book of Proverbs. (Calmet) ---

He accuses Job of anger (Menochius) and folly. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 5:3 - And I

And I. Septuagint, "But presently their subsistence was eaten up." I envied not their riches: but judged they would soon end. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 5:4 - Gate

Gate, in judgment. (Menochius)

Haydock: Job 5:6 - Ground

Ground. If you had not sinned, you would not suffer. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 5:7 - Bird

Bird. Hebrew, "sparks fly up." (Haydock) ---

You can no more then expect to pass unpunished, since it is impossible for man to be innocent! (Calmet) and, at any rate, labour is inevitable. (Menochius) ---

We must gain our bread by the sweat of our brow. [Genesis iii. 19.] (Worthington)

Haydock: Job 5:8 - I will

I will, or if I were in your place, I would sue for pardon. (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "I would seek unto God," (Haydock) under affliction. (Menochius)

Gill: Job 5:1 - Call now, if there be any that will answer thee // and to which of the saints wilt thou turn

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; Pro 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, Deu 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.

Gill: Job 5:2 - For wrath killeth the foolish man // and envy slayeth the silly one

For wrath killeth the foolish man,.... Not one that is an idiot, and destitute of common sense, and has no understanding in things natural and civil; but a wicked man, who has no knowledge of things divine and spiritual, and so foolish; which is the character of every natural man, and of God's people before conversion; and even of some professors, who are foolish virgins, and carry the lamp of a religious profession without the oil of grace; and such an one Eliphaz took Job to be, whom sooner or later the wrath of the Lord, as the Targum interprets it, which is revealed from heaven, and comes down upon the children of disobedience, would consume like devouring fire: or this may be understood of the wrath and passion of such men themselves, which sometimes rises in them to such an height, as that they die in a fit of it; or do those things which bring them to death, either by the hand of God, or by the civil magistrate:

and envy slayeth the silly one; one that is simple and void of understanding, and is easily persuaded and drawn into sin, either by his own heart, or by evil men, or by the temptations of Satan; and in whose heart envy at the prosperity of others dwells, and which insensibly preys upon him, eats up his own spirits, and is rottenness to his bones, and crumbles them into dust, Pro 14:30; or the word may be rendered "jealousy", or "zeal" ^q, as it sometimes is, and may signify the jealousy of the Lord, zeal for his own glory, which he sometimes stirs up as a man of war, and which smokes against wicked men, and consumes them as fire, see Isa 42:13; Eliphaz by all this would represent and insinuate that Job was such a man, hot, passionate, and angry with God and his providence, and envious at the prosperity of others, particularly his friends; and so was a foolish and silly man, in whose breast wrath and envy rested, and would be his ruin and destruction, as he was already under slaying and killing providences.

Gill: Job 5:3 - I have seen the foolish taking root // but suddenly I cursed his habitation

I have seen the foolish taking root,.... Such foolish wicked men as before described; those Eliphaz had observed to prosper in the world, and increase in riches, and even to have attained to a seeming stability and firmness, as if they would ever continue in such happy circumstances, see Jer 12:2; by this he would obviate an objection that here might be raised and made against the assertion he was proving, that wicked men are afflicted and punished of God for their sins; whereas it is notorious that they are not in trouble as other men, but in very prosperous and flourishing circumstances; this he grants is their case for a while, as he had observed, but in a short time they pass away, they and their substance disappear, and are no more seen, as follows:

but suddenly I cursed his habitation; not that he wished ill to him, or imprecated evils upon him; for cursing and bitterness only fit the mouths of wicked men, and not good men, among whom Eliphaz must be allowed to be; but he immediately thought within himself, as soon as he saw the flourishing state of the wicked, that the curse of the Lord was in their houses, as in Pro 3:33; that they and all they had were under a curse, and that God find given them what they had with a curse, and had cursed all their blessings; which makes the difference between a good man and a wicked man; the one has what he has, his cottage and his small substance, with a blessing; the other his pleasant habitation, as the word ^r here used signifies, his stately palace, rich furniture, and large estates, with a curse; or he prognosticated, he foresaw, and could foretell, and that without pretending to an extraordinary spirit of prophecy, that in a short time the curse of God would light upon him, and upon his house, see Zec 5:3.

Gill: Job 5:4 - His children are far from safety // and they are crushed in the gate // neither is there any to deliver them

His children are far from safety,.... From outward safety, from evils and dangers, to which they are liable and exposed, not only from men, who hate them for their father's sake, who have been oppressors of them, or from God, who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children; and from spiritual and eternal safety or "salvation", or from salvation in the world to come, as the Targum, they treading in their fathers steps, and imitating their actions:

and they are crushed in the gate; or openly, publicly, as Aben Ezra and others; or in the courts of judicature whither they are brought by those their parents had oppressed, and where they are cast, and have no favour shown them; or literally by the falling of the gate upon them; and perhaps some reference is had to Job's children being crushed in the gate or door of the house, through which they endeavoured to get when it fell upon them and destroyed them; the Targum is,"and are crushed in the gates of hell, in the day of the great judgment:"

neither is there any to deliver them; neither God nor man, they having no interest in either, or favour with, partly on account of their father's ill behaviour, and partly on account of their own; and sad is the case of men when it is such, see Psa 50:21.

Gill: Job 5:5 - Whose harvest the hungry eateth up // and taketh it even out of the thorns // and the robber swalloweth up their substance

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,.... This is to be understood of the foolish rich man before described, as taking root and flourishing; though he sows, and reaps and gathers in his harvest, and fancies he has goods laid up for many years, to be enjoyed by him, yet he is taken away by death, and another eats what he has gathered; either his hungry heirs, that he has kept bare, and without the proper necessaries of life; or the poor whom he has oppressed, who, driven by hunger, seize upon his harvest, and eat it up, whether he be alive or dead: Sephorno interprets this of the wicked man himself, who should eat up his own harvest, and not have enough to satisfy him, the curse of God being upon his land; and another learned interpreter ^s thinks the sense is, that such should be the curse of God on the fields of wicked men, that they should produce no more than what was usually left to the poor, and therefore should have no need to gather it:

and taketh it even out of the thorns; that is, either the hungry man takes the harvest out of the thorns, among which it grows, see Mat 13:7; or which he had gotten "through the thorns", as Mr. Broughton renders it; that is, the owner, through many difficulties; and hunger will break through many to get at it; or though his harvest being got in, is enclosed with a thorn hedge, the hungry man gets through it, and takes it out from it, surrounded by it; the above mentioned Jewish writer understands this also of the wicked man, who takes his own harvest out from among the thorns, so that there is nothing left for the poor and his friends, as it is meet there should: the word ^t for "thorns" has also the signification of armour, particularly of shields; hence the Targum is,"and armed men with warlike arms shall take it away;''to which agrees the Vulgate Latin version,"and the armed men shall take it away;''that is, soldiers should forage, spoil, and destroy it:

and the robber swalloweth up their substance; the house robber, who breaks in and devours all at once, and makes a clear riddance of it; some render it "the hairy man" ^u either that neglects his hair, as beggars, or such that live in desert places, as robbers, that they may appear the more terrible; or that take care of it, and nourish it, and tie it up in locks, and behind their heads, as Bar Tzemach and Ben Melech observe they do in Turkey; others translate it "the thirsty" ^w, and so it answers to the hungry in the preceding clause, and designs such who thirst, and gape after, and covet the substance of others, and greedily catch at it, and swallow it up at once, at one draught, as a thirsty man does a large quantity of liquor, see Pro 1:12; this may have some respect to the Sabeans and Chaldeans, that swallowed up Job's substance, and took away his cattle from him at once, and were no other than bands of robbers; and the use of the word for a thief or a robber, as we take it, is confirmed by a learned man ^x, who derives it from the Arabic word which signifies to smite with a club or stone.

Gill: Job 5:6 - Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust // neither doth trouble spring out of the ground

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust,.... Or rather, "for" or "indeed" ^y, this being a reason showing that wicked men are justly afflicted and punished; seeing their afflictions come not from the creatures, though they may be instruments, but from God for the sins of men: the word for affliction also signifies iniquity or sin, the cause of affliction, as well as affliction the fruit of sin; and so does the word in the following clause; and Aben Ezra understands both, not of natural but moral evil, and so do others ^z; both senses may be taken in: sin does not come from God, the Maker of the dust of the earth, he is not the author of sin, nor does this spring out of the dust which he has made; good things, as Schmidt observes, come out of the earth for the use of man as well as beasts, bread, and wine, and oil, and all the necessaries of life; the precious things produced by the influence of the sun and moon, the precious things of the everlasting hills, and of the earth, and the fulness of it; indeed, the earth was cursed for the sin of men, but this is taken off; and, however, it is not owing to the soil, or to the air and climate in which a man lives, that he is sinful; for though there may be national vices or some sins peculiar to or more predominant in one nation than in another, yet this is not to be attributed to such causes; for all sin is from a man's self, and proceeds out of his own evil heart, which is desperately wicked and evil continually, and from whence all the impure streams of sin flow, see Mat 15:19; and so afflictions are not to be ascribed to second causes, such as the things before mentioned, or Job's losses by the Sabeans and Chaldeans; nor did he place them to that account, but to the hand of God; nor to chance and fortune, or to be reckoned fortuitous events, as if they were chance productions, spontaneous things that spring up of themselves, and not under the direction of an all wise Providence; but they are to be considered as of God, and as of his appointment, and directed by his sovereign will and pleasure, and overruled for his glory; who has fixed what they shall be, of what kind and sort, what the measure of them, to what pitch they shall rise, and how long they shall last:

neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; the same thing as before in different words, neither sin, the cause of trouble, the effect of sin; sin may very fitly be expressed by a word ^a which signifies trouble, because it is both troublesome, wearisome, and offensive to God, and brings trouble to the bodies and souls of men here and hereafter. Here Eliphaz begins to lower the tone of his voice, and to speak to Job in a seemingly more kind and friendly manner, observing to him the spring of afflictions, and giving him advice how to behave under them.

Gill: Job 5:7 - Yet man is born unto trouble // as the sparks fly upward

Yet man is born unto trouble,.... Or but ^b, after the negative follows the positive part of the assertion; before we have what is denied as the cause of affliction, here what it is affirmed to be, or what it is to be ascribed unto, even to the appointment of God for sin: to be born to it is to be appointed to it, as all men are appointed to death, and to everything previous and that leads on to it; and it signifies that affliction or trouble springs from the birth sin of man, from original sin, the sin of the first parent, and of his nature; as all sins arise from hence, and are streams from this fountain of pollution, so all disorders and diseases of body, all distresses and anguish of mind, and death in every sense, corporeal, spiritual, and eternal; and these are the lot and portion, the estate and inheritance, of the sons of men by nature, what they are born unto, and are full of, see Job 14:1; the same word is here used as in Job 5:6, and signifies labour, mischief, the mischief of sin, improbity, wickedness, moral evil; and man may be said to be born to sin, inasmuch as he is conceived, shapen, and born in it; and as he is born at once into a sinful state, and sins as soon as born, goes astray from the womb, is a transgressor from thence, and the imagination of his heart evil from his infancy and youth upwards, he becomes a slave to sin, and is a homeborn one; not that he is laid under a necessity of force to sin, or his will compelled to it; for he sins most freely, is a voluntary slave to it; he serves various lusts as pleasures, and gives himself up to work all iniquity with greediness; but there is such a connection between his birth, the circumstances of it, and sin, that sin is the certain consequence of it, and immediately, naturally, and necessarily follows upon it; that is, by a necessity of consequence, though not of coaction or force; it is as natural for man to sin as it is for a thirsty man to covet and drink water; or as for an Ethiopian to be born black, and a leopard with spots; or, as it follows:

as the sparks fly upward; which they do naturally and necessarily when coals are blown, and which are here called "the sons of coals" ^c; and to these, troubles and afflictions, the fruits and effects of sin, may be aptly compared; not only for the necessity of them, it is if needs be they are, but for the nature of them, being fiery and troublesome, hence called fiery trials, and signified by fires and flames of fire, 1Pe 4:12; and also for the number of them, being many, and very grievous: some interpret this of flying fowls, of young vultures, as the Septuagint; of young eagles, as others; Aben Ezra makes mention of this sense, as if it was, as a fowl is born to fly, so man is born to labour; to labour in the law, according to the Targum; or to labour for his bread; or rather, to labour and sorrow; that is, to affliction and trouble: a learned man ^d thinks the phrase, according to the use of it in the Arabic language, designs the more rapid cast of a dart, of the vibration of it, which is very quick.

Gill: Job 5:8 - I would seek unto God // and unto God would I commit my cause

I would seek unto God,.... Or "truly" ^e, "certainly, doubtless, I do seek unto God", verily I do so; for so the words are introduced in the original text, and express what Eliphaz had done when under afflictions himself; for he was not without them, though he had not them to such a degree as Job had; and when he was under them, this was the course he took; he sought unto God by prayer to support him under them, to sanctify them to him, and to deliver him out of them; and this he proposes for Job's imitation, and suggests, that if he was in his case, this would be the first step he should take; and good advice this is, nothing more proper for a man, especially a saint, than, when afflicted of God, to seek unto him, to seek his face and his favour, to entreat his gracious presence, and the discoveries of his love, that he may see that it is not in wrath, but in love, he afflicts him; to submit unto him, humble himself before him, acknowledge his sins, and implore his pardoning grace and mercy; to entreat him to help him, in this time of need, to exercise the graces of faith and patience, and every other; to desire counsel and advice how to behave under the present trial, and to be made acquainted with the reasons, ends, and uses of the dispensation, as well as to beg for strength to bear up under it, and in his own time to grant deliverance from it:

and unto God would I commit my cause; or "direct my word or speech" ^f to him; that is, in prayer, as Sephorno adds; I would, as if he should say, make known my case to him, tell him the whole of it, and pour out my soul before him; and then I would leave it with him, and not wrangle, quarrel, and contend with him, but say, "here am I, let him do what seemeth good unto him": some render the words, "truly", or "indeed I shall discourse concerning God, and order my speech about Deity" ^g; I shall no longer insist on this subject, but drop it, and hereafter treat of God, his nature, being, and perfections, and particularly his works; though these are rather observed in the following verses, as so many arguments to engage Job to seek the Lord, and leave his case and cause to him.

Gill: Job 5:9 - Which doeth great things // and unsearchable // marvellous things // without number

Which doeth great things,.... The things of creation are great things, the making of the heavens and the earth, and all therein, by the word of the Almighty, out of nothing, and which is a display of great power, wisdom, and goodness; the things of Providence are great things, which God is always doing; as the upholding all things in being by the word of his power, governing the whole universe, ordering all things in it, supplying and feeding all creatures, men and beasts; and especially the things of grace are great things, the covenant of grace, and its blessings, redemption by Jesus Christ, the work of grace upon the heart, the quickening and enlightening dead and dark sinners, taking away their hearts of stone and giving them hearts of flesh, and constantly supplying them with his grace for the finishing of it; the consideration of all which is a great encouragement to seek the Lord in time of need, as well as of what follows concerning them:

and unsearchable; the things of nature; many of them are such as puzzle the greatest philosophers, who are not able, with all their sagacity and penetration, to find out the causes and reasons of them; and in providence the way of God is often in the deep, and is not to be tracked and followed; and the dispensations of his grace to the sons of men are so sovereign and distinguishing, that it made the apostle say, speaking of them, "O the depth", &c. Rom 11:33; and there are some things not to be inquired into, nor can they be searched out; secret things belong to God, as his purposes relating to the eternal state of particular persons, and the times and seasons of various future events, as the day of judgment, &c.

marvellous things; in nature, as the formation of man and all creatures; in providence, and it may be respect may be had to the wonders done in Egypt, and the marvellous things in the field of Zoan, the plagues of Egypt, and the deliverance of Israel, and their passage through the Red sea; which were things done much about this time, or before it, as some think, and of which Eliphaz might have heard, and were fresh in his memory; and wonderful things are done in grace, as the effects of marvellous loving kindness: and those

without number; the works of God are manifold, and not to be counted; the stars of heaven, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and cattle on a thousand hills, the fishes of the sea, small and great, see Psa 104:25; to which may be added, those animalcules, of which a billion do not exceed the size of a small grain of sand, as they may be seen through a microscope ^h; the various things done every day in providence, the special blessings of goodness, and the kind thoughts of the heart of God, which, if one attempt to reckon up, they are more than can be numbered, Psa 40:5.