Job 5:1-6

1 “Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you?
2 Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
3 I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.
4 Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
5 The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth.
6 But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.

Job 5:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 5

In this chapter Eliphaz goes on to prove, and further confirm and establish, what he had before asserted, that not good men, but wicked men only, are afflicted of God, at least greatly, so as to have their substance wholly destroyed and perish, which was Job's case; and this partly from the case, state, and sentiments of all the saints, Job 5:1,2; and from his own observation and experience, Job 5:3-5; and then he proceeds to give some advice; and seeing afflictions do not come by chance, but are of God, it is right in such circumstances for a man to seek to the Lord for pardon and salvation, and commit his cause unto him, Job 5:6-8; who does many great things in a providential way to the good of man in general, and to the disappointment of wicked crafty men, and to the serving of the poor in particular, Job 5:9-16; so that it is best patiently to bear the afflicting hand of God, and it is an happiness to be corrected by him, since he delivers such out of all their troubles, and preserves them from many evils, and bestows many good things on them; which would be Job's case particularly, if he behaved according to the advice given, and which is left with him to consider of, Job 5:17-27.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Hebrew the holy ones.
  • [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  • [c]. As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads A snare snatches their wealth.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.