Commentari biblici

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.

Job 5:2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, &c. — That is, say some, a man’s wrath and impatience prey upon his spirit, and so hasten his death. But the meaning seems rather to be, as Bishop Patrick observes, that “God in his anger and indignation destroys the wicked, and such as err from his precepts.” It is probable that Eliphaz intended to distinguish Job by the characters of foolish and silly one, to insinuate that all his misfortunes were owing to his folly and weakness, or to his sins and vices. By the foolish is meant the rash and inconsiderate man, who does not weigh things impartially; and by the silly one, the man who, for want of true wisdom, is soon deceived with false opinions, and with appearances of present things.

Job 5:3. I have seen the foolish taking root — I have observed the wicked man, whom I term foolish, as being destitute of true, that is, of heavenly, wisdom, not only prosperous for the present, but, as it seemed, firm and secure for the future, being strongly fortified with power and riches, and children too, so that there was no likelihood or apparent danger of a change; but suddenly — In a moment, before any one’s expectation; I cursed his habitation — I saw, by the event which followed his prosperity, that he was a man under a divine curse, and that, notwithstanding the seeming depth and strength in which he vainly promised himself a permanent, unshaken situation for many years, all his hopes were built on a weak and false foundation. Thus Eliphaz answers an objection concerning the present seeming prosperity of the wicked, which he confesses that he himself had sometimes observed, but which, he insists, was of short duration, destructive judgments from God unexpectedly overwhelming them.

Job 5:4. His children — Whose greatness he designed in all his enterprises, supposing his family would be established for ever; are far from safety — 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; and they are crushed in the gate — That is, in the place of judicature, to which they are brought for their offences, and where they find severe judges, and few or no friends; because, being wickedly educated, and trusting to their own greatness, they had been insolent and injurious to all their neighbours; as also because those many persons, whom their powerful fathers had defrauded or oppressed, seek for justice and the recovery of their rights, which they easily obtain, against persons who plainly declared, by their actions, that they neither feared God nor regarded man, and therefore were hated by all sorts of people. Neither is there any to deliver them — They can find no advocates or assistants who are either able or willing to help them: for, as their hand was formerly against every man, so now every man’s hand is against them. Justice, therefore, takes hold on them, and will not let them escape.

Job 5:5. Whose harvest — Which they confidently expected to reap after all their cost and labour; The hungry eateth up — The hungry Sabeans, or the poor, whose necessities make them greedy and ravenous to eat it all up; so that he can never recover it, or any thing in recompense of it. As if he had said, They may cultivate their ground with the utmost care, and sow it with the choicest seed, in expectation of reaping, at the usual time, the fruits of their labour; but when once the sentence of the judge is declared against them, behold, instead of carrying in, and filling their barns and store-houses with the great and plentiful increase, their field is laid open to the hungry poor, who soon devour their whole harvest. And take it even out of the thorns — That is, out of the fields, notwithstanding the strong thorn-hedges wherewith it is enclosed and fortified; and in spite of all the dangers or difficulties which may be in their way. They will take it, though they be scratched and wounded by the thorns about it. And the robber swalloweth up their substance — The word צמים, tzammim, here rendered robber, occurs but once more, namely, Job 18:9, where Bildad, taking it for granted that Job must be a wicked man, says the robber, tzammim, shall prevail against him. R. Levi derives it from tzammah, hair, and says it represents a man who suffers his hair to grow long and squalid, and appears with a terrible countenance. It may however signify thirsty, as derived from another root. Either way it points out a set of savage and barbarous plunderers. The word שׂאŠshaaph, rendered swalloweth up, literally means to draw in the air, to pant after, to swallow greedily; and is applied to wild beasts, snuffing up the wind in pursuit of their prey. The sense of the clause is, that these robbers shall hasten with great eagerness, shall greedily pant after and swallow up their entire substance, so as to leave them in the most deplorable condition.

Job 5:6. Although affliction cometh not forth out of the dust — The word

און, aven, here rendered affliction, rather signifies iniquity, and the clause is literally, Iniquity cometh not forth out of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of the ground — That is, says Dr. Dodd, “As the wickedness of men does not proceed from any natural cause, but from their own free-will; so neither are their miseries to be considered as the effects of natural causes, but as the distributions of a free agent likewise, namely, of a just God, who suits men’s punishments to their crimes; and hence man, being prone to sin, is necessarily born to suffer,” as is signified in the next verse.

Job 5:7. Yet man is born to trouble, &c. — 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 shouldst patiently bear, as the common lot of mankind. As — As naturally, and as generally, as the sparks of fire fly upward — Why then should we be surprised at our afflictions, as strange, or quarrel with them, as hard? This last clause, literally translated from the Hebrew, is, As the sons of the burning coal raise themselves up to fly. Instead, however, of sparks, or the sons of the coal, the author of the Vulgate writes, Homo nascitur ad laborem, et avis ad volatum, man is born for labour, (or trouble,) and the bird for flying; reading, עוŠ, gnoph, a bird, for gnuph, to fly. To the same purpose is the interpretation of the LXX., Syr. and Arab.

Job 5:8. I would seek unto God, &c. — If I were in thy condition, instead of accusing the dispensations of Divine Providence, and repining under them, I would apply to God, by a full and free confession of those sins which have drawn this sad calamity upon me, and by sincere repentance, humiliation, and submission to his will: to God, who is able to do wonders, (as he presently adds,) and who can and will restore thee to thy former happy state, if he sees that thou art penitent for thy past transgressions, and hast reformed thy conduct. For this is the whole purport of the following part of his speech, namely, to give him hopes of a happy turn to his condition, if he would do what he thought was absolutely necessary to be done in this case; make a frank confession of those crimes which had brought down this severe chastisement upon him. See Peters and Dodd. And unto God would I commit my cause — Would resign myself and all my concerns to him, and humbly hope for relief from him. And let my cause be what it would, and my own opinion of it ever so favourable, I would commit it wholly to him, and leave him to judge and determine it.