Job 5

Job 5 continues the first speech of Eliphaz the Temanite, which begins in Job 4. After Job cursed the day of his birth in Job 3, Eliphaz was the first of the three friends to speak. His speech opens the long debate between Job and his friends.

Outline

• Verses 1–7: Eliphaz says that even if Job calls out, none of the holy ones will answer him. Wrath and envy destroy the foolish, and Eliphaz himself, having seen the foolish taking root, cursed his habitation. Affliction does not come forth from the dust; rather, man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
• Verses 8–16: Eliphaz says that in Job's place he would seek God and commit his cause to Him. God sends rain, sets on high those who are lowly, frustrates the devices of the crafty, and gives hope to the poor.
• Verses 17–26: Eliphaz declares that the one whom God corrects is blessed. God wounds, and then He binds up. He delivers from six troubles, even seven, and from famine and war; the stones of the field and the beasts of the field will be at peace with Job, his offspring will be many, and he will come to his grave in a full age, like a shock of grain in its season.
• Verse 27: Eliphaz concludes by saying that this is what "we have searched," and that Job should hear it and know it for his good.

Key Verses

• Job 5:7: "Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." This verse is widely quoted as a statement of the universality of suffering in human life.
• Job 5:13: "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 3:19, one of the rare instances in which the Book of Job is directly quoted in the New Testament.
• Job 5:17: "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth." This verse represents the view that suffering is to be understood as God's chastening.

People and Places

• Eliphaz: A Temanite, the first to speak among Job's three friends who came to visit him.
• Job: The one whom Eliphaz addresses. He does not speak in this chapter.
• Teman: Eliphaz's place of origin, known as a place name in the region of Edom.

Points for Reflection

• In themselves, Eliphaz's words sound like pious principles. Yet in Job 42:7–10 God rebukes the friends for not speaking of Him what is right. For this reason, interpretations differ. Some hold that the friends misapplied generally valid principles to the innocent Job, while others hold that the principles themselves are limited. Some also point out that this context should be taken into account when preaching from the friends' speeches.
• The "holy ones" of verse 1 (rendered "saints" in the KJV) are commonly understood as heavenly beings such as angels.
• The word rendered "sparks" in verse 7 is literally "sons of Resheph" in Hebrew, and there are various views on how the phrase should be translated.
• Verse 17 resembles the teaching on chastening in Hebrews 12:6–11 and Proverbs 3:11–12. Verse 18 is often read alongside Hosea 6:1–4: "for he hath torn, and he will heal us."