Job Chapter 5 Review

 

Chapter 5

Eliphaz the Temanite continuing to speak:

Job 5:1-27 KJV

(1)  Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

In the previous chapter Eliphaz was respectful toward Job.  Here his tone begins to take on a very different flavor.  Eliphaz now becomes ridiculing, and challenging.  The Hebrew word here translated, ‘saints’, is more commonly translated ‘holy’.  Saints to me has such a strong Catholic Church saint connotation with it, I think I would prefer ‘the holy’ or ‘holy ones’ translation. 

Job, if you call, will any even answer you? 

(2)  For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

This is an answer to verse 1.

Hebrew word translated ‘foolish’ (Strong’s H191) is always translated ‘fool’ or ‘foolish’.  It is found 26 times in the Old Testament, by far the most times in Proverbs (19 times).  A Bible study on the foolish, should probably center on that book.

The Hebrew word translated ‘silly’ (H6601), is far more varied. Found 28 times in 26 verses, it is translated as:

allure ( 1 ) deceive ( 2 ) 

deceived ( 6 ) enlarge ( 1 ) 

entice ( 7 ) enticed ( 2 ) 

enticeth ( 1 ) flatter ( 1 ) 

flattereth ( 1 ) persuade ( 3 ) 

persuaded ( 1 ) silly ( 2 )

Here are the first three occurrences of Strong’s H6601.  The same word rendered in three varied meanings:

Genesis 9:27 KJV  God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Exodus 22:16 KJV  And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

Deuteronomy 11:16 KJV  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

This perfectly illustrates the difficulties faced by translators. . . a very difficult task.

(3)  I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

My first Bible was a parallel Bible with four translations across the two pages.  I appreciated having different views of Scripture, so that I could understand difficult passages like the one above.  Here is how the NLT renders it:

Job 5:3 NLT  I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.

This being said, I still prefer the KJV as my main study Bible.  I prefer the original language texts upon which the KJV is based (Masoretic Text and the Textus Receptus) over the manuscripts of other translations. 

(4)  His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

Continuing to speak of the foolish, one who has turned from God, his children are not safe. . . The gate mentioned here is the modern equivalent of court, where justice is administered.  The fool’s children find no relief in court.  There is no one to defend them. 

(5)  Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

The fool’s crops are all eaten by raiders, even though the fields are protected by barriers of thorns.  The fool’s possessions are lost to those who would steal or destroy them. 

(6)  Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; (7)  Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

Hebrew word  (Strongs H5999) translated trouble, found in 54 verses 55 matches, is translated such:

grievance ( 1 )  grievousness ( 1 ) 

iniquity ( 1 ) labour ( 24 ) 

mischief ( 9 ) miserable ( 1 ) 

misery ( 3 )      pain ( 1 ) 

painful ( 1 )        perverseness ( 1 ) 

sorrow ( 2 )        toil ( 1 ) 

travail ( 2 ) trouble ( 3 ) 

wearisome ( 1 ) wickedness ( 1 )

The sense of it could be:  Afflictions or troubles don’t just randomly arise without cause, from the fall of Adam and Eve and the subsequent curse, man is born into toil or labour the same as sparks naturally fly upward in a fire.

Genesis 3:17 KJV  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thus our troubles arise.

(8)  I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: (9)  Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: (10)  Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: (11)  To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.

Eliphaz extols Job, that if he were beset with the same troubles that Job is facing he would seek God's intervention.

(12)  He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. (13)  He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

(14)  They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

God frustrates the plans of the ungodly.

(15)  But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. (16)  So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

He takes the side of the downtrodden.

(17)  Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: 

The Hebrew word, Strong's H835, translated ‘happy’ above, is found 45 times in 42 verses.  It is translated ‘happy’ 18 times, and ‘blessed’ 27 times.  To me there is a huge difference between being ‘happy’, and being ‘blessed’.  To be happy, seems to me to be a simple and usually transient state. . . I was happy the stoplight was green when I came to the intersection,  I was happy my wife made meatloaf for dinner tonight,  while being blessed is higher level, and independent of any mood.  I can be sad and still be blessed.  I can be angry, or depressed, and still be blessed.  I don’t understand how one word can fulfil both meanings?   

(18)  For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

Here Eliphaz becomes, unknowingly prophetic, for this is indeed what happens with Job.  Job was grievously wounded, and in the end Job was made doubly whole.

 (19)  He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. (20)  In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. (21)  Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. (22)  At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. (23)  For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. (24)  And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. (25)  Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. (26)  Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

Eliphaz here seems to encourage Job in his affliction by God, that whatever trial God puts you to, He will eventually take away and make right. . . but how much comfort does it bring someone when they are in a fight for their lives to speak in such a way.  

From my years of working on a suicide hotline, platitudes to someone in despair, does little more than convince them that you don’t at all understand what they are going through. . . More than anything a person in crisis needs an understanding ear. . . they need to vent, and to be non-judgmentally listened to.  Eventually you can arrive at problem solving, but the process cannot be rushed.

There used to be advice columns in the newspaper.  People would write in with a problem, and the columnist would in a paragraph give a solution to the issue. . .It was interesting to read, but how many people were actually helped by such pat answers?  Our lives are complex.  We each have our own abilities, and disabilities. . . our own histories, which truly make our situations unique.  The best answers usually come from within us.

 

(27)  Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

Eliphaz telling Job it is not his opinion only, but that he and his friends have discussed this, Job needs to take it to heart, and follow it for his own good.