Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 5:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 5:4. 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.

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.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Eliphaz speaks (4:1-5:27)

The first of the three friends to speak is Eliphaz, who is probably the oldest of the three. He is also the least severe in the accusations brought against Job (4:1-2). He begins by noting that in the past Job comforted others in their troubles, but now that he has troubles himself, his faith has failed. If Job truly honoured God and was upright in his ways, there would be no need for this despondency (3-6). The person who is innocent, argues Eliphaz, need not fear suffering or death. Such calamities are God’s judgment on wrongdoing, and not even the strongest or most defiant person can withstand his judgment (7-11).
Eliphaz now tells of a hair-raising vision he saw one night (12-16). (It becomes clear, as we read Eliphaz’s speeches, that this vision has become for him a standard by which he judges others.) The main point that Eliphaz learnt from his vision was that no person can be righteous before God. If angels, who live in the heavenly realm, are imperfect, how much more imperfect must human beings be who live on the earth (17-19). Their brief lives comes to an inglorious end, like a tent that collapses when its cords are cut (20-21).
According to Eliphaz, it is useless for Job to expect the angels to support his protest against God’s laws (5:1). The person who rebels against God in such bitterness is a fool and will only get himself into more trouble. His house may be destroyed, his sons convicted of lawbreaking, or his fields plundered by raiders (2-5). For Eliphaz, this shows that suffering does not spring up by itself. Suffering is caused by a person’s sin, just as sparks are caused by a fire (6-7).
In summary, Eliphaz’s suggestion is that if he were in Job’s position he would stop complaining and leave the whole matter in God’s hands, for he has infinite wisdom and power (8-10). God blesses the humble and the needy, though he opposes those who think they are clever (11-16). The sufferings God uses to punish and correct people are likened to wounds. He will heal the wounds of those who submit to him (17-18). He will then bless them with protection from famine and from enemies (19-22); wild beasts will not destroy their flocks or herds (23-24); their families will multiply, and they will die contented in old age (25-26). Such is Eliphaz’s advice, based on much research, and he suggests that Job accept it (27).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ELIPHAZ’ WORD THAT JOB’S CASE WAS HOPELESS

“Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? For vexation killeth the foolish man, And jealousy slayeth the silly one. I have seen the foolish taking root: But suddenly I cursed his habitation.. His children are far from safety, And they are crushed in the gate, Neither is there any to deliver them: Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, And taketh it even out of the thorns; And the snare gapeth for their substance. For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground: But man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward.”

“Is there any that will answer thee” Such a question in Hebrew was an emphatic negative, with the meaning that, “Not even any of the angels would hear Job’s prayer.” “What he says is that, `it is futile to call out in prayer,’ for no one will answer.”Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, Vol. 13, p. 116. Eliphaz himself had just claimed that God heard him in prayer; so, “It is Job himself who is disqualified to pray.”Ibid.

“Vexation killeth the foolish man” Eliphaz has concluded that Job’s vexation and jealousy show that Job has become a fool. In his description of what happens to the fool, “Eliphaz deliberately goes through a whole roll of disasters corresponding so exactly to what had happened to Job, that each word is a poisoned arrow.”The Expositor’s Bible, Vol. 7, Job, p. 719.

“His children are far from safety” The implication of this is that Job’s sins have also brought sorrow to his children. Of course, it is true that sin injures others besides the sinner. It is against God, against the sinner’s family, against society, and against the sinner himself; “It is inevitable that when a man disgraces himself that his family share in it.”New Century Bible Commentary, Job, p. 52. However. the tragedy of Eliphaz’ observation here is that it had no application whatever to Job.

“Eliphaz and the other friends of Job were like men who close their eyes to the real facts, rock back on their heels, and speak of general principles, every one of which is contradicted by the indisputable facts before them.”Layman’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 67.

“And taketh it even out of the thorns” The imagery here is that of ancient harvests which were protected from raiders and vandals, “by thorn hedges.”J. R. Dummelow’s Commentary, p. 296.

“Affliction cometh not forth from the dust… Man is born unto trouble, as sparks fly upward” “Here Eliphaz says that trouble comes naturally to man; but he had just said the opposite,”New Century Bible Commentary, Job, p. 53. i.e., that trouble did not just rise up out of the dust, but it came as a consequence of wickedness.

Eliphaz’ idea that disasters and calamities were invariably due to the sin of those who suffered such things was generally received throughout the ancient world. Even the Twelve asked Jesus, concerning the man born blind, “Who sinned? This man or his parents that he should have been born blind”? (John 9:2). Jesus put that old lie to rest with the declaration that neither the blind man nor his parents had sinned, but, “That the glory of God should be manifested in him.”

It is true, of course that sin is the root and cause of all the sorrow and suffering of mankind; but that cannot mean that an individual sufferer of this or that misfortune is suffering because of his personal sin. David, Jeremiah, Jacob, Tamar, Uriah, - call the roll of Old Testament heroes; they all suffered from the sins of others, not from their own wickedness. “And what about Our Saviour himself?. He did no wrong, in fact, committed no sin whatever, yet he suffered the agony of the Cross. The argument of Eliphaz does not hold water.”Theodore H. Epp, Job, A Man Tried as Gold, (Lincoln, Nebraska: Back to the Bible Broadcast, 1987), p. 55.

“As the sparks fly upward” In the Hebrew, this reads, “As the sons of Reseph, an old Canaanite god. Here Eliphaz has given up his attempt at a moral explanation of Job’s disasters, offering dismal comfort.”Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 119.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

His children are far from safety - That is, this is soon manifest by their being cut off or subjected to calamity. The object of Eliphaz is, to state the result of his own observation, and to show how calamity overtook the wicked though they even prospered for a time. He begins with that which a man would feel most - the calamity which comes upon his children, and says that God would punish him in them. Every word of this would go to the heart of Job; for he could not but feel that it was aimed at him, and that the design was to prove that the calamities that had come upon his children were a proof of his own wickedness and of the divine displeasure. It is remarkable that Job listens to this with the utmost patience. There is no interruption of the speaker; no breaking in upon the argument of his friend; no mark of uneasiness. Oriental politeness required that a speaker should be heard attentively through whatever he might say. See the Introduction, Section 7. Cutting and severe, therefore, as this strain of remark must have been, the sufferer sat meekly and heard it all, and waited for the appropriate time when an answer might be returned.

And they are crushed in the gate - The gate of a city in ancient times was the chief place of concourse, and was the place where public business was usually transacted, and where courts of justice were held; see Genesis 23:10; Deuteronomy 21:19; Deuteronomy 25:6-7; Ruth 4:1 ff: Psalms 127:5; Proverbs 22:22. The Greeks also held their courts in some public place of business. Hence, the forum, ἀγορά agora, was also a place for fairs. See Jahn’s Archaeology, section 247. Some suppose that the meaning here is, that they were oppressed and trodden down by the concourse in the gate. But the more probable meaning is, that they found no one to advocate their cause; that they were subject to oppression and injustice in judicial decisions, and then when their parent was dead, no one would stand up to vindicate them from respect to his memory. The idea is, that though there might be temporary prosperity, yet that it would not be long before heavy calamities would come upon the children of the wicked.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Call now ( Job 5:1 ),

Eliphaz is saying to Job.

if there be any that will answer you; and to which of the saints will thou turn? ( Job 5:1 )

Now it would seem that maybe in those days there were those who... they had already developed saints that they were turning to in trouble. Which saint do you have for boils, you know?

For wrath killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the silly. I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them ( Job 5:2-4 ).

Now he's accusing Job of foolishness and silliness and all of this because, you see, Job's children were crushed when the house fell. So he said, "I've seen the foolish and all. Their children are crushed in the gate and all."

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

The Sabaeans and the Chaldeans had come in and stolen everything that Job had; so this is all...he's trying to make it all applicable to Job. "This is what's happened to you. You're the foolish one and you had taken root, but suddenly you're cursed and all."

Although affliction comes not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward ( Job 5:6-7 ).

Now that's a great philosophy for life, isn't it? "Man, you were born for trouble, as the sparks fly upward." But unfortunately, such is the case.

I would seek unto God ( Job 5:8 ),

Now he's advising Job. "I would seek unto God."

and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night. But he saves the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty ( Job 5:8-17 ):

Now Solomon, no doubt, was familiar with Job, because in his advice to his son, he said, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be thou weary with His correction" ( Proverbs 3:11 ). And of course, Paul picked it up in the New Testament, or whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, and my assumption is that it was Paul. But whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, picks it up in the book of Hebrews and again says, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord" ( Hebrews 12:5 ). And happy is everyone who is scourged by Him. So, here in Job, Eliphaz first of all says, "Hey, don't despise God's chastening. Happy is the man whom God corrects." Don't despise the chastening of the Almighty.

For he makes sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee ( Job 5:18-19 ).

Now he really doesn't give us the seven. He speaks of the couple here. Couple things, well, three things at least. God will spare you in the time of famine.

In famine he will redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh ( Job 5:20-21 ).

And so there are four of the seven. He doesn't give us the other three. He comes back now to destruction and famine.

thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the eaRuth ( Job 5:22 ).

That's five.

For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know it for your own good ( Job 5:23-27 ).

So here's the way it is, Job. This is the way the cows eats its cabbage, you know. So listen to me. It's for your own good, man. Just get right with God.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Eliphaz’s counsel to Job 5:1-16

Job’s friend did not deny that the wicked fool (cf. Psalms 14:1) prospers temporarily (Job 5:3), but he believed that before a person dies, God will punish him for his sins. Jesus disagreed (Luke 13:4). The well-known comparison in Job 5:7 is true to an extent, but Eliphaz was again wrong in connecting this truth with the reason for Job’s suffering. People certainly do experience trouble in life as surely as sparks ascend from an open fire. [Note: For a synthesis of God’s revelation about man in the Book of Job, see Zuck, "A Theology . . .," pp. 226-31.]

"What God did in Job’s case, Eliphaz implied, was to bring suffering into his life as a wake-up call, an alarm to help him come to grips with the reality of his sin." [Note: Merrill, p. 380.]

"Most people will agree that ultimately God blesses the righteous, His own people, and judges the wicked; but that is not the question discussed in Job. It is not the ultimate but the immediate about which Job and his three friends are concerned, and not only they but also David (Psalms 37), Asaph (Psalms 73), and even the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:1-6)." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 17.]

Eliphaz’s counsel to seek God and be restored was partially good. Job would do well to appeal to God, but not for the reason Eliphaz assumed. Eliphaz also believed God was disciplining Job for sins that he had committed (Job 5:17). Job’s suffering did have a refining effect and caused him to grow personally, but that was not God’s primary purpose in allowing Satan to afflict him, as is clear from Job 1:6 to Job 2:10. Job was not the first or the last person to find it difficult to rejoice that he was experiencing the Lord’s reproofs. Eliphaz’s oblique advice to do so was ineffective.

"Eliphaz as a counselor is a supreme negative example. Great truths misapplied only hurt more those who are already hurting." [Note: Smick, "Job," p. 896.]

"You do not heal a broken heart with logic; you heal a broken heart with love." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 17.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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 Psalms 50:21.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?   2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.   3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.   4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.   5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

      A very warm dispute being begun between Job and his friends, Eliphaz here makes a fair motion to put the matter to a reference. In all debates perhaps the sooner this is done the better if the contenders cannot end it between themselves. So well assured is Eliphaz of the goodness of his own cause that he moves Job himself to choose the arbitrators (Job 5:1; Job 5:1): Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; that is, 1. "If there be any that suffer as thou sufferest. Canst thou produce an instance of any one that was really a saint that was reduced to such an extremity as thou art now reduced to? God never dealt with any that love his name as he deals with thee, and therefore surely thou art none of them." 2. "If there be any that say as thou sayest. Did ever any good man curse his day as thou dost? Or will any of the saints justify thee in these heats or passions, or say that these are the spots of God's children? Thou wilt find none of the saints that will be either thy advocates or my antagonists. To which of the saints wilt thou turn? Turn to which thou wilt, and thou wilt find they are all of my mind. I have the communis sensus fidelium--the unanimous vote of the faithful on my side; they will all subscribe to what I am going to say." Observe, (1.) Good people are called saints even in the Old Testament; and therefore I know not why we should, in common speaking (unless because we must loqui cum vulgo--speak as our neighbours), appropriate the title to those of the New Testament, and not say St. Abraham, St. Moses, and St. Isaiah, as well as St. Matthew and St. Mark; and St. David the psalmist, as well as St. David the British bishop. Aaron is expressly called the saint of the Lord. (2.) All that are themselves saints will turn to those that are so, will choose them for their friends and converse with them, will choose them for their judges and consult them. See Psalms 119:79. The saints shall judge the world,1 Corinthians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 6:2. Walk in the way of good men (Proverbs 2:20), the old way, the footsteps of the flock. Every one chooses some sort of people or other to whom he studies to recommend himself, and whose sentiments are to him the test of honour and dishonour. Now all true saints endeavour to recommend themselves to those that are such, and to stand right in their opinion. (3.) There are some truths so plain, and so universally known and believed, that one may venture to appeal to any of the saints concerning them. However there are some things about which they unhappily differ, there are many more, and more considerable, in which they are agreed; as the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the worth of the soul, the necessity of a holy life, and the like. Though they do not all live up, as they should, to their belief of these truths, yet they are all ready to bear their testimony to them.

      Now there are two things which Eliphaz here maintains, and in which he doubts not but all the saints concur with him:--

      I. That the sin of sinners directly tends to their own ruin (Job 5:2; Job 5:2): Wrath kills the foolish man, his own wrath, and therefore he is foolish for indulging it; it is a fire in his bones, in his blood, enough to put him into a fever. Envy is the rottenness of the bones, and so slays the silly one that frets himself with it. "So it is with thee," says Eliphaz, "while thou quarrellest with God thou doest thyself the greatest mischief; thy anger at thy own troubles, and thy envy at our prosperity, do but add to thy pain and misery: turn to the saints, and thou wilt find they understand their interest better." Job had told his wife she spoke as the foolish women; now Eliphaz tells him he acted as the foolish men, the silly ones. Or it may be meant thus: "If men are ruined and undone, it is always their own folly that ruins and undoes them. They kill themselves by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt, Job, thou hast done some foolish thing, by which thou hast brought thyself into this calamitous condition." Many understand it of God's wrath and jealousy. Job needed not be uneasy at the prosperity of the wicked, for the world's smiles can never shelter them from God's frowns; they are foolish and silly if they think they will. God's anger will be the death, the eternal death, of those on whom it fastens. What is hell but God's anger without mixture or period?

      II. That their prosperity is short and their destruction certain, Job 5:3-5; Job 5:3-5. He seems here to parallel Job's case with that which is commonly the case of wicked people. 1. Job had prospered for a time, seemed confirmed, and was secure in his prosperity; and it is common for foolish wicked men to do so: I have seen them taking root--planted, and, in their own and others' apprehension, fixed, and likely to continue. See Jeremiah 12:2; Psalms 37:35; Psalms 37:36. We see worldly men taking root in the earth; on earthly things they fix the standing of their hopes, and from them they draw the sap of their comforts. The outward estate may be flourishing, but the soul cannot prosper that takes root in the earth. 2. Job's prosperity was now at an end, and so has the prosperity of other wicked people quickly been. (1.) Eliphaz foresaw their ruin with an eye of faith. Those who looked only at present things blessed their habitation, and thought them happy, blessed it long, and wished themselves in their condition. But Eliphaz cursed it, suddenly cursed it, as soon as he saw them begin to take root, that is, he plainly foresaw and foretold their ruin; not that he prayed for it (I have not desired the woeful day), but he prognosticated it. He went into the sanctuary, and there understood their end and heard their doom read (Psalms 73:17; Psalms 73:18), that the prosperity of fools will destroy them,Proverbs 1:32. Those who believe the word of God can see a curse in the house of the wicked (Proverbs 3:33), though it be ever so finely and firmly built, and ever so full of all good things; and they can foresee that the curse will, in time, infallibly consume it with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof, Zechariah 5:4. (2.) He saw, at length, what he had foreseen. He was not disappointed in his expectation concerning him; the event answered it; his family was undone, and his estate ruined. In these particulars he plainly and very invidiously reflects on Job's calamities. [1.] His children were crushed, Job 5:4; Job 5:4. They thought themselves safe in their eldest brother's house, but were far from safety, for they were crushed in the gate. Perhaps the door or gate of the house was highest built, and fell heaviest upon them, and there was none to deliver them from perishing in the ruins. This is commonly understood of the destruction of the families of wicked men, by the execution of justice upon them, to oblige them to restore what they have ill-gotten. They leave it to their children; but the descent shall not bar the entry of the rightful owners, who will crush their children, and cast them by due course of law (and there shall be none to help them), or perhaps by oppression, Psalms 109:9; Psalms 109:10, c. [2.] His estate was plundered, Job 5:5; Job 5:5. Job's was so. The hungry robbers, the Sabeans and Chaldeans, ran away with it, and swallowed it; and this, says he, I have often observed in others. What has been got by spoil and rapine has been lost in the same way. The careful owner hedged it about with thorns, and then thought it safe; but the fence proved insignificant against the greediness of the spoilers (if hunger will break through the stone walls, much more through thorn hedges), and against the divine curse, which will go through the thorns and briers, and burn them together,Isaiah 27:4.