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Job 5

Eliphaz joins praise of God’s justice to a confident explanation of Job’s suffering as correction that will end in peace.

Eliphaz continues speaking to Job in his suffering, warning that resentment destroys the foolish and urging him to seek God. He describes God as the giver of rain, defender of the poor, and judge of human schemes. Then he presents Job’s pain as divine correction and promises protection, a secure household, and a long life. These are Eliphaz’s claims about Job’s situation; the speech supplies no evidence that Job’s losses resulted from wrongdoing.

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1“Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
3I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
5whose harvest the hungry eat up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.
6For affliction doesn’t come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
7but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
8“But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
9who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
10who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;
11so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.
12He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so that their hands can’t perform their enterprise.
13He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
14They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
15But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
17“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18For he wounds and binds up. He injures and his hands make whole.
19He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.
20In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
21You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither will you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22You will laugh at destruction and famine, neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
23For you will be allied with the stones of the field. The animals of the field will be at peace with you.
24You will know that your tent is in peace. You will visit your fold, and will miss nothing.
25You will know also that your offspring will be great, your offspring as the grass of the earth.
26You will come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.
27Behold, we have researched it. It is so. Hear it, and know it for your good.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Job 5:9God’s unfathomable works ground Eliphaz’s appeal to seek him, though Eliphaz speaks with confidence about the cause of Job’s pain.
Job 5:12Eliphaz describes God’s rule over human schemes as part of his defense of divine justice.
Job 5:19The rising count introduces Eliphaz’s sweeping assurances of rescue, which he applies to Job without establishing the cause of his suffering.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm shares this speech’s praise of God’s wonders, his care for the poor, and his defeat of human schemes. 1 Corinthians quotes the statement about God catching the wise in their craftiness, using it in a discussion of human wisdom and boasting.

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After reading the whole chapter

Where does Eliphaz move from describing God’s works to claiming he understands Job’s suffering?

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Which words in Eliphaz’s speech might comfort a suffering person, and which might burden them?

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Questions people ask about Job 5

Who is speaking in Job 5?

Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends, is continuing his address to Job. He urges Job to seek God and accept divine correction, then predicts safety and prosperity. His speech belongs to the book’s debate about suffering. Its claims about Job must be distinguished from direct declarations by God.

What does Job 5:19 mean by six troubles and seven?

The movement from six to seven is a poetic way of describing repeated, comprehensive rescue. Eliphaz follows it with examples such as famine and war, then promises household peace and long life. The numbers do not set a limit on troubles, and Eliphaz’s assurance should not become a universal guarantee against harm.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).