Job 5:8-16

4. My advicea) Return to God who rewards the righteous. (Job 5:8-16)

TEXT 5:8-16

8 But as for me, I would seek unto God,

And unto God would I commit my cause;

9 Who doeth great things and unsearchable,

Marvellous things without number:

10 Who giveth rain upon the earth,

And sendeth waters upon the fields;

11 So that he setteth up on high those that are low,

And those that mourn are exalted to safety.

12 He frustrateth 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 cunning is carried headlong.

14 They meet with darkness in the day-time,

And grope at noonday as in the night.

15 But he saveth from the sword of their mouth,

Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.

16 So the poor hath hope,

And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

COMMENT 5:8-16

Job 5:8Job is not prepared to agree that his misfortunes are God's judgments on his sins. The strong Hebrew adversative But contrasts what is being said with what precedes. In verse one, Eliphaz had warned Job against appealing to angels for help. He should go directly to God. Seeking God (dams) is a vital theme in the prophetsAmos 5:4-6. The two lines contain two different words for Godel and elohim (see parallel Shaddai, el and eloah, Job 5:17; Job 6:4; Job 8:3; Job 13:3; Job 22:2-3; Job 27:10; and Job 31:2). Elohim is rare in the Dialogue (here and Job 28:23 and once in the Elihu speeches in Job 34:9).

Job 5:9Repeated by Job in Job 9:10 (Psalms 136:4; Psalms 145:3; and Eccl. 43:32), Eliphaz reveals a very perceptive mind but often draws erroneous conclusions from his own analysis.

Job 5:10God is lord of nature. He sends rain upon the fields, which is an example of God's power and benevolence (Psalms 65:10; Psalms 68:10; Psalms 104:13). He who makes the barren places fruitful can also change suffering into joy. To his power in nature corresponds His power among men.[73]

[73] F. Delitzsch, Job, Vol. I, Eerdmans, p. 99.

Job 5:11Job 5:11-16 are echoed in the magnificatLuke 1:51-53. The high, steep almost inaccessible place is God's reward to the lowly. Mourners wear dirty black clothes or have dirty bodies, because they sprinkle ashes on their heads as a sign of grief. These very mourners shall be set on high (word rendered stronghold in Psalms 9:9 is from this root) in prosperity.

Job 5:12God frustrates the malicious devices of the crafty who scheme to gain from the poor and innocent (Micah 3:1-3; Micah 7:3; Isaiah 32:7). The translation cannot perform their enterprise is a technical term employed in Wisdom Literature, two exceptions Isaiah 28:29 and Micah 6:9, found only in Job and Proverbs. It means true wisdom or true prosperity. Those who trust God are truly pious.

Job 5:13This verse is the only directly quoted Jobian text in the New Testament1 Corinthians 3:19 (cf. allusion to Job 41:11 in Romans 11:35). Theologically, the same point is at issue in both Job and Paul. The counsel of the cunning, or tortuous men who pursue any means to attain their ends. The word translated cunning connotes success or victory without regard to moral quality. This type of person is brought to a quick end.[74]

[74] Driver & Gray, Job, ICC, p. 54; Pope, Job, p. 43.

Job 5:14The image of total confusion which ensnares the crafty (Deuteronomy 28:29; Isaiah 19:14; and Isaiah 59:10). They are like blind people groping at mid-day.

Job 5:15God frustrates the designs of the crafty, the poor He savesfrom their craftiness. The major problem in this text is whether deliverance is from the mouth or the sword.[75] The technical issue is that poetic parallel demands a companion word to the poor, which our present text lacks. What does all this mean to Job?

[75] Dhorme, Job, p. 63, for the technical discussion. His solution is to be preferred over the other suggestions, as it involves no change of the Hebrew text.

Job 5:16The social customs of the Near East are clearly set before us. Men of power and wealth aggrandize themselves at the expense of the poor and defenseless. But there is hope in the time of abandonmentJob 8:13; 17:18; Job 14:7; Jeremiah 31:17; Ezekiel 37:11; Proverbs 19:18; Ruth 1:2; and Lamentations 3:29. This verse sums up the results of God's intervention in human affairs according to Eliphaz's theological assumptionsthat justice always triumphs (Psalms 107:42; Isaiah 52:15).