Job 5

5:1 The angels (literally the holy ones), probably a reference back to 4:18, are called “holy ones” because of their proximity to God, not because they were morally perfect (15:15; Dan 4:14; 8:13; Zech 14:5).

5:4 The court (literally the gate) was the site of legal and commercial deliberations in which Job had participated (29:7; see Deut 21:19-21; Ruth 4:1-11).

5:8 To go to God meant lodging a formal appeal with God for assistance, counsel, or vindication, sometimes by way of repentance (Amos 5:4, 6) and possibly through a prophetic oracle (Gen 25:22; 1 Sam 9:9; 1 Kgs 22:8). • Job wanted to present his case to God (Job 13:3, 15, 18; 23:3-8), and later he attempted to do so (29:1–31:40).

5:9-16 Eliphaz’s doxology praised God as the wonder-working Creator and Sustainer of the universe (5:9-10) and as the righteous Judge who brings down the powerful and lifts up the poor (5:11-16).5:9-10 Job’s region depended upon rain rather than irrigation (see 36:27-28).

5:13 God traps the wise in the cleverness of their words (Prov 12:13). Paul alluded to this verse in his rejection of worldly wisdom (1 Cor 1:19).

5:17 the discipline of the Almighty: See Deut 8:5; Prov 3:11-12; Rev 3:19.

5:19-26 six disasters . . . even in the seventh: This wisdom formula reflects a sense of completeness (cp. Prov 30:15-31). • This list reflects Mosaic covenant blessings and curses (Lev 26; Deut 28). Eliphaz thought that people in right relationship with God would be free from famine (Job 5:20, 22; see Lev 26:4-5, 10; Deut 28:4-6, 8, 11-12), war (i.e., death, Job 5:20) and the destruction it causes (5:21, 22; see Lev 26:6-8; Deut 28:7, 48), and slander. They will even be at peace with wild animals (Job 5:23; see Lev 26:6) and the stones of the field. This peace might indicate fertile rather than stony fields (2 Kgs 3:19, 25; Matt 13:5), or it might symbolize wider harmony with the natural world (see Ps 91:11-12).

5:24 nothing will be missing: See Deut 28:11-12; cp. Job 1:6-19.

5:25 descendants . . . as plentiful as grass: See Gen 22:17; Lev 26:9; Deut 28:4, 11-12.