In this chapter Eliphaz goes on to prove, and further confirm and establish, what he had before asserted, that not good men, but wicked men only, are afflicted of God, at least greatly, so as to have their substance wholly destroyed and perish, which was Job’s case; and this partly from the case,…

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee That is, call upon God, which, if seriously, and not ironically spoken, was good advice; God is to be called upon, and especially in times of trouble; and invocation is to be made in faith, in sincerity, and with fervency, and to be accompanied with…

For wrath killeth the foolish man Not one that is an idiot, and destitute of common sense, and has no understanding in things natural and civil; but a wicked man, who has no knowledge of things divine and spiritual, and so foolish; which is the character of every natural man, and of God’s people…

I have seen the foolish taking root Such foolish wicked men as before described; those Eliphaz had observed to prosper in the world, and increase in riches, and even to have attained to a seeming stability and firmness, as if they would ever continue in such happy circumstances, see (Ps. 37:35, Ps.

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…

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up This is to be understood of the foolish rich man before described, as taking root and flourishing; though he sows, and reaps and gathers in his harvest, and fancies he has goods laid up for many years, to be enjoyed by him, yet he is taken away by death, and…

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust Or rather, “for” or “indeed” [[23]], this being a reason showing that wicked men are justly afflicted and punished; seeing their afflictions come not from the creatures, though they may be instruments, but from God for the sins of men: the word for…

Yet man is born unto trouble Or but [[1]], after the negative follows the positive part of the assertion; before we have what is denied as the cause of affliction, here what it is affirmed to be, or what it is to be ascribed unto, even to the appointment of God for sin: to be born to it is to be…

I would seek unto God Or “truly” [[4]], “certainly, doubtless, I do seek unto God”, verily I do so; for so the words are introduced in the original text, and express what Eliphaz had done when under afflictions himself; for he was not without them, though he had not them to such a degree as Job…

Which doeth great things The things of creation are great things, the making of the heavens and the earth, and all therein, by the word of the Almighty, out of nothing, and which is a display of great power, wisdom, and goodness; the things of Providence are great things, which God is always doing;…

Who giveth rain upon the earth Not upon the land of Israel only, as the Targum and Jarchi, see ; but upon the whole earth; this is particularly mentioned as being of God, and which none of the vanities of the Gentiles can give; and it is a free gift of his, which tarries not for the desert of men,…

To set up on high those that be low Not the low plants, which, through rain, are made to run up on high, though there is a truth in that; but husbandmen and gardeners, and such like persons, in low circumstances, who, by means of showers of rain, which make their gardens, fields, and lands…

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty Or, “it disappointeth”; that is, the rain, as some Jewish commentators [[11]] interpret it, and the whole paragraph to this sense; the rain coming upon the earth makes it fruitful, and causes it to produce a plentiful crop, whereby the schemes of crafty…

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness As beasts are taken in a pit, or birds in a snare or net, or with birdlime; so these crafty men, who are wise in their own opinion, and really so in things natural, civil, and worldly, or however, to do evil are entangled and taken in their own schemes;…

They meet with darkness in the daytime Which may denote their infatuation in things the most plain and clear, and which are obvious to everyone’s view, even to such as are of much meaner capacities the themselves; and so it sometimes is, that the greatest politicians, men of the greatest sagacity…

But he saveth the poor Who are so in a literal sense, and whom the Lord saves with a temporal salvation; these being the butt of the crafty, wise, and cunning, on whom their eyes are, for whom they lay snares, and lie in wait to draw them in; and these being helpless and without friends, God takes…

So the poor hath hope Who observing this and that and the other poor man crying to the Lord and saved, hopes that he may be saved by him also; and having had experience of salvation out of one trouble or more, even out of six troubles, as in , entertains a comfortable hope he shall be saved out of…

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth Reproves, rebukes, convinces by his word, which is profitable for correction of men’s minds and manners; and by his messengers, the prophets and ministers, who are sent as reprovers of the people, and to rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in…

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up Or, “though he maketh sore, yet he bindeth up” [[3]]; as a surgeon, who makes a wound the sorer by probing and opening it, to let out the matter and make way for his medicine, and then lays on the plaster, and binds it up: so God causes grief and puts his people…

He shall deliver thee in six troubles Behaving as before directed; seeking unto God, committing his cause and case to him, and leaving it with him; and not despising the chastening of the Lord, but receiving and bearing it with reverence, patience, and submission: and then the sense is, that God…

In famine he shall redeem thee from death In a time of extreme want of provisions, God so cares for his own dear people, that they shall not be starved to death by the famine; so in the famine in Egypt, which the Targum takes notice of, in the times of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and the…

Thou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue Of Satan, as Jarchi, the accuser of the brethren; or rather from the evil tongue of wicked men, their slanders, calumnies, and reproaches; the tongue is a small weapon, but it is a cutting one; it is like a scourge or whip, with which wicked men…

At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh Not deride and despise them, and make a jest of them; for good men have a reverence and awe of the righteous judgments of God upon them, when they are in the world, ; but the sense is, that such shall reckon themselves safe and secure amidst such…

For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field So as to receive no hurt from them, by walking among them, and even barefoot, which was usual in the eastern countries, see ; or by their being in the field, so as to hinder the increase of them; but on the contrary, even from such fields as…

And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace, &c.] Not a place of religious worship, though the Targum renders it an house of doctrine or instruction; for we read not of any such but the tabernacle of Moses, erected in the wilderness, and which was indeed about, or little after, the…

Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great Not his seed sown in the earth, and the increase of that, but his children, as the next clause explains it, as Bar Tzemach well observes; and designs either their greatness in worldly things, in wealth and riches, in honour and dignity, in power and…

Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age Or, “go into thy grave” [[13]], which is represented as a house to enter into and dwell in; and so the wise man calls it man’s long home, and Job his house, and which is appointed for all living, ; for all men must die, and so come to the grave, good men…

Lo this, we have searched it This is the concluding part of Eliphaz’s first oration or speech to Job; and in order to engage his attention to it, observes, that what he had said was not his own single opinion, but the sentiment of the rest of his friends; and that it was the result of laborious and…