Job 5:8-11 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 5:11

To set up on high those that be low . God's physical blessings are intended to subserve moral ends. He gives his rain, both the former and the latter, to raise up men from despair, to enable them to see in him a God of mercy as well as a God of vengeance; and with the same object, after withholding it from us for a while, he pours into our parched hearts the dew of his Holy Spirit. That those which mourn may be exalted to safety ; or, "raised to safety" (Lee). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:8

I would seek unto God - Our translators have omitted here the adversative particle אוּלם 'ûlâm but, yet, nevertheless, and have thus marred the connection. The meaning of Eliphaz, I take to be, “that since affliction is ordered by an intelligent Being, and does not spring out of the ground, therefore he would commit his cause to God, and look to him.” Jerome has well expressed it, Quam ob rem ego deprecabor Dominum. Some have understood this as meaning that Eliphaz himself was in the habit of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:9

Which doeth great things - The object of this is, to show why Job should commit his cause to God. The reason suggested is, that he had showed himself qualified to govern the world by the great and wonderful acts which he performed. Eliphaz, therefore, proceeds to expatiate on what God had done, and thus states the ancient belief in regard to his sovereignty over the world. This strain of reasoning continues to the end of the chapter. There is great beauty and force in it; and though we have,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:10

Who giveth rain upon the earth - In the previous verse, Eliphaz had said, in general, that God did wonderful things - things which are fitted to lead us to put our trust in him. In this and the succeeding verses, he descends to particulars, and specifies those things which show that God is worthy to be confided in. This enunciation continues to Job 5:16, and the general scope is, that the agency of God is seen everywhere; and that his providential dealings are adapted to impress man with... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:11

To set up on high - That is, who sets up on high; or God exalts those who are low. From the works of nature, Eliphaz passes to the dealings of God with people, as designed to show that he was worthy of confidence. The first proof is, that he showed himself to be the friend of the humble and the afflicted, and often exalted those who were in lowly circumstances, in a manner which evinced his direct interposition. It is to be remembered here, that Eliphaz is detailing the result of his own... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:8

Job 5:8. I would seek unto God, &c. If I were in thy condition, instead of accusing the dispensations of Divine Providence, and repining under them, I would apply to God, by a full and free confession of those sins which have drawn this sad calamity upon me, and by sincere repentance, humiliation, and submission to his will: to God, who is able to do wonders, (as he presently adds,) and who can and will restore thee to thy former happy state, if he sees that thou art penitent for thy... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:9

Job 5:9. Which doth great things and unsearchable Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection of God’s nature and works; which he does as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God, Job 5:8, because God was infinitely able either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him, or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him: and that, by a representation of God’s excellence and glory, and of that vast... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:10

Job 5:10. Who giveth rain upon the earth He begins with this ordinary work of God, in which he implies that there is something wonderful, as indeed there is, in the rise of it from the earth, in the strange hanging of that heavy body in the air, and in the distribution of it as God sees fit; and how much more in the hidden paths of Divine Providence! And sendeth waters upon the fields When the scorching heat of the sun is so strong and intense as to dry up and consume almost every herb of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:11

Job 5:11. To set up on high those that be low The consequences which proceed from the fore-mentioned happy change, from God’s sending a refreshing rain upon the earth, after a long drought are inexpressibly great and beneficial. Those who had been reduced to straits and difficulties, and, by the pressing necessities arising therefrom, had been brought very low, and obliged to submit to mean and laborious employments, are now enabled to lift up their heads with joy, and appear in a very... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 5:1-27

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... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 5:11

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:8

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:9

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:10

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 5:11

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:8

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:9

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:10

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 5:11

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 5:1-27

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