Job 4:11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 4:7-11

Eliphaz here advances another argument to prove Job a hypocrite, and will have not only his impatience under his afflictions to be evidence against him but even his afflictions themselves, being so very great and extraordinary, and there being no prospect at all of his deliverance out of them. To strengthen his argument he here lays down these two principles, which seem plausible enough:? I. That good men were never thus ruined. For the proof of this he appeals to Job's own observation (Job... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 4:11

The old lion perisheth for lack of prey ,.... Or rather "the stout" and "strong lion" F5 ליש "leo major", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Schmidt; "leo strenuns et fortis", Michaelis; "robustior leo", Schultens. , that is most able to take the prey, and most skilful at it, yet such shall perish for want of it; not so much for want of finding it, or of power to seize it, as of keeping it when got, it being taken away from him; signifying, that God oftentimes in his providence takes away... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 4:11

The old lion perisheth - In this and the preceding verse the word lion occurs five times; and in the original the words are all different: - אריה aryeh , from ארה arah , to tear off. שחל shachal , which as it appears to signify black or dark, may mean the black lion, which is said to be found in Ethiopia and India. כפיר kephir , a young lion, from כפר caphar , to cover, because he is said to hide himself in order to surprise his prey, which the old one does not. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 4:1-11

Eliphaz to Job: the opening of the second controversy: 1. The relation of suffering to sin. I. A COURTEOUS EXORDIUM . Eliphaz, the oldest and wisest of the friends, adopts an apologetic strain in replying to Job's imprecation, representing the task assumed by him as: 1 . Painful to Job ; which it certainly was. In circumstances even the most favourable, it requires no little grace to receive admonition with equanimity; not to speak of counting it a kindness and esteeming it an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 4:1-11

Eliphaz and Job: forgotten truths called to mind. However misapplied to his particular case may have been the speeches of Job's friends, there can be no dispute concerning the purity and the sublimity of the great truths for which they here appear as spokesmen. If not well directed to Job, they may be well directed to us. Each of the friends represents a certain aspect of the truths which relate man to God. In the speech of Eliphaz the main position taken is that man, in his ignorance and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 4:1-21

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 4:7-11

The consequences of evil-doing. The New Testament teaching is, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It is precisely as the present verses. "They that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." So does the testimony of the ages warn evil-doers. This rule is inevitable; it is just; it is natural; it is admonitory. I. THIS ORDER IS INEVITABLE . He who has ordained the laws of nature, fixed, calm, indestructible, has also ordained that the doer of evil shall... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 4:11

The old lion perisheth for lack of prey . The human counterpart of the "old lion" is the oppressor whose strength and cunning begin to fail him, who can no longer carry things with a high hand, enforce his will on men by bluster and throats, or even set traps for them so skilfully that they blindly walk into them. Political charlatans whose role is played out, bullies whose nerve is beginning to fail, cardsharpers whose manual dexterity has de-sorted them, come under this category. And the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 4:11

The old lion - The word used here, לישׁ layı̂sh, denotes a lion, “so called,” says Gesenius,” from his strength and bravery,” or, according to Urnbreit, the lion in the strength of his old ago; see an examination of the word in Bochart, Hieroz. P. i. Lib. iii. c. 1, p. 720.Perisheth for lack of prey - Not withstanding his strength and power. That is, such a thing sometimes occurs. Eliphaz could not maintain that it always happened. The meaning seems to be, that as the strength of the lion was... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 4:11

Job 4:11. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey Dares not venture out of his den in search of prey, amidst the roar of thunder, the blaze of lightning, and the violence of the storm, that blast of God, mentioned in the preceding verse. And the young lion’s whelps are scattered abroad Are so affrighted with the lightning and thunder, that, being separated, they flee different ways, and cannot find the path which leads to the den of the lioness, their dam. Thus do the divine judgments... read more

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