Job 5:1

Third double strophe APPLICATION OF THE VISION, Job 5:1-7. First strophe The folly of murmuring, Job 5:1-5.

1. If there be any Literally, Is there he? The Septuagint renders the verse, “But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels.”

The saints קדשׁים , ( the holy.) As this term is employed both of good men and good angels, (Deuteronomy 33:2-3; Psalms 34:9, etc.,) its meaning must be determined by the context. The idea of Eliphaz is, that Job, in his present mood, need expect no sympathy or help from any quarter. The vision just cited has established the inferiority of all beings in the sight of God, and, as declared in the afflictions of Job, the infinite wisdom of his will. After God has spoken there is none other holy man or angel who will either deign or dare to make reply to his (Job’s) complaints. To reply, even, might foster the spirit of rebellion. Murmuring belongs to man, not to the angels. That there can be no reference, as the Romanists teach, to any intercession of angels, is evident from the comparatively low estimate in which the vision had held them. See Job 5:8; Job 4:18. Nor is it a challenge to Job, as Grotius and others have held, to produce a similar revelation in his own favour. Nor is there any ground for the suggestion of Schultens, that “call” and “answer” are forensic terms, thus versified by Scott:

“Be now complainant, the defendant see;

Which angel will espouse thy daring plea?