Job 5:24

Job THE PEACEABLE FRUITS OF SORROWS RIGHTLY BORNEJob 5:17 - Job 5:27 . The close of the Book of Job shows that his friends’ speeches were defective, and in part erroneous. They all proceeded on the assumption that suffering was the fruit of sin-a principle which, though true in general, is not to be unconditionally applied to specific cases. They all forgot that good men might be exposed to it, not as punishment, nor even as correction, but as trial, to ‘know what was in their hearts.’ Eliphaz is the best of the three friends, and his speeches embody much permanent truth, and rise, as in this passage, to a high level of literary and artistic beauty. There are few lovelier passages in Scripture than this glowing description of the prosperity of the man who accepts God’s chastisements; and, on the whole, the picture is true. But the underlying belief in the uniform coincidence of inward goodness and outward good needs to be modified by the deeper teaching of the New Testament before it can be regarded as covering all the facts of life. Eliphaz is gathering up, in our passage, the threads of his speech. He bases upon all that he has been saying the exhortation to Job to be thankful for his sorrows. With a grand paradox, he declares the man who is afflicted to be happy. And therein he strikes an eternally true note. It is good to be made to drink a cup of sorrow. Flesh calls pain evil, but spirit knows it to be good.

The list of our blessings is not only written in bright inks, but many are inscribed in black. And the reason why the sad heart should be a happy heart is because, as Eliphaz believed, sadness is God’s fatherly correction, intended to better the subject of it. ‘Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,’ says the Epistle to the Hebrews, in full accord with Eliphaz. But his well-meant and true words flew wide of their mark, for two reasons. They were chillingly didactic, and it is vinegar upon nitre to stand over an agonised soul and preach platitudes in an unsympathetic voice. And they assumed unusual sin in Job as the explanation of his unparalleled pains, while the prologue tells us that his sufferings were not fruits of his sin, but trials of his righteousness. He was horrified at Job’s words, which seemed to him full of rebellion and irreverence; and he made no allowance for the wild cries of an agonised heart when he solemnly warned the sufferer against ‘despising’ God’s chastening. A more sympathetic ear would have detected the accent of faith in the groans. The collocation, in Job 5:18 , of making sore and binding up, does not merely express sequence, but also purpose. The wounding is in order to healing. The wounds are merciful surgery; and their intention is health, like the cuts that lay open an ulcer, or the scratches for vaccination.

(24) Sin. —The word rendered “sin” literally means also to miss the mark, as in Judges 20:16 , and that is probably its meaning here: Thou shalt visit thy dwelling-place, and miss nothing, since one does not see very clearly why the promise of not sinning is connected with visiting the habitation or fold.

Job 5:24 . And thou shalt know — By certain and constant experience; that thy tabernacle shall be in peace — That is, thy habitation, as it follows, including also the inhabitants, children or friends, and servants. They shall enjoy great safety from all their enemies, and concord among themselves, and prosperity in all their concerns; all which things are comprehended under the sweet name of peace. And thou shalt visit thy habitation — Shalt order and manage thy family, and all thy domestic and worldly affairs, with care and diligence; and shalt not sin — Either by unrighteousness in thy dealings, with thy family or others; or by neglecting God and his service in thy family, or by conniving at any sin in thy domestics, which thou canst hinder. But because Job’s duty does not seem to be the subject of Eliphaz’s discourse here, but rather his privilege, and that in outward and worldly things, the clause is probably better rendered thus: And thou shalt not err, or miscarry, or miss thy way. Thou shalt not be disappointed of thy hopes, or blasted in thy endeavours, but shalt succeed in them. “When thou takest an account of thine estate,” says Bishop Patrick, “all things shall answer thine expectation.”

24 . Job 5:19-23 describe the immunity which Job himself, restored to peace with God, would enjoy from every evil, the evils specified being those which God in His judgments brings upon men or a people, cf. Ezekiel 5:17 ; Ezekiel 14:21 ; this verse describes the safety and peace of his homestead, or rather the perfect confidence which he would feel in regard to his possessions,— thou shalt know that thy tent is in safety. tabernacle shall be in peace ] Or, tent (i. e. dwelling) is in peace. visit thy habitation ] Or, perhaps, muster, look over , thy homestead; the reference is to his cattle and possessions. shalt not sin ] lit. shalt not miss or fail ; that is, probably, he shall find that his actual possessions correspond to what he expected. The general meaning is, thou shalt miss nothing.