Глава 5

Second half of Eliphaz's speech. 1–7. Job's stubbornness and continued grumbling on his part could bring divine wrath upon him. 8–27. Job must humble himself before God, under this condition his fate will change - he will be rewarded. Job 5:1. Call if there is someone who answers you. And which of the saints will you turn to? “Saints”, i.e. angels (Job 15.15; Ps 88.7–8; Dan 8.13) are unclean in the sight of God (Job 4.18); therefore, they cannot admit the thought of the sinlessness of a creature lower in comparison with themselves - man. Therefore, not one of them will vouch for him, Job, for his innocence and undeservedness of punishment. Job has no defenders either among people (Job 4.7–9) or among the inhabitants of heaven. Job 5:2. Thus, anger kills a fool, and irritability destroys a foolish person. If, despite this, he grumbles and shows impatience, then he will suffer the fate of a fool who invites divine wrath upon himself with his murmuring (cf. Eccl. 10.4). The further (v. 8) description of the “fool” with the same features as the wicked (Ps 36.35–36) makes it clear that by fool Eliphaz means a sinner. Job 5:3. I saw how the fool took root, and immediately I cursed his house. Examples of the death of the wicked are known to Eliphaz. Having repeatedly observed it, he was able to predict the misfortune awaiting the sinner (“cursed his day”) even at a time when there were no obvious signs of disaster on his face - when “the sinner was taking root” (cf. Ps 37.35–36), was in a time of strength and power. Job 5:4. His children are far from happy, they will be beaten at the gate, and there will be no intercessor. Job 5:5. The hungry will eat his harvest and take it from behind the thorns, and the thirsty will devour his wealth. Children and property serve as a manifestation of his prosperity and happiness (Job 21.8 etc.). But over time, the former are punished by representatives of justice ("they will beat at the gate" - Gen. 34.20; Deut. 22.24; Proverbs 22.22; Am 5.10), the latter is plundered: the harvest, protected from plunder by a hedge of thorns ("from behind the thorns he will take it"), is used by the poor and the hungry (cf. Ps. 36.25), and with all property - “thirst”, i.e., these or other robbers (Job 18.19). Job 5:6. So, grief does not come from the dust, and trouble does not grow from the earth; Job 5:7. but man is born into suffering, like sparks to rush upward. The cases of the death of a sinner observed by Eliphaz give him the right to establish the general position that the cause of suffering and disaster is not outside a person, but in himself. His nature is such (“man is born to suffer”) that he commits a crime, which is inevitably followed by retribution. This property is as inherent in a person as a spark - the property of rising upward (Hebrew "reshef" is used and translated in different meanings: in Ps 77.48 - the word "lightning", in Ps 75.4 - "arrows"; "reshef". Deut 32.24 and Hab 3.5 LXX, Onkelos, Aquila and Symmachus are conveyed by the word "bird". The last meaning learn this expression from the Greek and Slavic reading of this verse: “chicks of the soup”, i.e. “kite”). Job 5:8. But I would turn to God, I would commit my work to God, If a tendency to sin is rooted in human nature, then it is not particularly difficult for Job to admit his sinfulness before God and ask Him for forgiveness. So the reasoning of Art. 6–7. prepare position 8: instead of grumbling, Job must humble himself and turn to God. Job 5:9. Who does great and unsearchable things, marvelous without number, The immediate motivation for such conversion, ensuring its success, is the thought, on the one hand, of the goodness and mercy of God towards the unfortunate, and on the other, of the punishments with which the Lord strikes all the proud who resist Him. Job 5:10. gives rain on the face of the earth and sends water on the face of the fields; Job 5:11. He places the humiliated on high, and those who mourn are lifted up to salvation. The Lord, who irrigates the earth with water (Ps 103:10–13, 146:8; Jer 14.22) and turns drought-stricken areas into fertile ones (cf. Ps 106:35–36), turns human suffering and sorrow into joy (1 Sam 2.7–8). Job 5:12. He destroys the plans of the treacherous, and their hands do not complete the enterprise. Job 5:13. He ensnares the wise in their own cunning, and the advice of the cunning becomes futile: Job 5:14. During the day they encounter darkness and at noon they grope as if at night. God is the avenger of the proud, who trust in their own strength. He turns their intentions and enterprises into nothing, so that “their hands do not complete the enterprise,” literally from Hebrew: “they will not do anything lasting.” (The Hebrew word "tushiya", translated in the present case by the expression "enterprise", is translated differently in three other places in the book of Job: in Job 6.13 - "support", in Job 11.6 - "one should bear", in Job 12.16 - "wisdom". Derived by exegetes from the Arabic verb "yasa" - "to stand firmly, to be constant", "tushiya" means: "firmness, constancy, lasting happiness, success"). The wicked perish from their own wickedness (vv. 12–13; cf. 2 Kings 17.1–7, 14, 23; 1 Cor. 3.20), their successfully begun deeds subsequently encounter irremovable obstacles, leading to death (v. 14; cf. Deut. 28.29; Ps. 34.5; Jer. 23.12). Job 5:15. He saves the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. Job 5:16. And there is hope for the unfortunate, and unrighteousness shuts its mouth. The Lord is the protector of the oppressed and the poor (v. 15; cf. Ps 56.5, 63.4), saving them from harm caused to them by strong word and deed (cf. Ps 107.42). Job 5:17–27. Applying Thoughts 9-16 to Job. Job 5:17. Blessed is the man whom God admonishes, and therefore do not reject the punishment of the Almighty, Job 5:18. for He inflicts the wounds and binds them Himself; He strikes, and His hands heal. From the connection of the second half of Art. 17 from the first it is clear that God admonishes man with punishments. The admonition consists in the fact that the one being punished does not become irritated, like a fool (v. 2), but comes to the consciousness of his sinfulness and humbles himself before God. The result of this is bliss, the happiness of the admonished. God lifts up and saves the humble; A similar fate awaits those who come to their senses. God, who inflicted wounds on him, will Himself heal them (v. 18 cf. Deut. 32.39; Lamentations 3.32; Hos. 6.1). Bearing in mind the saving consequences of admonition, Job should not resist the disasters that befell him (Prov. 3.11; Heb. 12.5), grumble and be irritated, as he had done until now. Job 5:19. In six troubles he will save you, and in the seventh evil will not touch you. If Job follows the advice of Eliphaz, then the Lord will save him from disasters an unlimited number of times (“six-seven” - Proverbs 6.16; Proverbs 30.15, 18). Job 5:20. In time of famine he will deliver you from death, and in war from the hand of the sword. Job 5:21. You will protect yourself from the scourge of the tongue and will not be afraid of devastation when it comes. Job 5:22. You will laugh at desolation and hunger and will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth, Job 5:23. For you have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field are at peace with you. The Lord will deliver him from death caused by hunger and sword; from the harm caused by the tongue of slanderers (21 v. cf. 15–16; Ps 57:5, 63:4; Sir 28.20, 51.3); from the hostile relations of inanimate and animate nature: stones will not harm the fertility of his fields (2 Kings 3.19; Isaiah 5.2), but wild animals will not harm him and his flocks (Lev. 26.22; Deut. 32.24; 1 Kings 20.36; 2 Kings 2.24; Ezekiel 5.17, 14.21; OS 2.20). Job 5:24–26. Job will be rewarded with benefits of a positive nature. Job 5:24. And you will know that your tent is safe, and you will look after your house, and you will not sin. Not disturbed by people or external nature, he will enjoy peace: “your tent is safe” and abundance in everything: “you will look after your house and will not sin”, more precisely, “you will not find any lack,” as Heb. “lotekheta”, translated by the expression “you will not sin”, comes from the verb “khata” - “to have a deficiency”, “to miss” (Judges 10.16; Proverbs 19.2). Job 5:25. And you will see that your seed is numerous, and your branches are like grass on the earth. Job 5:26. You will enter the tomb at maturity, just as sheaves of wheat are laid down in due time. In return for his dead children, he will have offspring as numerous as grass (Ps. 143.12), and he himself will die in old age, satiated with days. You might be interested in: