Job 4:5

But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest,.... The affliction and evil that he feared, Job 3:25; or rather the same trials and afflictions were come upon him as had been on those whom he had

But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Thou art troubled - thou hast lost thy self-command (1 Thessalonians 3:3).

Now it is come, i.e. the evil which thou didst fear, , and which was come upon those whom thou didst so comfort. Thou faintest; thou allowest in thyself what thou wouldst not bear in others. What in them was a vice, in thee, it seems, is become a virtue. Thou art wise for others, but not for thyself; a good physician to cure others, but not thyself; quick-sighted to see the faults of others, but blind to thine own. It toucheth thee; it is now come to be thine own case.

Job 4:5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.Ver. 5. But now it is come upon thee] This is a galling. But hitherto Eliphaz had commended Job; now he dasheth all, and draweth a black line over that he had spoken once. To commend a man with a but is a wound instead of a commendation; it sounds like that which is said of Naaman, 2 Kings 5:1, he was an honourable and a valiant man, but a leper; it sprinkleth black upon white, and so smutteth a man’ s good name, which is slander in a high degree. It is come upon thee] What is come? The evil thou fearedst, by thine own confession, Job 3:25-26; or now it is come to thy turn to act what thou hast taught others. And thou faintest] Thou art down on all four, most shamefully degenerating into a faithless pusillanimity and unbelieving impatience, to the scandal of the weak and scorn of the wicked. Nay, thou art not only in a maze, but in a rage, so that thy reason seems tired as much as thy strength; thou layest about thee like a Hercules furens, a man stark mad. See the word used in this sense, Proverbs 26:18 Genesis 47:13. It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled] It toucheth thee, but so tender thou art, and delicate, that a light touch disquieteth thee; like as some men’ s flesh, if but razed with a pin, rankleth straight. Invalidum omne natura querulum, saith Seneca, The weaker anything is the more full of complaint. And thou art troubled] Pitifully put to it, as if utterly undone, because touched a little, Mira vero constantia! Truly amazingly constant! But is this you that were a great teacher, that were so forward and forth putting to press others to a patient and peaceable behaviour under God’ s hand? Should not thy words be made visible by thine actions? and thy patient mind be made known to all men, since the Lord is at hand? Hypocrites can talk of duty, as if their tongues did run upon pattens; they talk by the talent, but act by the ounce, as did those Pharisees, Matthew 23:8 Romans 2:21, that shamed goodness by seeming good. Eliphaz here reproacheth Job for such a one, as both here and everywhere, he and his two companions are too hot and harsh in their censures passed upon him; which God also giveth them the telling of, Job 42:7-9.

Verse 5. But now it is come upon thee] Now it is thy turn to suffer, and give an example of the efficacy of thy own principles; but instead of this, behold, thou faintest. Either, therefore, thou didst pretend to what thou hadst not; or thou art not making a proper use of the principles which thou didst recommend to others.

5. it is come upon thee] Rather, it cometh. It is the calamity, which Eliphaz does not care further to particularize. art troubled] Or, art confounded, losest self-possession, as Job had indeed described himself as one wholly perplexed, “whose way was hid,” Job 3:23. We must beware of supposing that there is any flavour of sarcasm in the words of Eliphaz, as if he hinted that Job found it an easier thing to administer comfort to others than to take home the comfort to himself. Such a thing is wholly foreign to the mood of Eliphaz at starting, who, though he does find something to blame in Job’s state of mind, is perfectly sincere and friendly. It is equally irrelevant to the connexion. Those whom Job had consoled are to be supposed pious men under trials. Job, as a man of deep religious experience, was able to set before them such views of providence, and of the uses of adversity in God’s hand, and open up such prospects to them, that he upheld and confirmed them. The Job 4:3-5 are incomplete, and form the foreground to Job 4:6-7, which express the real point of the statement of Eliphaz.

But now it is come upon thee - That is, calamity; or, the same trial which others have had, and in which thou hast so successfully exhorted and comforted them.

5. Troubled — Rather, confounded.