Job 5:1

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee,.... That is, call upon God, which, if seriously, and not ironically spoken, was good advice; God is to be called upon, and especially in times of

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? If there be any ... - rather, 'Call now!

JOB CHAPTER 5 Wrath foolish: the wicked miserable, . Evil cometh not by chance; it is natural to our condition, ,7. This is our motive to prayer and trust in God, ; whose unsearchable power and wisdom are against the high and crafty, for the relief of the poor, . Their happiness whom God correcteth, and God’ s gracious care of such, . Call now, i.e. invite, or make proclamation, as this word is oft used, as 3:12 7:2. Call them all as it were by their names; consult the whole catalogue of them all, which thou didst ever know or hear of. If there be any, to wit, of the saints, as it follows. That will answer thee, i.e. comply with thee, answer thy desires or expectations; try if there be any one saint that will defend or allow thee in these bold expostulations with God; or, as it is in the Hebrew, if there be any that doth answer thee, i.e. whose opinion or disposition and carriage is answerable or like to thine. So answering is sometimes used, as . Thou wilt find many fools or wicked men, as it follows, , to answer or imitate thee in their speeches and carriages, but not one of the saints like thee; which deserves thy serious consideration, and gives thee just cause to question thine integrity. The saints; either, 1. The angels, who are sometimes called saints, as , because they are eminently and perfectly holy; or rather, 2. Holy men, as appears both from the word, which most commonly is so used, and from the opposition of the foolish man to these, , and because the example of men was more proper and effectual for Job’ s conviction than of angels. Wilt thou turn, or look? look about thee, view them all, and see if thou canst find one like thee.

Job 5:1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?Ver. 1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee] The beginning of this chapter is hard, saith Mercer, till you come to the seventh or eighth verses, and then all is plain and easy. That which Eliphaz driveth at here is, to drive Job out of all good conceit of his own condition, and to persuade him that never any good man suffered such hard and heavy things as he, or, at least, suffered them so untowardly and impatiently. Call, I pray thee, saith he, call over the roll, look into the records of former saints, and see if thou canst find among them all such another knotty piece as thyself, that needed so much hewing, and made such a deal of complaining. Was there ever the like heard of? Call now, if there be any one answerable to thee. Broughton rendereth it, Call now, if there be any one that will defend thee, that is, be thy patron or advocate, in word, or in the example of their lives. And to which of the saints wilt thou turn?] q.d. Thou art alone, neither mayest thou hope to meet with thy match in the matter or manner of thine afflictions, unless it be among hypocrites and graceless persons, as Job 5:2. The Septuagint read it, To which of the angels wilt thou look? and the Popish commentators think they have here an unanswerable ground for their doctrine of invocation of saints and angels. But did not the buzzards take notice of an irony here, and that Eliphaz assureth Job that it would be in vain for him to call to any saint? &c. Is it not plain, or probable, at least, that he here meaneth the saints living in this world? or if not, yet is Gregory the Great of no authority with them, who acknowledgeth none other to be called upon, here meant, but God; and that the saints are mentioned to Job in derision, as if it were a ridiculous thing to call to them departed out of this life, who cannot hear us.

V. (1) Call now.—The speaker now becomes more personal and direct in his tone and bearing. He insinuates that Job is “unwise” and “silly,” and promises swift destruction for all such.

CHAPTER V Eliphaz proceeds to show that the wicked are always punished by the justice of God, though they may appear to flourish for a time, 1-8; extols the providence of God, by which the counsels of the wicked are brought to naught, and the poor fed and supported, 9-16; shows the blessedness of being corrected by God, in the excellent fruits that result from it; and exhorts Job to patience and submission, with the promise of all secular prosperity, and a happy death in a mature and comfortable old age, 17-27. NOTES ON CHAP. V Verse 1. Call now, if there be any] This appears to be a strong irony. From whom among those whose foundations are in the dust, and who are crushed before the moth, canst thou expect succour? To which of the saints wilt thou turn?] To whom among the holy ones, (קדשים kedoshim,) or among those who are equally dependent on Divine support with thyself, and can do no good but as influenced and directed by God, canst thou turn for help? Neither angel nor saint can help any man unless sent especially from God; and all prayers to them must be foolish and absurd, not to say impious. Can the channel afford me water, if the fountain cease to emit it?

Ch. Job 5:1-7. Having laid this broad ground, Eliphaz proceeds to apply the principle to Job.

Call now - The expressions used here, as Noyes has well observed, seem to be derived from the law, where the word “call” denotes the language of the complainant, and answer that of the defendant.

Third double strophe — 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?