Job 5:2

For wrath killeth the foolish man,.... Not one that is an idiot, and destitute of common sense, and has no understanding in things natural and civil; but a wicked man, who has no knowledge of things

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. For - so far are you from profiting by your complaints. you only destroy yourself by justifying yourself and impatiently complaining against God.

Either, 1. The wrath of God; or rather, 2. A man’ s own wrath, fretting, and impatience, and indignation; which kills men, partly, naturally, as it preys upon a man’ s spirit, and wasteth him inwardly, and so hastens his death, of which see 17:22; partly, morally, as it prompts him to those rash, and furious, and wicked actions which may procure his death; and partly, meritoriously, as it provoketh God to cut him off, and to bring upon him those further and severe strokes which he mentions in the following words. The foolish man; either, 1. The rash and inconsiderate man, who doth not ponder things impartially; but, like a man mad, rageth against God, and torments himself and all that hear him. Or, 2. The ungodly man, who is frequently called a fool in Scripture language, and who is here opposed to the saints, . Envy: he taxeth Job, who spoke with great envy at those that were never born, or were in their graves, ,12, &c. The silly one; properly, the man who, for want of true wisdom, is soon deceived with false opinions, and appearances, and present things; which is thy case, O Job. The sense of the verse may be this, I perceive, O Job, that thou art full of envy at wicked men, who at present are, or seem to be, in a happier condition than thou; and of wrath against God, who denies thee that mercy, and loads thee with afflictions; and this shows thee to be a foolish and weak man. For those men, notwithstanding their present prosperity, are doomed to great and certain misery, as it here follows. And so this verse coheres with the following as well as the foregoing verses.

Job 5:2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.Ver. 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man] Such as thou art, Job; hot and hasty, pettish and passionate, fretting thyself to do evil, and so provoking God to fall foul upon thee as a just object of his wrath, to thine utter ruin, without repentance. Surely, with the froward God will show himself froward, Psalms 18:26. Neither hath ever any one hardened himself against the Lord and prospered, Job 9:4. For what reason? he is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, as it is there, every way able to overly master an adversary: if he but turn his own passions loose upon him, such as are wrath and envy, they will soon dispatch him. How many are there who, like sullen birds in a cage, beat themselves to death! Did not Bajazet do so? and was Diodorus any wiser (Laert. lib. 2)? or Homer, who died for anger that they could not resolve certain questions put unto them? or Terence, who drowned himself for grief, that he had lost certain comedies that he had composed? We read of some, that, out of discontent, they turned atheists, as Diagoras, Lucian, Porphyry, &c.; and of others, that, missing of bishoprics, or other church preferments, they turned heretics in sui solatium: were not these great sinners against their own souls, like the angry bee, who, to be revenged, loseth her sting, and soon after her life? Died they not like fools indeed, that died of the sullens, and so were deeply guilty of suicide? especially if their wrath were bent against God, if they howl against heaven; such are at once twice slain; slain with the wrath of God, and with their own. And envy slayeth the silly one] Him that is under the power of his passions, et minima afflictione ab officio abducitur, saith Mercer, and is turned off from duty by every light affliction; such a one doth envy at another man’ s prosperity, Aγηνοριαδεμινεκτα (De Ajace, Homer). It is the same with wrath, nisi quod vehementius est, but that it is somewhat worse, saith the same author, as being a most quick sighted and sharp fanged malignity. Hence that of Solomon, Wrath is cruel, and anger outrageous; but who can stand before envy? Proverbs 27:4. It is the rottenness of the bones, Proverbs 14:30. And like the serpent porphyrius, it drinks the most part of its own venom.

Verse 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man] Foolish, silly, and simple, are epithets given by Solomon to sinners and transgressors of all kinds. Such parallelisms have afforded a presumptive argument that Solomon was the author of this book. See the preface. Job 1:1 The words of Eliphaz may be considered as a sort of maxim, which the wisdom and experience of ages had served to establish; viz., The wrath of God is manifested only against the wicked and impious; and if thou wert not such, God would not thus contend with thee.

2. Job 5:1 asked, Will any one answer thy complaint? will complaining bring any deliverance? This verse gives the other side—nay, rather, such murmuring betrays a mind “most incorrect to heaven,” and such a fool will by his impatience but bring upon himself increased calamity till he altogether perish. Nay, rather, the foolish man impatience killeth, And the silly one his passion slayeth. The meaning, of course, is not that the fool and silly one vex themselves to death, but that their rebellious impatience and resentment of the chastisements of heaven bring down upon them more grievous chastisement, under which they perish. There are several words for “fool” in the Old Testament. Two characteristics of the fool here spoken of are mentioned: he rejects instruction or correction, Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 12:15; and he openly exhibits his chagrin or angry impatience, Proverbs 12:16 (ka‘as as here). The last word describes impatient bearing under affliction, or under that which offends, such as an affront. These words of Eliphaz hurt Job deeply, and in the very first sentence of his reply he alludes to them, “Oh that my impatience (ka‘as) were weighed and laid in the balances against my affliction,” ch. Job 6:2. The word in the second half of the verse means properly heat, hence any strong passion, as jealousy, the wild ardour of battle, Isaiah 42:13, and the like. On the use of “fool” and similar words in a moral sense to denote wicked, that is, without true insight into the ways of God and right feeling towards Heaven, see on ch. Job 2:10.

For wrath killeth the foolish man - That is, the wrath of God. The word foolish here is used as synonymous with wicked, because wickedness is supreme folly.

2. For wrath — λςωׂ ?signifies also grief. Passionate sorrow, such as Job had indulged, slays the foolish. 2 Corinthians 7:10. In the word for, Eliphaz resumes the leading thought of this discourse — men reap what they sow.