Job 5:20

In famine he shall redeem thee from death,.... In a time of extreme want of provisions, God so cares for his own dear people, that they shall not be starved to death by the famine; so in the famine

In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

In famine; which Job might be thought to fear, as being so poor that he needed his friends’ contributions for his relief. From death; from that terrible kind of death. These things he utters with more confidence, partly because the rewards or punishments of this life were more constantly distributed to men in the Old Testament according to their good or bad behaviour than now they are; and partly because it was his particular opinion, that great afflictions were the constant fruits and certain evidences of a man’ s wickedness; and consequently, that great mercies and deliverances should infallibly follow upon true repentance and godliness.

Job 5:20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.Ver. 20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death] They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger, Lamentations 4:9. Famine, therefore, is here set as the first and greatest of the six ensuing evils, the forest of God’ s judgments, Ezekiel 6:11 Jeremiah 24:10; the certain harbinger of death, as here. From this so great a death God delivered Abraham, Genesis 12:12-20; Isaac, Genesis 26:6-12; Jacob and his family, Genesis 47:11-12; the poor widow, 1 Kings 17:9-16; the Israelites in the wilderness by quails; the Rochellers by a miraculous shoal of shellfish, cast up into their town in a strait siege, &c. There is a promise that the lions shall lack and suffer hunger, but so shall not any such as seek the Lord, Psalms 34:10. There shall be special provision made for such, and God shall redeem them from this evil by a wonderful separation, as he did in another case, Exodus 8:22 : either he will send them in meat or take away their stomachs, as she once said. Fides famem non formidat, Faith feareth no famine; having trusted God for a crown, she will not distrust him for a crust. And in war from the power of the sword] Here is the saints’ safety, or their writ of protection. True it is, that the sword devoureth one as well as another, 2 Samuel 11:25, and pale death cutteth its way oftentimes through a wood of men, out of the mouth of a murdering piece, without distinction. But though the saints, with Josiah, be slain in battle, yet they die in peace, 2 Kings 23:29, with Job 22:20, for their eyes see not the evil that God bringeth upon others that outlive them, as it followeth there. Besides, they are gathered to their fathers, who enjoyed peace. Redeemed they are from the power or hands of the sword, which may kill them, but cannot hurt them; take away their head, but not their crown, αποκτειναιδυναται, βχαφαιδεου.

(20) He shall redeem thee.—It is rather, he hath redeemed thee, as though the speaker could appeal to Job’s own experience in the matter which itself became a ground of confident hope for the future.

Verse 20. In famine he shall redeem thee] The Chaldee, which understands this chapter as speaking of the troubles and deliverances of the Israelites in Egypt and the wilderness, renders this verse as follows: "In the famine of Egypt he redeemed thee from death; and in the war of Amalek, from the slaying of the sword."

8–27. Eliphaz, in Job’s place, would seek unto God, all whose ways are marked by one purpose, to do good, and whose chastisements, therefore, but open the way to a richer blessing The passage attaches itself to the picture of man’s evil nature just given, and suggests where man should find refuge from himself, even in God. Eliphaz in Job’s place would seek unto God for help—God who is so great in power, and wonderful in His ways (Job 5:8-9). His ways are not only surpassingly wonderful, but one purpose of goodness runs through them, for even the thirsty wilderness where no man dwells He satisfies with rain, and sets the humble on high (Job 5:10-11). So on the other hand He disappoints the devices of the crafty and delivers the poor from their hand, and the end is reached towards which all His working tends: the poor hath hope, and evil, ashamed, shuts her mouth (Job 5:12-16). And under this general purpose of universal goodness fall even the chastisements of God, and in this light happy should Job consider himself in being afflicted, for God afflicts only that He may be able the more richly to bless (Job 5:17-18). And, anticipating that his afflictions will “yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness,” Eliphaz draws a brilliant picture of Job’s restoration and happy future,—the divine protection (Job 5:18-19), the plenty and security (Job 5:20-23), the peaceful homestead (Job 5:24), the offspring numerous as the grass (Job 5:25), and the ripe and peaceful end of all (Job 5:26). The passage like the preceding section has two divisions, Job 5:8-16 describing the purpose of goodness running through all God’s ways; and Job 5:17-26 applying this to Job’s calamities and painting his restoration; to which is added a concluding verse, in which Eliphaz beseeches Job to ponder his words (Job 5:27).

In famine he shall redeem thee - That is, will deliver thee from death. On the meaning of the word “redeem,” see the notes at Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 43:3.

20. The power of the sword — Literally, The hands of the sword.