Job 5:3

I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
seen	רָ֭אִיתִי Ra.'i.ti	H7200	to see · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
foolish	אֱוִ֣יל 'e.Vil	H191	(figuratively) silly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
root	מַשְׁרִ֑ישׁ mash.Rish	H8327	to root · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
suddenly	פִתְאֹֽם fit.'Om	H6597	instantly · adverb
cursed	נָקַב nâqab	H5344	to puncture
habitation	נָוֵ֣הוּ na.Ve.hu	H5116	(adjectively) at home · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 73:18-20 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
Psalms 92:7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
Deuteronomy 27:15-26 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth…
Job 24:18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
Psalms 37:35-36 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Psalms 69:25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
Psalms 73:3-9 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 5:1-5

A very warm dispute being begun between Job and his friends, Eliphaz here makes a fair motion to put the matter to a reference. In all debates perhaps the sooner this is done the better if the contenders cannot end it between themselves. So well assured is Eliphaz of the goodness of his own cause that he moves Job himself to choose the arbitrators (Job 5:1): Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; that is, 1. "If there be any that suffer as thou sufferest. Canst thou produce an instance of any one that was really a saint that was reduced to such an extremity as thou art now reduced to? God never dealt with any that love his name as he deals with thee, and therefore surely thou art n…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 5:3

the foolish--the wicked. I have seen the sinner spread his "root" wide in prosperity, yet circumstances "suddenly" occurred which gave occasion for his once prosperous dwelling being "cursed" as desolate (Psa 37:35-36; Jer 17:8).

John Gill on Job 5:3

I have seen the foolish taking root,.... Such foolish wicked men as before described; those Eliphaz had observed to prosper in the world, and increase in riches, and even to have attained to a seeming stability and firmness, as if they would ever continue in such happy circumstances, see Jeremiah 12:2; by this he would obviate an objection that here might be raised and made against the assertion he was proving, that wicked men are afflicted and punished of God for their sins; whereas it is notorious that they are not in trouble as other men, but in very prosperous and flourishing circumstances; this he grants is their case for a while, as he had observed, but in a short time they pass away,…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Job 5:1-5

1 Call now, - is there any one who will answer thee? And to whom of the holy ones wilt thou turn? 2 For he is a fool who is destroyed by complaining, And envy slays the simple one. 3 I, even I, have seen a fool taking root: Then I had to curse his habitation suddenly. 4 His children were far from help, And were crushed in the gate, without a rescuer; 5 While the hungry ate his harvest, And even from among thorns they took it away, And the intriguer snatched after his wealth. The chief thought of the oracle was that God is the absolutely just One, and infinitely exalted above men and angels. Resuming his speech from this point, Eliphaz tells Job that no cry for help can avail him unless he su…

The Church Fathers

"I have seen the foolish as strengthened by deep roots. Fools are here impious; and the wisdom of man signifies his piety, as the following will show us.
— Augustine of Hippo, ANNOTATIONS ON THE BOOK OF JOB (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Notice how Eliphaz anticipates possible objections. "Do not say to me, 'Often they also had children.' Yes, but never for a long time." Since it made good sense to ask, "If Job was a sinner, how had he come to possess such great wealth?" Eliphaz responds, "I have seen fools taking root." You see that by fool he means the sinner. It is typical of the divine economy not to destroy sinners immediately. Rather, God grants them a delay so that they may repent, or so that others not be forced to act in a righteous manner.
— John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:3

MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION. I have seen the foolish taking root; but suddenly I cursed his beauty. For the Jewish people shewed itself to be 'foolish,' in that it slightly regarded the very Presence of Eternal Wisdom in the flesh. And it waxed strong, as it were, by taking root, in that it had power over the life of the Elect to the extinction thereof in time. And Eliphaz despises such an one, cursing him, in that all heretics, whom we have said the friends of blessed Job bear a figure of, while they boast themselves in the name of Christ, censure in a way of authority the unbelief of the Jews.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Envy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Law · 28:4,5; — 28:4,5;
Love · 22:37,38; — 22:37,38;
Obedience · 10:7; — 10:7;
Righteousness · 2:17;7:10,11;9:10;10:5;13:5; — 2:17;7:10,11;9:10;10:5;13:5;
Widow · General references — General references

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Job 5:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 5:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 5:3

John Gill on Job 5:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 5:1-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Job 5:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 5:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 5:3

John Gill on Job 5:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 5:1-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Job 5:1

Rashi on Job 5:2