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 divine and spiritual, and so foolish; which is the character of every natural man, and of God's people before conversion; and even of some professors, who are foolish virgins, and carry the lamp of a religious profession without the oil of grace; and such an one Eliphaz took Job to be, whom sooner or later the wrath of the Lord, as the Targum interprets it, which is revealed from heaven, and comes down upon the children of disobedience, would consume like devouring fire: or this may be understood of the wrath and passion of such men themselves, which sometimes rises in them to such an height, as that they die in a fit of it; or do those things which bring them to death, either by the hand of God, or by the civil magistrate:and envy slayeth the silly one; one that is simple and void of understanding, and is easily persuaded and drawn into sin, either by his own heart, or by evil men, or by the temptations of Satan; and in whose heart envy at the prosperity of others dwells, and which insensibly preys upon him, eats up his own spirits, and is rottenness to his bones, and crumbles them into dust, Pr 14:30; or the word may be rendered "jealousy", or "zeal" , as it sometimes is, and may signify the jealousy of the Lord, zeal for his own glory, which he sometimes stirs up as a man of war, and which smokes against wicked men, and consumes them as fire, see Isa 42:13; Eliphaz by all this would represent and insinuate that Job was such a man, hot, passionate, and angry with God and his providence, and envious at the prosperity of others, particularly his friends; and so was a foolish and silly man, in whose breast wrath and envy rested, and would be his ruin and destruction, as he was already under slaying and killing providences.
Bible Commentary
Job 5:2
Job 5:2
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Job 5 — OverviewJob 5 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleEliphaz, in the foregoing chapter, for the making good of his charge
against Job, had vouched a word from heaven, sent him in a vision. In
this chapter he appeals to those that bear record on earth, to the…Job 5 — OverviewJob 5 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeJob 5:1, Eliphaz shews that the end of the wicked is misery; Job 5:6, that man is born to trouble; Job 5:8, that God is to be regarded in affliction; Job 5:17, the happy end of God’s correction.Job 5 — OverviewJob 5 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleIn this chapter Eliphaz goes on to prove, and further confirm and establish, what he had before asserted, that not good men, but wicked men only, are afflicted of God, at least greatly, so as to have their substance…Job 5:1-5Job 5:1-5 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleA 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…Job 5:1-5Job 5:1-5 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe lot of the foolish.
By a skilful turn of thought, Eliphaz exhibits the consequences of human folly—
1. AS THEY AFFECT THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL FOOLISH ONE. "Wrath killeth and envy slayeth" him. By his folly he…Job 5:1-7Job 5:1-7 · The Pulpit CommentaryEliphaz to Job: 3. The history of a fool.
I. THE FOOL'S CHARACTER.
1. An impious fool. The mental and moral portrait of the aevil (verse 2) is minutely outlined in the Book of Proverbs, as distinguished by contempt of…
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