Job 5:1

_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! will He [God] reply to thee?' Job, after the revelation just given, cannot be so presumptuous as to think God, or any of the holy ones (Daniel 4:17, angels) round His throne, will vouchsafe a reply (a judicial expression) to his rebellious complaint (Umbreit). I prefer the English Version. Job may call as loud as he will, complaining of wrongful treatment, but none will answer from above. No holy (English Version, saint) angel will undertake to be advocate of so bad a cause. The idea of heavenly advocacy for man is found Job 33:23; Zechariah 1:12....

1-5 Eliphaz here calls upon Job to answer his arguments. Were any of the saints or servants of God visited with such Divine judgments as Job, or did they ever behave like him under their sufferings? The term, "saints," holy, or more strictly, consecrated ones, seems in all ages to have been applied to the people of God, through the Sacrifice slain in the covenant of their reconciliation. Eliphaz doubts not that the sin of sinners directly tends to their ruin. They kill themselves by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt, Job has done some foolish thing, by which he has brought himself into this condition. The allusion was plain to Job's former prosperity; but there was no evidence of Job's wickedness, and the application to him was unfair and severe....

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_...

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. According to this, the meaning of the words “call now” is, in jus voca: that is, call the Deity to account, or bring an action against him: or more properly, enter into an argument or litigation, as before a tribunal; see the notes at Isaiah 41:1, where similar language occurs. IF THERE BE ANY THAT WILL ANSWER THEE - If there is anyone who will respond to thee in such a trial. Noyes renders this, “See if He will answer thee;” that is, “See if the Deity will condescend to enter into a judicial conroversy with thee, and give an account of his dealings toward thee.” Dr. Good renders it, “Which of these can come forward to thee; that

EXPOSITION JOB 5:1 Eliphaz, having narrated his vision, and rehearsed the words which the spirit spoke in his ear, continues in his own person, first (Job 5:1) covertly reproaching Job, and then (verses 8-27) seeking to comfort him by the suggestion that, if he will place himself unreservedly in the hands of God, it is still possible that God may relent, remove his chastening hand, deliver him from his troubles, and even give him back all his former prosperity. The anticipation is in remarkable accordance with the ultimate event (Job 42:10), and shows that Eliphaz, if not a prophet in the higher sense, is at least a sagacious interpreter of God's ways with men, and can very happily forecast the future.

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 trouble; and invocation is to be made in faith, in sincerity, and with fervency, and to be accompanied with confession of sin, and repentance for it; and sooner or later God hears and answers those that call upon him; but Eliphaz suggests, that if Job did call upon him, it would be in vain, he would not hear him, he going upon the same maxim that the Jews did in Christ's time, "God heareth not sinners": John 9:31; or call upon him to give him an oracle from heaven, to favour him with a vision and revelation, and see if he could get anything that would confront and confute what he had delivered as coming that way; which, if it could be done by him, would appear to be a falsehood and an imposture,...

CHAPTER S 4-5 THE FIRST ADDRESS OF ELIPHAZ _ 1. He rebukes Job (Job 4:1)_ 2. The righteous are not cast off (Job 4:6) 3. An awe-inspiring vision (Job 4:12) 4. Experience and exhortation (Job 5:1) 5. Happy is the man whom God correcteth (Job 5:17) With this chapter the long and tedious controversy between Job and his three visitors begins. His pitiful lamentation brings forth the addresses of his friends. Eliphaz and Bildad speak thrice, each answered by Job, and Zophar twice with corresponding rebuttals by Job. Job delivers his last word, the length

JOB 5:1 contains the application of the principles just laid down. JOB 5:1. If the angels are imperfect, it is no use for Job to appeal to them as intercessors with God. Duhm, following Siegfried, rejects this verse connecting Job 4:21 closely with Job 5:2_._ The foolish man, he says, means in this context, the man without the fear of God. A man must be an impious fool, Eliphaz would say, in agreement with the Job of the Volksbuch (Job 2:10), if in misfortune, instead of, like a wise man, feeling his worthlessness and submitting to God, he allows himself to be carried away into rebell

TO WHICH... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6. In the Vulgate versions this is changed to. command: and it is quoted in support of "the invocation of saints". SAINTS. holy ones: i.e. the angels. Compare Job 15:15.Deuteronomy 33:2.Jude 1:14. So Septuagint. See note on "holy". Exodus 3:5....

_Call now, if there be any_ Rather, CALL THEN, IS THERE ANY …? The imperative _call then_is not ironical, but merely a very animated way of putting a supposition: if thou appeal then against God is there any that will hear thee or aid thee? _which of the saints_ Better, THE HOLY ONES, that is, the angels, as ch. Job 15:15; Psalms 89:6-7; will any of these exalted beings receive thy complaint against God? In ch. Job 33:23 the angels are interpreters, conveying the meaning of God's providences to men. But the converse idea that they convey men's representations to God or intercede for them with Him is not found here, because the reference is to a complaint against God. There underlies the passage the idea