Job 5:13

_HE TAKETH THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS: AND THE COUNSEL OF THE FROWARD IS CARRIED HEADLONG._ He taketh - Paul (1 Corinthians 3:19) quoted this clause with the formula establishing its inspiration, It is written. He cites the exact Hebrew words, not as he usually does the Septuagint, Greek version. "In the net which they hid is their own foot taken (cf. Psalms 9:15). Haman was hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai (Esther 5:14; Esther 7:10). THE WISE - the cunning. IS CARRIED HEADLONG - their scheme is precipitated before it is ripe....

6-16 Eliphaz reminds Job, that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be placed to second causes. The difference between prosperity and adversity is not so exactly observed, as that between day and night, summer and winter; but it is according to the will and counsel of God. We must not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they are from God; nor our sins to fate, for they are from ourselves. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. There is nothing in this world we are born to, and can truly call our own, but sin and trouble. Actual transgressions are sparks that fly out of the furnace of original corruption. Such is the frailty of our bodies, and the vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles arise thence as the sparks fly upward; so many are they, and so fast does one follow another. Eliphaz reproves Job for not seeking God, instead of quarrelling with him. Is an...

Verse Job 5:13. _HE TAKETH THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS_] So counterworks them as to cause their feet to be taken in their own snares, and their evil dealings to fall on their own pate. Such frequent proofs has God given of his especial interference in behalf of the innocent, who have been the objects of the plots and evil designs of the wicked, by turning those evil devices against their framers, that _he who digs a pit for his neighbour shall fall_ _into it himself_ has become a universal _adage_, and has passed, either in so many words or in sense, into all the languages of all the people of the earth. _Lucretius_ expresses it strongly: Circumretit enim vis atque injuria quemque, Atque, unde exorta est, ad eum plerumque revortit. LUCRET. lib. v., ver

HE TAKETH THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS - This passage is quoted by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:19, with the usual formula in referring to the Old Testament, γέγραπται γάρ _gegraptai_ _gar_, “for it is written,” showing that he regarded it as a part of the inspired oracles of God. The word “wise” here undoubtedly means the cunning, the astute, the crafty, and the designing. It cannot mean those who are truly wise in the Scripture sense; but the meaning is, that those who form plans which they expect to accomplish by cunning and craft, are often the victims of their own designs. The same sentiment not unfrequently occurs in the Scriptures and elsewhere, and has all the aspect of being a proverb. Thus, in...

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.

HE TAKETH THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS,.... As beasts are taken in a pit, or birds in a snare or net, or with birdlime; so these crafty men, who are wise in their own opinion, and really so in things natural, civil, and worldly, or however, to do evil are entangled and taken in their own schemes; they fall into the pit they have digged for others, and are snared in the works of their own hands, as Haman and his sons were hanged on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai, Esther 7:10; or, "by their own craftiness" q, by the crafty schemes they themselves have formed: so sometimes those very things crafty men design to prevent, are brought about by the very means they make use of; thus Joseph's brethren designed to prevent the accomplishment of his dreams, which portended their subjection to him, Genesis 37:9, by

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

Eliphaz advises Job to accept the Divine discipline so that God may again show Himself gracious. As for me, instead of being impatient like a fool, I would seek unto God (_cf._ Job 1:21; Job 2:10). Job 5:9 gives the motive for submission, viz. the omnipotence of God, which is also a reason for hope. God's power is manifest in nature (Job 5:10). He also shows it by the restoration of those who abase themselves (Job 5:11), and equally by crashing the impious (Job 5:12). ...

HE TAKETH, &C. This is quoted in 1 Corinthians 3:19 direct. FROWARD. perverse. Hebrew. _pathal,_ to twist....

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). 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). 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, a