George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Job 5:23
Stones, so as not to stumble; or, the rocks will be a retreat for thee. read more
Stones, so as not to stumble; or, the rocks will be a retreat for thee. read more
Beauty does not mean his wife, as some grossly imagine, (Calmet) but a house well ordered. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "thy habitation." Yet Sanchez adopts the former sentiment. In effect, the habitation includes all the regulation of a wife and family. (Haydock) read more
Abundance. "With loud lamentations." (De Dieu) --- "In full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season." (Protestants) --- After a life spent in happiness, thy memory will not be obliterated. Many shall bewail thy loss. (Haydock) read more
Which thou. Septuagint, "And what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself what thou hast done." (Haydock) --- What had been revealed to Eliphaz was very true. Yet his conclusions were unwarrantable. (Calmet) --- How confidently does he speak of his own knowledge, and how great must have been his disappointment, when God condemned him of folly, and sent him to be the prayers of that very man whom he now considered as a wretched sinner! (Haydock) read more
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... read more
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,... read more
17-27 Eliphaz gives to Job a word of caution and exhortation: Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. Call it a chastening, which comes from the Father's love, and is for the child's good; and notice it as a messenger from Heaven. Eliphaz also encourages Job to submit to his condition. A good man is happy though he be afflicted, for he has not lost his enjoyment of God, nor his title to heaven; nay, he is happy because he is afflicted. Correction mortifies his corruptions, weans his... read more
Answering A Possible Objection On Job's Part v. 1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, rather, "will anyone reply?" Having complained against God as though he were just and God unjust, will Job find anyone to intercede for him or to help him in his trouble? And to which of the saints wilt thou turn? Would he find so much as a single angel to take his part? He whom God will not help no creature can help, and an impatient murmuring against misfortune would only challenge the anger... read more
Eliphaz Admonishes Job to Bear his Trial Patiently v. 17. Behold, happy is the man, the mortal, in all his feebleness, whom God correcteth, since such an action on the part of God shows His fatherly interest. Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty, by a want of submission, by a rebellious attitude; v. 18. for He maketh sore and bindeth up, in order to heal the wound which He has inflicted, Hosea 6:1; Deuteronomy 32:39; He woundeth, and His hands make whole. Cf Proverbs... read more
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Job 5:21
CHAPTER V. Scourge. Ecclesiasticus (xxvi. 9., and xxviii. 21.) has the same expression. See James iii. 6. (Calmet) --- Calamity, from robbers, as the Hebrew shod, (Haydock) intimates. The word is rendered destruction, vastitate, ver. 22. (Menochius) read more