5:1 anyone answering you Language of lament (compare Pss 3:4; 4:1; 17:6; 20:9). Eliphaz asks Job where he will turn for help. This sets up Job 5:8, where he says Job should appeal directly to God.

5:2 the fool Eliphaz does not consider Job a fool yet, but he means that if Job continues without responding appropriately to God’s reproof (v. 17), he will become a fool. See 4:8 and note.

5:3 a fool taking root Eliphaz states that the success of a fool is short lived and will not last—an opinion found throughout the ot (e.g., Psa 37:35–36; Prov 1:32).

I cursed his dwelling Eliphaz believes that every wicked action contains a curse; he wishes that God would unleash the inherent curse of the fool’s actions.

5:4 they are crushed in the gate An insensitive allusion to the fate of Job’s children (Job 1:18–19).

5:6 mischief does not come from the dust The natural world does not produce punishments; people’s actions do. Eliphaz reinforces his point that a person who suffers deserves it because of sin (see 4:6 and note).

5:7 is born to trouble All people sin and deserve punishment at times in their lives. Job’s experience is not unique.

5:8 I myself will seek God Eliphaz advises Job to appeal to God. He seems to be respectful to Job, putting himself in his friend’s place, but Job’s response indicates that there was condescension in Eliphaz’s tone (6:15–16, 24–27). Bildad makes a similar suggestion (8:5–6). Job’s friends—believing that Job suffers because of divine punishment—implore Job to seek forgiveness from God.

5:9 He is doing great Job and his friends share the same view of the greatness and sovereignty of God (9:5–10).

5:17 happy is the human being whom God reproves A reiteration of Eliphaz’s argument that Job suffers because of his guilt. Job should embrace his suffering as God’s reproof and confess, and then God will restore him (compare 4:7).

5:19 From six troubles he will deliver you, and in seven evil shall not touch Numerical sayings like this are common in Wisdom literature (e.g., Prov 6:16; 30:18, 21, 29; Job 40:5). Eliphaz argues that the person who turns to God will ultimately be protected from disaster.

5:25 your offspring are many An insensitive comment, considering Job had lost all his children. Eventually, God blesses Job by giving him several generations of descendants (42:12–17).

5:27 we have searched this out Eliphaz grounds his exhortation in the wisdom of the day.

hear it and know it yourself Job should likewise consider the principles of wisdom, recognize his situation in them, and respond accordingly. Eliphaz wants his friend to repent and be restored to a good life.