Job 5:1
in Job 5“Call out if you please, but who will answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
KJV
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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 Isa 41:1, where similar language occurs.
This site's exposition
To which of the holy ones
on Job 5:1-3
Eliphaz challenges Job to find a holy one who will take his side, framing an appeal to heaven as futile for a man under judgment. The proverb "For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple" restates his doctrine that violent passions destroy a life.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Through these words Eliphaz shows the excellence of God. Since it was natural for Job to examine his own situation on the ground of his personal reflections, observe what Eliphaz says: "Do not speak so." God is great. He does many things that we don't understand. Our lowliness is profound.… Whatever God might do, he does well.
The Medieval Church2 voices
So after Eliphaz has explained his revelation, since Job could not have believed this revelation, he adds, "Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?" as if to say: If you do not believe that this was revealed to me, you yourself can invoke …
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee. For Almighty God often passes by the prayer of that man in his trouble, who slights His precepts in the season of rest. Hence it is written, He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Now for us 'to call,' is to beseech God with humble prayer; but for God to 'answer,' is to vouchsafe an accomplishment to our prayers; and so he says, Call now, if any will answer thee.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Though they do not all live up, as they should, to their belief of these truths, yet they are all ready to bear their testimony to them. Now there are two things which Eliphaz here maintains, and in which he doubts not but all the saints concur with him:-- I. That the sin of sinners directly tends to their own ruin (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Call now, if there be any - This appears to be a strong irony. From whom among those whose foundations are in the dust, and who are crushed before the moth, canst thou expect succor? To which of the saints wilt thou turn? - To whom among the holy ones, (קדשים kedoshim), or among those who are equally dependent on Divine support with thyself, and can do no good but as influenced and directed by God, canst thou turn for help? Neither angel nor saint can help any man unless sent especially from God; and all prayers to them must be foolish and absurd, not to say impious. Can the channel afford me water, if the fountain cease to emit it?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Now call Up to here are words of prophecy. From here on, he returns to his rebuke: Cry out to your utmost, who will answer you?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קְֽרָא־ | kera'- | call | H7121 → | 733 times |
| נָ֭א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| הֲיֵ֣שׁ | hayesh | ¿ [is] there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| עוֹנֶ֑ךָּ | oneka | [one who] answers you | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִ֖י | mi | whom? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| מִקְּדֹשִׁ֣ים | mikedoshim | of [the] holy [ones] | H6918 → | 116 times |
| תִּפְנֶֽה׃ | tifneh | will you turn | H6437 → | 135 times |
קְֽרָא־call
kera'-H7121 →733 times
נָ֭אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
הֲיֵ֣שׁ¿ [is] there
hayeshH3426 →140 times
עוֹנֶ֑ךָּ[one who] answers you
onekaH6030 →331 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
מִ֖יwhom?
miH4310 →423 times
מִקְּדֹשִׁ֣יםof [the] holy [ones]
mikedoshimH6918 →116 times
תִּפְנֶֽה׃will you turn
tifnehH6437 →135 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set…
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24–27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.
- Philippians 2:16
as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
- Luke 21:34
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Hebrews 10:35–39
So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
- 2 Timothy 4:7
Through
Job 15:15If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
it leads to
Through
Job 4:18If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- 2 Peter 2:4
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book V; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:1A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.