Job 5:11
in Job 5He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So that he setteth up on high those that are low, And those that mourn are exalted to safety.
KJV
To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThose whom proud men contrive to crush he raises from under their feet, and sets them in safety, Ps. xii. The lowly in heart, and those that mourn, he advances, comforts, and makes to dwell on high, in the munitions of rocks, Isa. xxxiii. Sion's mourners are the sealed ones, marked for safety, Ezek. ix.
This site's exposition
He gives rain to the earth
on Job 5:10-11
The hymn holds two workings of providence together, "He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety". The God who governs the weather also raises and lowers men. The lifting of mourners stands as a general promise, which Eliphaz applies once he has assumed Job's repentance.
This site's exposition
He sets the lowly on high
Barnes notes that Eliphaz passes here from the rain on the fields to God's dealings with people. Wesley reads the line as encouragement, for the God who sets the lowly on high can raise Job from his depths. Here Eliphaz offers Job hope.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
Then he shows the activity of divine providence even in human affairs. If human affairs were to run their course as their arrangement seems to demand, there would appear to be little or no trace of divine providence in them. But when human affairs run …
MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION. Who setteth up on high those that be low; and those which mourn He exalteth with safety. 'Those that be low are set on high,' in that they, who are now despised for the love of God, shall then come as judges along with God, as 'Truth' pledges this which we have just named to the same humble ones, saying, Ye which have followed Me, in the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Then 'those that mourn the Lord exalts with safety,' in that they who, being inflamed with desire of Him, flee prosperity, endure crosses, undergo tortures at the hands of persecutors, chasten their own selves with grieving, are then vouchsafed a safety so much the more exalted, as they now from devout affection kill themselves to all the joys of the world. Hence it is that it is said by Solomon, The heart knoweth his own soul's bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. For the human mind 'knoweth its own soul's bitterness,' when inflamed with aspirations after the eternal land, it learns by weeping the sorrowfulness of its pilgrimage. But the 'stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy,' in that he, that is now a stranger to the grief of compunction, is not then a partaker in the joy of consolation. Hence it is that 'Truth' saith in the Gospel, Verily, verily I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. And again, And ye therefore now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. The Lord, then, is said 'to exalt with safety those which mourn,' in that to all, who for His sake are stricken with grief in time, He vouchsafes true salvation for their comfort. […]
LITERAL INTERPRETATION. Who setteth up on high those that be low. And those which mourn He exalteth with safety. It is well said then, Who setteth up on high those that be low. And it is fitly added, And those which mourn He exalteth with safety.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
To set up - That is, he setteth up. Another example of God's great and wonderful works. He gives this instance to comfort and encourage Job to seek to God, because he can raise him out of his greatest depths.
To set up on high those that be low,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That the afflictions which are borne well will end well; and Job particularly, if he would come to a better temper, might assure himself that God had great mercy in store for him,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
To set up on high those that be low - He so distributes his providential blessings without partiality, that the land of the poor man is as well sunned and watered as that of the rich; so that he is thus set upon a level with the lords of the soil.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To set up on high - That is, who sets up on high; or God exalts those who are low. From the works of nature, Eliphaz passes to the dealings of God with people, as designed to show that he was worthy of confidence. The first proof is, that he showed himself to be the friend of the humble and the afflicted, and often exalted those who were in lowly circumstances, in a manner which evinced his direct interposition.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
to place the humble on high He gives the rain, and He frustrates the plans of the crafty, who intend to raise the prices and buy the fields of the poor for little grain.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Who gives rain upon the face of the land The land of Israel.
so that their hands do not carry out their plans The counsel that they planned to perform.
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָשׂ֣וּם | lasum | to set | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שְׁפָלִ֣ים | shefalim | lowly [people] | H8217 → | |
| לְמָר֑וֹם | lemarom | to a high place | H4791 → | 54 times |
| וְ֝קֹדְרִ֗ים | vekoderim | and mourners | H6937 → | 17 times |
| שָׂ֣גְבוּ | sagevu | they are high | H7682 → | |
| יֶֽשַׁע׃ | yesha' | safety | H3468 → |
לָשׂ֣וּםto set
lasumH7760 →584 times
שְׁפָלִ֣יםlowly [people]
shefalimH8217 →
לְמָר֑וֹםto a high place
lemaromH4791 →54 times
וְ֝קֹדְרִ֗יםand mourners
vekoderimH6937 →17 times
שָׂ֣גְבוּthey are high
sagevuH7682 →
יֶֽשַׁע׃safety
yesha'H3468 →
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
Psalms 113:7He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:7–8
The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- Luke 1:52–53
He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
- Psalms 107:41
But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.
- 2 Samuel 7:8–9
Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My…
- Ezekiel 17:24
Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make…
- 1 Samuel 2:7–8
Through
Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
it leads to
- John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
- Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- John 6:35
Through
Psalms 107:41But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth…
- 1 Samuel 2:8
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.