Job 5:16
in Job 5So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So the poor hath hope, And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
KJV
So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
⋯
This verse in Job 5
Commentary
13 notes on this verseSo the poor - דל dal, he who is made thin, who is wasted, extenuated; hath hope - he sees what God is accustomed to do, and he expects a repetition of gracious dealings in his own behalf; and because God deals thus with those who trust in him, therefore the mouth of impiety is stopped. Religion is kept alive in the earth, because of God’s signal interventions in behalf of the bodies and souls of his followers.
This site's exposition
They encounter darkness by day
on Job 5:14-16
The crafty "encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night". Meanwhile God "saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful". The section closes with "So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth," the silencing of wrongdoing.
This site's exposition
So the poor have hope
Clarke notes that the Hebrew for poor describes one worn thin and wasted. The mouth of injustice is the sword in the mouth of verse 15, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set its silence beside Psalm 107:42. The needy have hope in the God who saves them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Look! This is what God does, so the weak may hope for happiness and the powerful may not become proud. In fact, he said above, "Call for help in order to see whether you will be listened to," so that you may not think that there are things that escape providence.… Eliphaz dedicates the beginning of his speech to the defeat of Job. Indeed, God is accustomed to exalt the weak, to bring the powerful down and to confound the cunning. Now draw your own conclusions.
The Medieval Church3 voices
MORAL INTERPRETATION. So the needy shall have hope. And iniquity shall stop her mouth. Unto the fruits of which same hope, verily, when the poor man attaineth, everyone that is exalted is struck dumb; and hence it is yet further added, And iniquity shall stop her mouth.
Two things follow from this. One is that men, who are powerless in their own right must confide in divine power because God has care over human affairs, and so he says, "he will be the hope of the poor." The other is that powerful …
LITERAL INTERPRETATION. And so the needy shall have hope. And iniquity shall stop her mouth. For when the poor man is rescued, 'the needy' is restored to hope, for the lowly people of the faithful is shaken with dismay at our Redeemer dying, but is established firm by His rising again, for the very first poor ones of His people, viz. the chosen Preachers, were smitten by the sight of His death, but restored by the manifesting of His resurrection. When, then, the poor man is saved, 'the needy' recovers hope, for by the Lord rising again in the flesh, every faithful soul is strengthened to have a confident expectation of eternal life. But, now, the Truth has already come in an open manifestation, He has already undergone the death of the flesh, and destroyed the same by rising again, already the glory of the Ascension has ennobled His Resurrection, and yet the tongue of the Hebrews does not yet cease to urge Him with insults; and He indeed suffers them with patience, that by such sufferance He may turn some, and others that refuse to be turned He may one day visit with severer punishment. For the tongue of unbelievers will then be struck dumb from their habit of unbridled speech, when it shall see Him coming as a just Judge, Whom now it has judged unjustly. And hence it is well added, And iniquity shall stop her mouth. For now iniquity still opens wide her mouth, in that the tongue of unbelievers never ceases to urge with insults the Redeemer of the human race. But she shall then 'stop her mouth,' when this same, which she will not shut in good will, she shall shut in punishment. Yet this may also be well understood of the conversion of the persecutors. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So - So he obtains what he hoped for from God, to whom he committed his cause. Stoppeth - They are silenced and confounded, finding that not only the poor are got out of their snares, but the oppressors themselves are ensnared in them.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
So the poor hath hope,....
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,
That weak and timorous saints are comforted: So the poor, who began to despair, has hope. The experiences of some are encouragement to others to hope the best in the worst of times; for it is the glory of God to send help to the helpless and hope to the hopeless.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the poor hath hope--of the interposition of God. iniquity stoppeth her mouth-- (Ps 107:42; Especially at the last day, through shame (Jude 15; The "mouth" was the offender (Job 5:15), and the mouth shall then be stopped (Isa 25:8) at the end.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So the poor hath hope - From the interposition of God. They are not left in a sad and comfortless condition. They are permitted to regard God as their protector and friend, and to look forward to another and a better world. This sentiment accords with all that is elsewhere said in the Scriptures, that the offers of mercy are specially made to the poor, and that they are especially the objects of the divine compassion. And iniquity stoppeth her mouth - That is, the wicked are confounded when they see all their plans foiled, and find themselves entangled in the snares which they have laid for others. A similar sentiment occurs in Psa 107:41-42: Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, And maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it and rejoice, And all iniquity shall stop her mouth.” It is to be remembered that Eliphaz states this as the result of his own observation, and as clearly demonstrating in his view that there is a superintending and overruling Providence. A careful observation of the course of events would lead undoubtedly to the same conclusion, and this has been embodied in almost every language by some proverbial sentiment. We express it by saying that “honesty is the best policy;” a proverb that is undoubtcdly founded in wisdom. The sentiment is, that if a man wishes long to prosper, he should pursue a straight-forward and an honest course; that cunning, intrigue, underhanded dealing, and mere management, will sooner or later defeat itself, and recoil on the head of him who uses it; and that, therefore, if there were no higher motive than self-interest, a man should be honest, frank, and open. See this argument stated at greater length, and with great beauty, in Ps. 37.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתְּהִ֣י | vatehi | and it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לַדַּ֣ל | ladal | to <the> poor [person] | H1800 → | 47 times |
| תִּקְוָ֑ה | tikvah | hope | H8615 → | 34 times |
| וְ֝עֹלָ֗תָה | veolatah | and injustice | H5766 → | 54 times |
| קָ֣פְצָה | kafetzah | it shuts | H7092 → | |
| פִּֽיהָ׃ | piha | mouth its | H6310 → | 498 times |
וַתְּהִ֣יand it belonged
vatehiH1961 →3559 times
לַדַּ֣לto <the> poor [person]
ladalH1800 →47 times
תִּקְוָ֑הhope
tikvahH8615 →34 times
וְ֝עֹלָ֗תָהand injustice
veolatahH5766 →54 times
קָ֣פְצָהit shuts
kafetzahH7092 →
פִּֽיהָ׃mouth its
pihaH6310 →498 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
Psalms 9:18For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.
it leads to
- James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 12:5
“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Proverbs 23:18
For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
- Proverbs 24:14
Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will never be cut off.
- Luke 1:53
He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
- James 2:5
Through
Psalms 63:11But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by Him will exult, for the mouths of liars will be shut.
it leads to
- Romans 3:19
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 6:13
Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
- Romans 3:19
Through
Psalms 107:42The upright see and rejoice, and all iniquity shuts its mouth.
it leads to
- Job 22:19
The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:
- Job 22:19
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 (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:15B-16B; 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.