Job 5:18
in Job 5For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
KJV
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
⋯
This verse in Job 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseFor he maketh sore, and bindeth up - Thus nervously rendered by Coverdale, For though he make a wounde, he giveth a medicyne agayne; though he smyte, his honde maketh whole agayne.
This site's exposition
Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects
on Job 5:17-18
The words "Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty" stand beside Proverbs 3:11 and 12. The passages address different situations, and Eliphaz means his as a diagnosis of discipline for a fault yet to be confessed.
This site's exposition
For He wounds, but He also binds
Barnes takes the figure from binding up a wound, the way the Hebrews healed. Matthew Henry names it God's usual order, the wound first and the healing after, so the hands that strike are the hands that bind. Hosea 6:1 says the same.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
If God brings evils to an end and transforms them into their opposite, causing mortals to enjoy a profound peace, it is the same thought, not a different one, that guides God in his present attitude.
The Medieval Church2 voices
He explains the reason when he says, "For he wounds," with greater adversity, "and he binds up," by taking away evil and restoring good. "He smites," with lesser adversity, "and his hands," i.e., his works, "will heal," i.e. liberate you.
For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands shall make whole. In two ways Almighty God wounds those, whom He is minded to bring back to saving health; for sometimes He smites the flesh, and consumes the hardness of the heart by the fear of Him. Thus He recalls to saving health, by dealing wounds, when He afflicts His own Elect outwardly, that they be quickened with inward life.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
All is well again; and he comforts them according to the time wherein he afflicted them. God's usual method is first to wound and then to heal, first to convince and then to comfort, first to humble and then to exalt; and (as Mr. Caryl observes) he never makes a wound too great, too deep, for his own cure.
2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. 3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. 4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up,....
Being kept from sin, they are kept from the evil of every trouble. (3.) That, when desolating judgments are abroad, they shall be taken under special protection,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For he maketh sore - That is, he afflicts. And bindeth up - He heals. The phrase is taken from the custom of binding up a wound; see Isa 1:6, note; Isa 38:21, note. This was a common mode of healing among the Hebrews; and the practice of medicine appears to have been confined much to external applications. The meaning of this verse is, that afflictions come from God, and that he only can support, comfort, and restore. Health is his gift; and all the consolation which we need, and for which we can look, must come from him.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| ה֣וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יַכְאִ֣יב | yakhiv | he causes pain | H3510 → | |
| וְיֶחְבָּ֑שׁ | veyechbash | and he may bind up | H2280 → | 33 times |
| יִ֝מְחַ֗ץ | yimchatz | he shatters | H4272 → | |
| וְיָדָ֥יו | veyadov | and hands his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תִּרְפֶּֽינָה׃ | tirpeinah | they heal | H7495 → |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
ה֣וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יַכְאִ֣יבhe causes pain
yakhivH3510 →
וְיֶחְבָּ֑שׁand he may bind up
veyechbashH2280 →33 times
יִ֝מְחַ֗ץhe shatters
yimchatzH4272 →
וְיָדָ֥יוand hands his
veyadovH3027 →1618 times
תִּרְפֶּֽינָה׃they heal
tirpeinahH7495 →
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
Deuteronomy 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:6
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 6:1
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- 1 Samuel 2:6
Through
Psalms 147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- Jeremiah 33:6
Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…
- Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
- Hosea 6:1–2
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Psalms 34:18
Through
Hosea 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:39
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on A. B. Davidson, The Book of Job, Cambridge Bible; 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; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:18; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.