Job 5:21
in Job 5You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
KJV
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue - Margin, Or, “when the tongue scourgeth.” The word rendered “scourge” - שׁוט shôṭ - means properly a whip. It is used of God when he scourges people by calamities and punishments; Isa 10:26; Job 9:23. See the use of the verb שׁוּט shûṭ in Job 2:7. Here it is used to denote a slanderous tongue, as being that which inflicts a severe wound upon the reputation and peace of an individual.
This site's exposition
He will rescue you from six calamities
on Job 5:19-23
Eliphaz counts deliverance in a rising number, covering famine, battle, destruction and wild beasts. Clarke notes the six-and-seven pattern as a Hebrew idiom for completeness. The promise hangs on Job's repentance, the friends' whole method: a sweeping future blessing made to argue backward for a present hidden sin.
This site's exposition
You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue
The scourge is a whip, as Barnes notes. Olympiodorus takes the scourge of the tongue as slander, and Eliphaz promises the man God corrects will be hidden from it. Didymus the Blind answers that many righteous people have been slandered, Joseph among them, so the promise holds only in part.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Again Eliphaz says this about the one who has been rebuked by the Lord, whereby he follows his own principle. Not even what Eliphaz says is stringent. Too often many righteous people have been vilified. Among them are Joseph, whom the Egyptian woman charged with …
He will hide you from the evil tongue, which knows how to persecute unjustly. In fact, they call "scourge" the malice and slander of the tongue. Moreover, you will end up in complete safety.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue. Neither shalt thou be afraid of calamity when it cometh. 'The scourge of the tongue' is the taunting of insults offered. They strike the righteous 'with the scourge of the tongue,' who pursue their deeds with mockery. For oftentimes the tongue, while it utters jibes, recalls from a good deed, and puts itself out like a scourge, in that it cuts the back of the cowardly soul.
Corporeal life is also taken away by natural death, but this does not figure among the trials since the nature of man demands this. However, sometimes there is a personal danger which consists in the loss of the honor which he enjoys in civil life. …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
. " Thou shalt not only be protected from the killing sword of war, but shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, which, like a scourge, is vexing and painful, though not mortal." The best men, and the most inoffensive, cannot, even in their innocency, secure themselves from calumny, reproach, and false accusation.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
Thou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue - The Targum refers this to the incantations of Balaam: “From injury by the tongue of Balaam thou shalt be hidden in the clouds; and thou shalt not fear from the blasting of the Midianites, when it shall come.” Perhaps no evil is more dreadful than the scourge of the tongue: evil-speaking, detraction, backbiting, calumny, slander, tale-bearing, whispering, and scandalizing, are some of the terms which we use when endeavoring to express the baleful influence and effects of that member, which is a world of fire, kindled from the nethermost hell. The Scripture abounds with invectives and execrations against it. See Psa 31:20; Psa 52:2-4; Pro 12:18; Pro 14:3; Jas 3:1-8. Neither shalt thou be afraid - “Thou shouldst have such strong confidence in God, that even in the presence of destruction thou shouldst not fear death,” the God of life and power being with thee.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּשׁ֣וֹט | beshot | in [the] whip of | H7752 → | |
| לָ֭שׁוֹן | lashon | [the] tongue | H3956 → | 117 times |
| תֵּחָבֵ֑א | techave' | you will be hidden | H2244 → | 33 times |
| וְֽלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִירָ֥א | tira' | you will be afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| מִ֝שֹּׁ֗ד | mishod | from destruction | H7701 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָבֽוֹא׃ | yavo' | it will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
בְּשׁ֣וֹטin [the] whip of
beshotH7752 →
לָ֭שׁוֹן[the] tongue
lashonH3956 →117 times
תֵּחָבֵ֑אyou will be hidden
techave'H2244 →33 times
וְֽלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִירָ֥אyou will be afraid
tira'H3372 →315 times
מִ֝שֹּׁ֗דfrom destruction
mishodH7701 →
כִּ֣יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
יָבֽוֹא׃it will come
yavo'H935 →2568 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 55:21His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
it leads to
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 5:3–4
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Psalms 57:4
Through
Psalms 31:20You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.
it leads to
- Psalms 27:5
For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high upon a rock.
- Psalms 32:7
You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
- Psalms 91:1–4
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Psalms 64:2–4
Hide me from the scheming of the wicked, from the mob of workers of iniquity,
- Psalms 27:5
Through
Proverbs 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Proverbs 16:24
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on 12 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); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Didymus the Blind, Commentary on Job; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:21; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, Commentary on Job; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:19-21 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.