Job 5:6
in Job 5For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
KJV
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWe must not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they are from God, nor our sins to fate, for they are from ourselves; so that, whatever trouble we are in, we must own that God sends it upon us and we procure it to ourselves: the former is a reason why we should be very patient, the latter why we should be very penitent, when we are afflicted.
This site's exposition
distress does not spring from the dust
on Job 5:6-7
Eliphaz holds that suffering has a moral cause, since "distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground". The next line, "Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward," states the rule so memorably it has outlived the argument.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And the young birds will raise their feathers over him." This text indicates that sin is the cause of the calamities humans suffer. In a different sense we may understand the text to speak of angels as "sons of the winged ones," sent by God …
The text demonstrates that the curses with which Eliphaz cursed the evildoers … were said for a reason. "Afflictions are fitting for human beings but not for animals." The words may be meant as a comfort. As many people used to say, "What you have …
The Medieval Church3 voices
After he answers these objections, he finally adduces an argument to prove his principal proposition, namely that adversities in this world do not happen to someone except as a punishment for sin. His argument is this. Whatever happens on earth, happens from proper and determined …
The author signifies all the silent and inanimate beings, and all those who are mute and without speech, through the two figures of the earth and the bird. His point is that neither the earth nor a bird can commit any act of iniquity. Because …
There is nothing in the earth without cause. Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. For on this account it often happens that even a slothful man receives ability, that he may be the more deservedly punished for his carelessness, because he scorns to acquaint himself with that which he might attain to without labour. And on this account the earnest person is straitened with slowness of understanding, that he may obtain so much the larger rewards of compensation, the more he toils in anxiety to find out.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Affliction cometh not forth of the dust - If there were not an adequate cause, thou couldst not be so grievously afflicted. Spring out of the ground - It is not from mere natural causes that affliction and trouble come; God’s justice inflicts them upon offending man.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust - Margin, “or iniquity.” The marginal reading here has been inserted from the different meanings attached to the Hebrew word. That word (און 'âven) properly means nothingness, or vanity; then nothingness as to worth, unworthiness, wickedness, iniquity; and then the consequences of iniquity - adversity, calamity, affliction; Psa 55:4; Pro 22:8; Psa 90:10; Job 15:35. The Septuagint renders it κόπος kopos, “labor,” or “trouble.” The Vulgate, Nihil in terra, sine causa - “there is nothing on the earth without a cause.” The general sense is plain. It is, that afflictions are not to be ascribed to chance, or that they are not without intelligent design. They do not come up like thistles, brambles, and thorns, from the unconscious earth. They have a cause. They are under the direction of God. The object of Eliphaz in the statement is, to show to Job that it was improper to complain, and that he should commit his cause to a God of infinite power and wisdom; Job 5:8 ff. Afflictions, Eliphaz says, could not be avoided. Man was born unto them. He ought to expect them, and when they come, they should be submitted to as ordered by an intelligent, wise, and good Being. This is one true ground of consolation in afflictions. They do not come from the unconscious earth: they do not spring up of themselves. Though it is true that man is born to them, and must expect them, yet it is also true that they are ordered in infinite wisdom, and that they always have a design. Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground - The Septuagint renders this, “Nor will affliction spring up from the mountains.”
The words behind it
9 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 |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵצֵ֣א | yetze' | it comes forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מֵעָפָ֣ר | meafar | from [the] dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| אָ֑וֶן | ʾaven | hardship | H205 → | 77 times |
| וּ֝מֵאֲדָמָ֗ה | umeadamah | and from [the] ground | H127 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִצְמַ֥ח | yitzmach | it springs up | H6779 → | 33 times |
| עָמָֽל׃ | ʾamal | trouble | H5999 → | 55 times |
כִּ֤י׀for
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵצֵ֣אit comes forth
yetze'H3318 →1067 times
מֵעָפָ֣רfrom [the] dust
meafarH6083 →110 times
אָ֑וֶןhardship
ʾavenH205 →77 times
וּ֝מֵאֲדָמָ֗הand from [the] ground
umeadamahH127 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִצְמַ֥חit springs up
yitzmachH6779 →33 times
עָמָֽל׃trouble
ʾamalH5999 →55 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
Isaiah 45:7I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:13–14
Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
- Amos 3:6
If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Psalms 75:7
but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Job 2:10
“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
- Isaiah 31:2
Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.
- Ecclesiastes 7:13–14
Through
Job 34:29But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,
it leads to
- Job 23:13
But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
- Job 23:13
Through
Hosea 10:4They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
it leads to
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on 11 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); Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:6-7; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VI; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 5:6-7; 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.