Job 5:7
in Job 5Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward.
KJV
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
13 notes on this verseMan is born to labour, and the bird to flying. For 'man is born to labour,' in that he, who is furnished with the gift of reason, bethinks himself that it is wholly impossible for him to pass through this season of his pilgrimage without sorrowing. Hence when Paul was recounting his woes to his disciples, he justly added, For yourselves know that we are appointed thereto.
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.
This site's exposition
Yet man is born to trouble
Clarke notes the Hebrew for trouble also means labour, the toil every man is born to. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read distress as God's appointment for sin, springing from man himself and from nothing in the dust of verse 6. Matthew Henry adds sin and trouble rise together like sparks.
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 Church2 voices
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 …
From the fact that he said, "Nothing on earth happens without cause," it is really clear that everything has a natural disposition suited to its own proper operation, from which it is apparent that the natural dispositions of things are not without a cause, but …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Is born - He is so commonly exposed to various troubles, as if he were born to no other end: affliction is become natural to man, and is transmitted from parents, to children, as their constant inheritance; God having allotted this portion to mankind for their sins.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Yet man is born unto trouble,....
There is nothing in this world we are born to, and can truly call our own, but sin and trouble; both are as the sparks that fly upwards. Actual transgressions are the sparks that fly out of the furnace of original corruption; and, being called transgressors from the womb, no wonder that we deal very treacherously, Isa. xlviii.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Yet--rather, "Truly," or, But affliction does not come from chance, but is the appointment of God for sin; that is, the original birth-sin of man. Eliphaz passes from the particular sin and consequent suffering of Job to the universal sin and suffering of mankind.
Yet man is born unto trouble - לעמל leamal, to labor. He must toil and be careful; and if in the course of his labor he meet with trials and difficulties, he should rise superior to them, and not sink as thou dost. As the sparks By upward - ובני רשף יגביהי עוף ubeney resheph yagbihu uph; And the sons of the coal lift up their flight, or dart upwards. And who are the sons of the coal? Are they not bold, intrepid, ardent, fearless men, who rise superior to all their trials; combat what are termed chance and occurrence; succumb under no difficulties; and rise superior to time, tide, fate, and fortune? I prefer this to all the various meanings of the place with which I have met. Coverdale translates, It is man that is borne unto mysery, like as the byrde for to fle. Most of the ancient versions give a similar sense.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yet man is born unto trouble - All this is connected with the sentiment in Job 5:8 ff. The meaning is, that “since afflictions are ordered by an intelligent Being, and since man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward, therefore it is wise to commit our cause to God, and not to complain against him.” Margin, or labor. The word here (עמל ‛âmâl) rather means trouble, or affliction, than labor. The sense is, that as certainly as man is born, so sure is it that he will have trouble.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | everyone | H120 → | 551 times |
| לְעָמָ֣ל | leamal | to trouble | H5999 → | 55 times |
| יוּלָּ֑ד | yulad | he is born | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וּבְנֵי־ | uvenei- | and [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| רֶ֝֗שֶׁף | reshef | flame | H7565 → | |
| יַגְבִּ֥יהוּ | yagbihu | they make high | H1361 → | 34 times |
| עֽוּף׃ | ʾuf | to fly | H5774 → | 26 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אָ֭דָםeveryone
ʾadomH120 →551 times
לְעָמָ֣לto trouble
leamalH5999 →55 times
יוּלָּ֑דhe is born
yuladH3205 →496 times
וּבְנֵי־and [the] children of
uvenei-H1121 →4930 times
רֶ֝֗שֶׁףflame
reshefH7565 →
יַגְבִּ֥יהוּthey make high
yagbihuH1361 →34 times
עֽוּף׃to fly
ʾufH5774 →26 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
1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will…
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:9
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- 2 Timothy 4:18
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
- 1 Peter 5:8–9
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Hebrews 12:4
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
- 2 Peter 2:9
Through
Job 14:1“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:23
Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
- Job 25:4
How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
- Matthew 11:11
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
- Ecclesiastes 2:23
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); 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; Jamieson, Fausset & 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.