Job 5:8
in Job 5However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But as for me, I would seek unto God, And unto God would I commit my cause;
KJV
I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
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This verse in Job 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(1.) We must by prayer fetch in mercy and grace from God, seek to him as a Father and friend, though he contend with us, as one who is alone able to support and succour us. His favour we must seek when we have lost all we have in the world; to him we must address ourselves as the fountain and Father of all good, all consolation. Is any afflicted? let him pray.
This site's exposition
I would appeal to God
on Job 5:8-9
Eliphaz now gives counsel any reader of the book could follow, "I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him". Gill notes that words for God's unsearchable and wonderful works belong to the vocabulary the whirlwind speeches use in chapters 38 to 41.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Eliphaz says, "You did not devote yourself to prayer. As for me, I would commit my cause to God. You have reassured yourself and ceased from invoking 'the Lord of all things.' This is why the present afflictions befell you." After speaking, Eliphaz glorified God …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Because Eliphaz had proposed that all things which happen on earth have a determined cause and had proved this by the fact that natural things appear to be disposed to an end, because the very fact that natural things exist to attain an end is …
Wherefore I will entreat the Lord, and unto God would I make my address. Which doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number. As though he said in plain words, 'Him I petition, by Whom I know that these things are bestowed.' For if he imagined that he had them by himself, he would not need to make his prayer to God.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I would seek unto God,....
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,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Therefore (as affliction is ordered by God, on account of sin), "I would" have you to "seek unto God" (Isa 8:19;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I would seek unto God - Were I in your place, instead of wasting my time, and irritating my soul with useless complaints, I would apply to my Maker, and, if conscious of my innocence, would confidently commit my cause to him.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I would seek unto God - Our translators have omitted here the adversative particle אוּלם 'ûlâm but, yet, nevertheless, and have thus marred the connection. The meaning of Eliphaz, I take to be, “that since affliction is ordered by an intelligent Being, and does not spring out of the ground, therefore he would commit his cause to God, and look to him.” Jerome has well expressed it, Quam ob rem ego deprecabor Dominum. Some have understood this as meaning that Eliphaz himself was in the habit of committing his cause to God, and that he exhorted Job to imitate his example. But the correct sense is that which regards it as counsel given to Job to look to God because afflictions are the result of intelligent design, and because God had shown himself to be worthy of the confidence of people. The latter point Eliphaz proceeds to argue in the following verses.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אוּלָ֗ם | ʾulam | but | H199 → | 19 times |
| אֲ֭נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֶדְרֹ֣שׁ | ʾedrosh | I will seek | H1875 → | 164 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | <to> | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֵ֑ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אָשִׂ֥ים | ʾasim | I will set | H7760 → | 584 times |
| דִּבְרָתִֽי׃ | divrati | plea my | H1700 → |
אוּלָ֗םbut
ʾulamH199 →19 times
אֲ֭נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֶדְרֹ֣שׁI will seek
ʾedroshH1875 →164 times
אֶל־<to>
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֵ֑לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
אֱ֝לֹהִ֗יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אָשִׂ֥יםI will set
ʾasimH7760 →584 times
דִּבְרָתִֽי׃plea my
divratiH1700 →
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 37:5Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
- 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
- Philippians 4:6–7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more…
- Psalms 55:22
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
- Proverbs 16:3
Through
Psalms 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
it leads to
- Psalms 107:28
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Psalms 34:3–4
Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.
- Psalms 107:28
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; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 8.5.8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.