Job 12:5

5. There is contempt for misfortune in the thought of him that is at ease,

It awaiteth them who are slipping with their foot.

Zophar’s references for Job’s advantage to the Divine wisdom and might implied that Job was ignorant of all this, and took no account of Job’s past life spent in the fellowship of God and in meditation on His ways. It is to this last that Job refers when he says: I who called on God, &c. He feels keenly the pass he has come to when men inculcate such commonplaces upon him; this feeling he expresses by saying, I am to be, I must be, or have to be a laughing-stock.

Job_12:5 means, But such is the treatment which those who fall into misfortune, even though they be righteous men, receive at the hands of those that are at ease and prosperous. The word rendered “misfortune” or calamity occurs again, ch. Job_30:24, Job_31:29, Pro_24:22. On the slipping of the foot, cf. Psa_38:16; Psa_73:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 12:5 He that is ready to slip with [his] feet [is as] a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

Ver. 5. He that is ready to slip with his feet] He who is in a declining, tottering condition, ready to fall and perish under the burden of his afflictions, though formerly he was looked upon and made use of as a lamp or torch, yet when he is at an under, and brought low, is shamefully slighted by such as have the world at will; like as a torch when wasted and waxen short is cast out of the hands, and trodden on with the feet of him that held it. The holiest men, if afflicted, do but smother instead of shining. When Christ himself was a man of sorrows, he was therefore despised and rejected of men, who hid, as it were, their faces from him, and esteemed him not, Isa 53:3. The prodigal’s elder brother speaks scornfully of him, because poor, Luk 15:30, "This thy son." He saith not, This my brother, &c. Gregory saith, that the poor just man is here compared to a lamp extinct, because he shineth inwardly by the virtue of an upright heart; but outwardly is as it were extinct, because there is nothing outward to commend him; no glorious apparel, no goodly houses, &c.; whence they are slighted by the rich wretches of this world. But such a lamp (saith he, following the Vulgate translation) is set for an appointed time; that is, the day of judgment, when he shall shine most brightly, even as the sun, &c., when the world’s favourites shall be thrust into utter darkness.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 12:5. He that is ready to slip with his feet — The just man, last mentioned, who is ready to fall, or has already fallen into trouble; is as a lamp despised — That is, like a lamp or torch, which, while it shines clearly in a dark night, is very useful and comfortable; but when it is almost extinct, or when the light of the morning approaches, is neglected and despised, as that which is unnecessary, troublesome, and offensive. So the same man, who, while his feet stood fast in a prosperous condition, was magnified and honoured by all, and he shone as a lamp; when he appears to be ready to slip with his feet, and to fall into adversity and trouble, is looked upon as a lamp going out, or as the snuff of a candle, which we throw to the ground and tread upon: Despised in the thought of him that is at ease — That is, in the opinion of a man that lives in great ease and outward happiness; which generally make people forget and despise those who are in affliction. Heath interprets the verse thus: In calamity contempt is ready in the thought of the insolent, for those whose feet are tottering. The words being transposed in the English version, Chappelow thinks, if they be taken in the order in which they occur in the Hebrew, their meaning becomes more manifest. It is thus: A lamp, despised in the opinion of an indolent man, is prepared for the slips of the foot: that is, he who is a lamp or light to enlighten and instruct other people, though despised by those who are indolent, as if they wanted no instruction, is prepared for the several accidents of life, (the trials or troubles,) which are as natural and common to man as it is natural for him sometimes to stumble or slip with his foot. Here also Job’s words are general, without a particular application to himself, though doubtless he spoke them with reference to his own distressed circumstances.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As the rich esteem not a light, or torch that goeth out, so is he despised that falleth from prosperity to adversity.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Rather, "a torch" (lamp) is an object of contempt in the thoughts of him who rests securely (is at ease), though it was prepared for the falterings of the feet [UMBREIT] (Pro 25:19). "Thoughts" and "feet" are in contrast; also rests "securely," and "falterings." The wanderer, arrived at his night-quarters, contemptuously throws aside the torch which had guided his uncertain steps through the darkness. As the torch is to the wanderer, so Job to his friends. Once they gladly used his aid in their need; now they in prosperity mock him in his need.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(5) Is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.—This rendering conveys no sense. The meaning is either that the lamp or torch prepared for feet tottering and uncertain in the darkness is disregarded and rejected by those who are at ease, and need no such aid; in which case one does not see very clearly why Job compares himself to such a torch: or, more probably, there is contempt for calamity in the thoughts of him that is at ease, it is ready at hand for them who are tottering with their feet.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The tabernacles of robbers prosper,.... Such as the Chaldeans and Sabeans, who had robbed Job of his substance, and filled their houses with the spoils of others, and lived in the greatest fulness and prosperity, and whom he might have in his view; and the like is what has been since observed by good men, and has been a trial and temptation to them, not knowing well how to reconcile this to the justice and wisdom of God in providence, yet so it is, a fact that cannot be denied, see Psa 73:2;

and they that provoke God are secure; all sin is abominable to God, contrary to his nature, will, and law, and so provoking; yet there are some sins that are more provoking than others, as idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, robbery, rapine, and oppression, and the like, as well as attended with more aggravating circumstances; and yet many who are guilty of such enormous crimes, and God provoking iniquities, are "secure", live in the greatest tranquillity and safety, free from the incursions, invasions, and insults of others: "their houses", as Job elsewhere says, "are safe from fear", Job 21:9;

into whose hand God bringeth abundantly; an abundance of the good things of this world, who have as much or more than heart can wish; whose belly is filled with hid treasure, whose grounds and fields bring forth plentifully, that they have no room to bestow their fruits; this, as it is an aggravation of their sin in provoking the God of their mercies, who is so liberal and bountiful to them, so it is the more full and express for the point in hand Job is confuting. Some, as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom, understand this of idol makers and idol worshippers, and render the words, "who makes a god with his hand", or "carries a god in his hand" (l), and worships it; which others interpret of his doing what he will with God, having him, as it were, in his hand, or reckoning his hands his god, and thinks to do what he pleases (m).

(l) "quique deum portant vel portat in manu sua", Tigurine version, Munster; so Bolducius, De Dieu, Schultens. (m) Schmidt, &c.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He that is ready to slip with his feet - The man whose feet waver or totter; that is, the man in adversity; see Pro 25:19. A man in prosperity is represented as standing firm; one in adversity as wavering, or falling; see Psa 73:2.

But as for me, my feet were almost gone;

My steps had well nigh slipped.

There is much difficulty in this passage, and it has by no means been removed by the labor of critics. The reader may consult Rosenmuller, Good, and Schultens, on the verse, for a more full attempt to illustrate its meaning. Dr. Good, after Reiske and Parkhurst, has offered an explanation by rendering the whole passage thus:

The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock to the proud,

A derision amidst the sunshine of the prosperous,

While ready to slip with his foot.

It does not appear to me, however, that this translation can be fairly educed from the Hebrew text, and I am disposed to acquiesce in the more common and obvious interpretation. According to that, the idea is, that a man in adversity, when failing from a high condition of honor, is regarded as an almost extinguished lamp, that is now held in contempt, and is cast away. When the torch was blazing, it was regarded as of value; when nearly extinguished, it would be regarded as worthless, and would be cast away. So when a man was in prosperity, he would be looked up to as a guide and example. In adversity, his counsels would be rejected, and he would be looked upon with contempt. Nothing can be more certain or more common than the fact here adverted to. The rich and the great are looked up to with respect and veneration. Their words and actions have an influence which those of no other men have. When they begin to fall, others are willing to hasten their fall. Long cherished but secret envy begins to show itself; those who wish to rise rejoice in their ruin, and they are looked upon with contempt in proportion to their former honor, rank, and power. They are regarded as an extinguished torch - of no value, and are cast away.

In the thought - In the mind, or the view.

Of him that is at ease - In a state of comfort and prosperity. He finds no sympathy from them. Job doubtless meant to apply this to his friends. They were then at ease, and were prosperous. Not suffering pain, and not overwhelmed with poverty, they now looked with the utmost composure on him - as they would on a torch which was burned out, and which there would be no hope of rekindling.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The lamp. Such is the just man, who under affliction is (Haydock) exposed to the ridicule of men who live at their ease. --- For. Hebrew, "to fall." (Calmet) Septuagint, "It was appointed for me to fall under others at the time fixed."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. The just man last mentioned, who is upon the brink of the pit or grave, ready to fall into mischief, so as never to rise again in this world, which is my case, and the occasion of their scorn and contempt.

As a lamp despised, i.e. like a lamp or torch, which whilst it shines clearly and in a dark night is very useful and comfortable; but when it draws towards an end, and is nigh extinct, and in the light, is neglected and despised, as that which is unnecessary, and troublesome, and offensive. So the same man, who, when his feet stand fast in a prosperous condition, is magnified and adored by all, when his feet slip or stumble, as the phrase is Psa 94:18; Jer 13:16, when he is in misery, is commonly forsaken and despised.

In the thought of him that is at ease, i.e. in the opinion of a man that lives in great ease and outward happiness, which generally makes persons to forget and despise those who are in affliction. But these words are a little otherwise rendered, and that agreeably to the order of the words in the Hebrew text, He (which is easily understood out of Job 12:4, the just and upright man) is as a torch despised in the opinion or thought (as this or the like words coming from the same Hebrew root are used, Psa 146:4; Dan 6:3; Jon 1:6. Or, because of the splendour; for so this root and its derivatives elsewhere signify, as Son 5:14; Jer 5:28; Eze 27:19. And either of these significations agree well with the place. Or, compared with the splendour or greater lustre and glory) of him that lives in tranquillity; he (i.e. the just man) is (or, because he is; for this may be the reason of the contempt) ready to slip with his foot, i.e. ready to perish.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. A lamp despised — All interpreters acknowledge the obscurity of this verse to be exceedingly great. Schultens speaks of more than ten different opinions. “The words of this text are dark,” says the quaint Caryl, “and there are not a few who make the lamp the darkest word in it.” Rosenmuller and others render it: “A despised torch, in the thought of one happy, is he who is ready to slip with his feet.” Friends were meant for use. When no longer serviceable they are thrown away like burned out torches. Prosperity thrusts away the scaffolding by the help of which the edifice was built. Thus these friends basked in the light of Job’s success — but now they treat him as they would a useless torch. Such is the way of the world in every age — “to give to the tottering still another push.” — Dillmann. But most critics properly regard the le of לפיד(torch) as a prefix, and the pidh as meaning misfortune. For misfortune (there is) scorn in the thought of the secure; (scorn) ready for those who waver in their steps. In like mariner Ewald, Conant, Hirtzel, etc. In the last clause Dillmann and Furst follow Eichhorn in rendering nakhon, (ready,) a blow or destruction.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease; rather, as in the Revised Version, I n the thought of Aim that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it (i e. contempt) is ready for them whose foot dippeth. The meaning is, "I am despised and scorned by you who sit at ease, because my foot has slipped, and I have fallen into misfortune.

Vers. 5-13. Job to Zophar: 2. The dogma of the friends demolished.

I BY THE FACTS OF EXPERIENCE.

1. The adverse fortunes of the good. Exemplified in Job"s own case, which showed

(1) that a man might be upright and yet lull into misfortune;

(2) that a person enjoying confidential relations with Heaven, calling upon God and receiving answers, might sink so low in the mire of adversity as to become a scorn and a byword, and be regarded as a sort of infidel and outcast; and

(3) that the largest and heaviest portion of a good man"s affliction might even come from the good themselves, from those who enjoyed the reputation at least of being religious, from his neighbours and friends, who were themselves sitting in the sunshine of prosperity. And the entire veracity of these deductions is abundantly confirmed by the concurrent testimony of all past ages, by the histories, e.g. of Abel, of Joseph, of David, of Christ; while it is sustained by the voice of all contemporary observation.

2. The prosperous fortunes of the bad. Apt illustrations were at hand in the seemingly unchanging success which waited on the footsteps of those marauding caterans with which Arabia Deserta was overrun.

(1) As to character, they were notoriously wicked, in fact, flagrantly immoral, outrageously ungodly. They were:

(a) Robbers of men, violent and rapacious plunderers, who put might for right, "men of the arm", (Job_22:8) acting on "The good old rule, the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can; like the Nephilim and Gibborim of Noah"s day, who deluged the world with immorality and violence (Gen_6:4)

(b) Defiers of God, impudent and audacious sinners who openly and presumptuously trampled on Heaven"s laws in order to obtain their unhallowed will, like the tower-builders of Babel, (Gen_11:4) like Pharaoh, (Exo_5:2) like Sennacherib, (2Ki_18:19-35) like wicked men generally, whose foolish tongues "talk loftily," and "set themselves against the heavens," and "walk through the earth", (Psa_73:8, Psa_73:9) and whose carnal minds, inflamed with enmity against God, (Rom_8:7) conspire against the Lord and his Anointed. (Psa_2:2)

(c) Worshippers of the sword, who had no deity but the dagger which they carried in their bands, as the glutton has no god but his belly; (Php_3:19) who, like Lamech, made ballads to their rapiers; (Gen_4:23) like Laban, regarded brute force as the supreme power of the world; (Gen_31:29) and like the ancient Chaldeans, took military strength for their god. (Hab_1:11)

(2) As to fortune"it was as widely removed from that of the virtuous and pious as it could welt be.

(a) Their tents were peaceful. That is, their habitations were tranquil, their families were united and numerous; their domestic felicity was deep. (cf. Job_21:8-11 Psa_17:14 Psa_49:11)

(b) Their persons were secure. Calamity seldom, almost never, overtook them. Winds and hurricanes that desolated the righteous left them untouched. (Psa_73:4)

(c) Their baskets were full. Retaining the Authorized Version (Carey and others), we understand Job to have said that God brought to them abundantly with his own hand, as if he had taken them under his especial protection.

II BY THE TEACHINGS OF THE CREATURES.

1. The teachers. The entire circle of animate and inanimate creation everything on the earth, in the air, and in the sea. The natural and the supernatural, the visible and the invisible, the material and the spiritual, the mundane and the heavenly, are in God"s universe so indissolubly linked together, and so wisely adjusted to each other, that the one is a picture or reflection of the other, the earthly and material an emblem of the heavenly and spiritual. Hence all nature is full of subtle analogies to things and thoughts existing in the realms above it the intellectual, the moral, the spiritual, the human, the celestial. Hence the wise student of nature may find "Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything. ("As You Like It," act 2. sc. 1.) Hence man is frequently counselled by Scripture writers to learn wisdom from the creatures. "Solomon sends us to the ant; Agur to the coney, the locust, the spider; Isaiah to the ox and the ass; Jeremiah to the stork, the turtle-dove, the crane, the swallow; and the heavenly Teacher himself to the fowls of the air" (Thomas). Of all teachers Christ stood indisputably first in interpreting the hidden thoughts of nature.

2. The teaching. While the creatures say much to man concerning God, his almighty power, unerring wisdom, unwearied goodness, and ever-watchful care; and concerning duty, reminding man that he, like them, should act in harmony with the laws of his nature, and in obedience to the will of his Creator, (Psa_148:7-13) they are here introduced as instructors on the subject of Divine providence. Among the lower creatures phenomena exist analogous to those above described as occurring in the higher world of men. How often is the harmless lamb devoured by the wolf, the kid by the panther, the gazelle by the tiger, the patient ass by the ferocious lion! Are not the eagle, the vulture, and the hawk but as rapacious robbers swooping down upon the dove the sparrow, and the robin? Can greater plunderers be found than the vast aquatic monsters, the whale, the shark, and the crocodile, which roam through the deep, striking terror among the lesser tribes that haunt the seas? And yet "who knoweth not in all these that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" Well, if these things occur under God"s government among the lower creatures, why, asks Job, might similar occurrences not transpire under the same government among men?

III BY THE SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS.

1. The ground of their authority. The weight attached by Zophar, and indeed allowed by Job himself, to the maxims of antiquity, was derived from the fact that they were the concentrated wisdom of antecedent ages, which had been carefully elaborated by long-lived sages as the result of their individual and collective experience. (vide homiletics on Job_8:8-22)

2. The limit of their authority. Granting that these sagacious apothegms and profound parables were fairly entitled to be heard, Job contended that they were not possessed of absolute authority. They were not to be accepted with unquestioning submission, but with wise and intelligent discrimination, the ear, and of course "the judgment which sits behind the ear," having been given to try words as the palate does food. And even at the best they were only human judgments, the thoughts of long-lived patriarchs, of much-observing as well as deep-reflecting sages, but not at all to be compared with the thoughts of him with whom is "wisdom and strength, counsel and understanding" (ver. 13). They were, therefore, not to be accepted as final interpretations of the facts of providence, which were the concrete expressions of eternal Wisdom, as much as these traditional maxims were the abstract utterances of patriarchal wisdom. Man"s thoughts never can be more than a finite projection, or contracted image, of God"s. Hence the danger of setting man"s thoughts in place of God"s, investing confessions, catechisms, and symbolical books generally with the authority which belongs only to the supreme revelation of God"s mind. Hence also the folly of attempting to crush the boundless realm of God"s truth into the narrow dimensions of any formula, however beautiful or well-arranged, however strictly scientific or profoundly philosophic. The fundamental principles of all intelligent Protestantism may be summed up in two thoughts: man"s formulas are not the exact measure of God"s revelations; "prove all things, and hold fast that which is good.

3. The verdict of their authority. If rightly discriminated, the voice of patriarchal wisdom will be found to be on Job"s side; in support of which assertion he proceeds, in the next section, to recite other sayings of antiquity, which certainly give countenance rather to his than to their view of God"s providential government of the world and mankind. So perhaps it will be generally found that the best thoughts of men in all ages harmonize with the thoughts of God as expressed both in the Bible and in providence.

Learn:

1. "He that is first in his own cause seemeth right; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.

2. "A half-truth is sometimes as dangerous as a whole lie.

3. "In contemplation of created things, by steps we may ascend to God.

4. It is not true that "man is the measure of the universe.

5. "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in man"s philosophy.

6. "That alone is true antiquity which embraces the antiquity of the world, and not that which would refer us back to a period when the world was young.

Contempt for the unfortunate.

Like Jesus, when he prayed for his murderers, with the plea that they knew not what they were doing, (Luk_23:34) though in much less perfect magnanimity, Job sees some excuse for the conduct of his censors. He finds that conduct to be an instance of a common rule of action, viz. that the prosperous despise the unfortunate.

I WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE TROUBLE WE DO NOT SHARE. Job"s vast woe was quite beyond the comprehension of his would-be sympathizers. They thought that they had fathomed its depths, and that they were in a position to adjudicate upon its merits. But they had scarcely skimmed its surface. They did not know what Job suffered; much less did they see why God had permitted him to be thus afflicted. The happy look flora their sunny homes on the dark abodes of misery, but they cannot understand the sorrows they have never tasted. They who have always had their wants satisfied simply do not know what hunger and thirst are. The unbroken family cannot conceive of the agony of bereavement

II WE ARE TEMPTED TO DESPISE THE TROUBLE WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND. As We have not the faculty to dive into its mystery, it seems to us a shallow thing. Therefore, when the sufferers appear to make much of it, we are inclined to think that they are exaggerating it; that they are giving way to it in a cowardly weakness; that they are indecently demonstrative or even shamming hypocritically. The rich are too often ready to regard the very poor as whining impostors. They who have never felt the pangs of conscience look with contempt on the penitent"s tears.

III WE MAY USE OUR OWN TROUBLE AS A MEANS OF STIMULATING OUR SYMPATHY WITH THE TROUBLES OF OTHERS. Possibly this is one reason why it is sent to us. We have been too narrow and selfish in our view of it, thinking it must be confined to some effect directly and solely beneficial to ourselves. But it may be largely intended to prepare us for our work in helping others in trouble. The widow can sympathize with the widow; the poor show most kindness to the poor. The experience of the prostration of a great illness enables a person to understand and help sick people. Thus sorrow is a talent to be used for the good of others, by being invested in sympathy.

IV THE SORROWS OF CHRIST HELPED TO MAKE HIM A PERFECT SAVIOUR. If Christ understands anything, it is sorrow; for was he not "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief"? Therefore the sufferer who is despised by his prosperous brethren can turn with assurance of sympathy to the Saviour of men. Christ not only understands sorrow, he knows how to use it. He converted his cross into a lever for raising a fallen world. He will help his suffering disciples to despise their own sorrows while sympathizing with the sorrows of others. Strong in his victory over sin, sorrow, and death, Christ for ever sanctifies suffering. While the superficial may despise it, true Christians can now see in it a means of heavenly grace. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Slip with his feet - And fall into trouble; tho' he had formerly shone as a lamp, he is then looked upon as a lamp going out, as the snuff of a candle, which we throw to the ground and tread upon; and accordingly is despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A brand of contempt The fire of Gehinnom stands for one who is tranquil in his thoughts, saying, “I will have peace.”

prepared The one who is tranquil in his thoughts is destined to be among those who stumble, whose foot slips.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.