Job 5:6

Eliphaz, having touched Job in a very tender part, in mentioning both the loss of his estate and the death of his children as the just punishment of his sin, that he might not drive him to despair, here begins to encourage him, and puts him in a way to make himself easy. Now he very much changes his voice (Gal 4:20), and speaks in the accents of kindness, as if he would atone for the hard words he had given him.

I. He reminds him that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be attributed to second causes: It doth not come forth of the dust, nor spring out of the ground, as the grass doth, Job 5:6. It doth not come of course, at certain seasons of the year, as natural productions do, by a chain of second causes. The proportion between prosperity and adversity is not so exactly observed by Providence as that between day and night, summer and winter, but according to the will and counsel of God, when and as he thinks fit. Some read it, Sin comes not forth out of the dust, nor iniquity of the ground. If men be bad, they must not lay the blame upon the soil, the climate, or the stars, but on themselves. If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. We 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.

II. He reminds him that trouble and affliction are what we have all reason to expect in this world: Man is brought to trouble (Job 5:7), not as man (had he kept his innocency he would have been born to pleasure), but as sinful man, as born of a woman (Job 14:1), who was in the transgression. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. Even those that are born to honour and estate are yet born to trouble in the flesh. In our fallen state it has become natural to us to sin, and the natural consequence of that is affliction, Rom 5:12. 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 48:8. Such too is the frailty of our bodies, and the vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles also thence arise as naturally as the sparks fly upwards - so many are they, so thick and so fast does one follow another. Why then should we be surprised at our afflictions as strange, or quarrel with them as hard, when they are but what we are born to? Man is born to labour (so it is in the margin), is sentenced to eat his bread in the sweat of his face, which should inure him to hardness, and make him bear his afflictions the better.

III. He directs him how to behave himself under his affliction (Job 5:8): I would seek unto God; surely I would: so it is in the original. Here is, 1. A tacit reproof to Job for not seeking to God, but quarrelling with him: "Job, if I had been in thy case, I would not have been so peevish and passionate as thou art. I would have acquiesced in the will of God." It is easy to say what we would do if we were in such a one's case; but when it comes to the trial, perhaps it will be found not so easy to do as we say. 2. Very good and seasonable advice to him, which Eliphaz transfers to himself in a figure: "For my part, the best way I should think I could take, if I were in thy condition, would be to apply to God." Note, We should give our friends no other counsel than what we would take ourselves if we were in their case, that we may be easy under our afflictions, may get good by them, and may see a good issue of them. (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. It is heart's-ease, a salve for every sore. (2.) We must by patience refer ourselves and our cause to him: To God would I commit my cause; having spread it before him, I would leave it with him; having laid it at his feet, I would lodge it in his hand. "Here I am, let the Lord do with me as seemeth him good." If our cause be indeed a good cause, we need not fear committing it to God, for he is both just and kind. Those that would seek so as to speed must refer themselves to God.

IV. He encourages him thus to seek to God, and commit his cause to him. It will not be in vain to do so, for he is one in whom we shall find effectual help.

1. He recommends to his consideration God's almighty power and sovereign dominion. In general, he doeth great things (Job 5:9), great indeed, for he can do any thing, he doth do every thing, and all according to the counsel of his own will - great indeed, for the operations of his power are, (1.) Unsearchable, and such as can never be fathomed, can never be found out from the beginning to the end, Ecc 3:11. The works of nature are mysterious; the most curious searches come far short of full discoveries and the wisest philosophers have owned themselves at a loss. The designs of Providence ar much more deep and unaccountable, Rom 11:33. (2.) Numerous, and such as can never be reckoned up. He doeth great things without number; his power is never exhausted, nor will all his purposes ever be fulfilled till the end of time. (3.) They are marvellous, and such as never can be sufficiently admired; eternity itself will be short enough to be spent in the admiration of them. Now, by the consideration of this, Eliphaz intends, [1.] To convince Job of his fault and folly in quarrelling with God. We must not pretend to pass a judgment upon his works, for they are unsearchable and above our enquiries; nor must we strive with our Maker, for he will certainly be too hard for us, and is able to crush us in a moment. [2.] To encourage Job to seek unto God, and to refer his cause to him. What more encouraging than to see that he is one to whom power belongs? He can do great things and marvellous for our relief, when we are brought ever so low.

2. He gives some instances of God's dominion and power.

(1.) God doeth great things in the kingdom of nature: He gives rain upon the earth (Job 5:10), put here for all the gifts of common providence, all the fruitful seasons by which he filleth our hearts with food and gladness, Act 14:17. Observe, When he would show what great things God does he speaks of his giving rain, which, because it is a common thing, we are apt to look upon as a little thing, but, if we duly consider both how it is produced and what is produced by it, we shall see it to be a great work both of power and goodness.

(2.) He doeth great things in the affairs of the children of men, not only enriches the poor and comforts the needy, by the rain he sends (Job 5:10), but, in order to the advancing of those that are low, he disappoints the devices of the crafty; for Job 5:11 is to be joined to Job 5:12. Compare with Luk 1:51-53. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, and so hath exalted those of low degree, and filled the heart with good things. See,

[1.] How he frustrates the counsels of the proud and politic, Job 5:12-14. There is a supreme power that manages and overrules men who think themselves free and absolute, and fulfils its own purposes in spite of their projects. Observe, First, The froward, that walk contrary to God and the interests of his kingdom, are often very crafty; for they are the seed of the old serpent that was noted for his subtlety. They think themselves wise, but, at the end, will be fools. Secondly, The Froward enemies of God's kingdom have their devices, their enterprises, and their counsels, against it, and against the loyal faithful subjects of it. They are restless and unwearied in their designs, close in their consultations, high in their hopes, deep in their politics, and fast-linked in their confederacies, Psa 2:1, Psa 2:2. Thirdly, God easily can, and (as far as is for his glory) certainly will, blast and defeat all the designs of his and his people's enemies. How were the plots of Ahithophel, Sanballat, and Haman baffled! How were the confederacies of Syria and Ephraim against Judah, of Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, against God's Israel, the kings of the earth and the princes against the Lord and against his anointed, broken! The hands that have been stretched out against God and his church have not performed their enterprise, nor have the weapons formed against Sion prospered. Fourthly, That which enemies have designed for the ruin of the church has often turned to their own ruin (Job 5:13): He takes the wise in their own craftiness, and snares them in the work of their own hands, Psa 7:15, Psa 7:16; Psa 9:15, Psa 9:16. This is quoted by the apostle (Co1 3:19) to show how the learned men of the heathen were befooled by their own vain philosophy. Fifthly, When God infatuates men they are perplexed, and at a loss, even in those things that seem most plain and easy (Job 5:14): They meet with darkness even in the day-time: nay (as in the margin), They run themselves into darkness by the violence and precipitation of their own counsels. See Job 12:20, Job 12:24, Job 12:25.

[2.] How he favours the cause of the poor and humble, and espouses that. First, He exalts the humble, Job 5:11. Those whom proud men contrive to crush he raises from under their feet, and sets them in safety, Psa 12:5. The lowly in heart, and those that mourn, he advances, comforts, and makes to dwell on high, in the munitions of rocks, Isa 33:16. Sion's mourners are the sealed ones, marked for safety, Eze 9:4. Secondly, He delivers the oppressed, Job 5:15. The designs of the crafty are to ruin the poor. Tongue, and hand, and sword, and all, are at work in order to this; but God takes under his special protection those who, being poor and unable to help themselves, being his poor and devoted to his praise, have committed themselves to him. He saves them from the mouth that speaks hard things against them and the hand that does hard things against them; for he can, when he pleases, tie the tongue and wither the hand. The effect of this is (Job 5:16), 1. That weak and timorous saints are comforted: So the poor, who began to despair, has hope. The experiences of some are encouragement to others to hope the best in the worst of times; for it is the glory of God to send help to the helpless and hope to the hopeless. 2. That daring threatening sinners are confounded: Iniquity stops her mouth, being surprised at the strangeness of the deliverance, ashamed of its enmity against those who appear to be the favourites of Heaven, mortified at the disappointment, and compelled to acknowledge the justice of God's proceedings, having nothing to object against them. Those that domineered over God's poor, that frightened them, menaced them, and falsely accused them, will not have a word to say against them when God appears for them. See Psa 76:8, Psa 76:9; Isa 26:11; Mic 7:16.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Job 5:6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

Ver. 6. Although addiction cometh not forth of the dust] It cometh not by fate or blind fortune, it haps not as it may that men suffer. Philistines indeed will say, haply, It is a chance, 1Sa 6:9, a common occurrence, that had a time to come in, and must have a time to go in; but every Naomi will in such case conclude, "The hand of the Lord is gone out against me," Rth 1:13, and carry her sails accordingly, Job 5:20-21; and every good soul will cry out, I will bear the indignatiou of the Lord (who is the efficient cause of all my miseries), because I have sinned against him, which is the meritorious cause. The word here rendered affliction signifieth also iniquity; and well it may, since they are tied together with chains of adamant, as that heathen said; Flagitium et flagellum sunt sicut acus et filum, saith another. Man weaves a spider’s web of sin out of his own bowels, saith a third; and then he is entangled in the same web; the troubles which ensnare and wrap about him are twisted with his own fingers. "Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him?" Amo 3:5. Turdus sibi malum cacat, Of the blackbird’s dung is made the bird lime whereby he is taken; so out of the dung of men’s sins are made the lime twigs of their punishment.

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_5:6-7

Affliction cometh not forth of the dust.

Human suffering

Affliction comet, h not forth of the dust, nor doth trouble spring out of the ground. The liability of man to suffering is one of the most palpable truths addressed to our observation or experience, and at the same time one of the most affecting that can call forth the susceptibilities of a well-regulated mind. Innumerable and diversified are the immediate or proximate causes from which these sorrows spring. The study of human suffering is unquestionably a melancholy one, and to some it may appear not only gloomy but also useless. It is therefore, above all things, expedient that we labour to extract from suffering its due improvement, as forming one part, and an important part, of the dealings towards us of a God of mercy--a God who has engaged to make all things work together for the good of His people.

I. Is there anything in us of ourselves that naturally or necessarily exposes us to suffering? The text at least insinuates that there is. It is strong even in its negative statement, and replete with meaning, when it informs us that affliction cometh not of the dust. Reason tells us that in ourselves there must be some provoking cause of the woes we feel. We must have offended our Maker. Revelation settles this matter on a surer basis. The great fact is, that by sin the human race have purchased sorrow, and by their guilt they have provoked it. Never has there lived and died a man whose history has not furnished evidences innumerable of the dependence of sorrow upon sin. In many instances we can trace up a definite affliction to a definite sin. These instances concern both individuals and nations.

II. Has God any benevolent end in view in infusing affliction so copiously into the cup of our temporal lot? That suffering, while it traces itself to sin, as its provoking cause, is measured out by the God of heaven, and is decidedly under His control, at once as to degree and duration, is a truth which we deem it unnecessary to pause in proving. How are we to reconcile the Divine agency in the matter with the goodness and the love which, while they characterise, at the same time constitute, the glory and the grandeur of His nature?

1. God often sends afflictions to His enemies for the purpose of melting their hearts and subduing them to Himself. Even in the natural world, and in the conduct of men, we are conversant with such a thing as the production of real good out of seeming evil. Every day and hour God is making the dispensations of His providence, more especially afflictive dispensations, to subserve, to pave the way for, and to promote, the purposes of His grace. As God pulverises, purifies, and invigorates the weary soil by the keen blasts, the nipping frosts, and the drifting snows of winter, thus preparing it for a favourable reception of the seed by the husbandman in the spring, so does God not unfrequently, by the rude storm of adversity or the chilling visitation of affliction, soften, melt down, and prepare the barren hearts of the children of men for the good seed of the Word of truth.

2. God often sends affliction to His enemies with a view to their conversion into friends. And when He visits it upon His people, it is for the purpose of promoting their improvement and advancement in the Divine life. Even in the case of the wicked, Gods judgments are not necessarily of a penal character. But uniformly, and without exception, in the case of His genuine people, affliction is sent in love. And inconceivably various are the benevolent ends affliction is calculated to subserve and promote. Learn that we should be humble under affliction. The simple reflection that it springs from and is attributable to our own disobedience and guilt should be sufficient to summon up and to keep alive this emotion. We should also learn to be resigned when the hand of the Almighty is laid upon us. And in every case we should seek to improve affliction for Gods glory and our own good. (W. Craig.)

The uses of suffering

It is a common thing for men to look upon pain as wholly evil. But deeper reflection shows that suffering is not thus purely evil--a thing to be utterly feared and hated. It is often an instrument employed for good.

I. Suffering cannot be wholly evil.

1. A life without trouble would be one of the worst things for man.

2. Nothing which is a necessity of our nature is utterly evil. Suffering is one of those things which no one can avoid in this imperfect state of existence.

3. The innocent often suffer. A great deal of pain is endured which cannot be deemed retributive, cannot be termed punishment. Look at the animal creation, and at the sorrows which men unjustly endure--the cruel wrongs of poor slaves, innocent prisoners, and oppressed peoples.

4. The most highly gifted natures are the most susceptible of pain.

5. Jesus Christ condescended to endure suffering.

II. Suffering answers useful purposes.

1. It is a motive power in the development of civilisation.

2. It is one of the great regenerative forces of society.

3. One of the most beneficent uses consists in its preventive power.

4. It is the necessary condition of sacrifice.

5. It affords scope for the exercise of the passive virtues,

6. It will make the joys of heaven more rich and sweet. Remember that all discipline benefits or injures according to the spirit in which we receive it. (T. W. Maya, M. A.)

The troubles of life Divinely appointed

I. This is a troublesome world.

1. The elements of which the world is composed are not only troublesome, but often destructive to mankind.

2. The great changes which take place in the world from year to year render it not only troublesome, but very distressing and destructive to its inhabitants. Every one of the four seasons of the year brings with it peculiar trials, labours, dangers, and diseases.

3. Many parts of the world are filled with a vast variety of animals, which are extremely hostile and troublesome to mankind.

4. This world is full of evil, on account of the moral depravity which universally prevails among its human inhabitants. Man is the greatest enemy of man.

5. This is a troublesome world on account of the heavy and complicated calamities which are inflicted by the immediate hand of God.

II. Why has God ordained this state of things? He could have made this world as free from trouble as any other world now is, or even will be. There is reason to believe that God framed the world in view of the apostasy of Adam, and adapted it to the foreseen state of his sinful posterity.

1. God ordained this to be a troublesome world, because mankind deserve trouble.

2. To wean mankind from it.

3. To prepare those who live in it for their future and final state. Improvement--

(1) Since God has ordained this to be a troublesome world, it is a very great favour that He has given us His Word, which unfolds His wise and holy designs in making and governing all things.

(2) God has wise and good reasons for not making this world any more troublesome than it is.

(3) As all are born to trouble, some are not so much more happy than others as we imagine.

(4) It is folly and presumption in any to expect that they shall escape the common evils of life, and enjoy uninterrupted prosperity and happiness.

(5) We ought to live in the universal exercise of sympathy and compassion, and in submission to the will of God.

(6) All who live in this troublesome world should be truly religious. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

On affliction

I. Affliction is the appointment of providence. What the vanity of false science would ascribe to second causes is, by sound observation, as well as by the sacred writings, attributed to the providence of God. It is neither the effect of chance nor the result of blind necessity. Here complete happiness is not the destined portion of mortals. On this point personal experience will not contradict the report of general observation. We are born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. The present is a probationary stage. In the first stage of our being we are subjected to moral discipline. To a probationary state, suffering is requisite.

II. Affliction is intended to improve our nature and promote our happiness. It contributes much to the formation of a character that is amiable and respectable. It purifies the soul, strengthens mutual sympathy, and makes us men of a milder nature. It produces pious resignation and humility. Adversity is a happy means of correcting the haughty disposition. Affliction has often humbled the mighty. It begets fortitude. A brave and generous people, becoming affluent and luxurious, lose their martial intrepidity and their virtue. They who struggle with hazards and hardships acquire the highest energy of soul--a firm, intrepid spirit, that is not disquieted by apprehensions and alarms, nor even appalled by danger which threatens existence. Affliction does us good by moderating our attachment to the world. When the angel of adversity takes away those gifts from the prosperous which engrossed their affection, it is fixed more on the Giver. Affliction is the salutary correction of a Father, who intends it to be ultimately productive of the happiness of His children. The Lord makes good to arise out of evil. Present trouble is connected with future happiness. Then sorrow not as those who have no hope. Never indulge gloomy views of human life, nor murmur at the chastening of the Almighty. Always act a virtuous part. It is guilt, and guilt alone, which arms affliction with the stings of scorpions. Be virtuous, and you shall never have the bitterness of remorse to add to the severity of misfortune. (T. Laurie, D. D.)

On afflictions

Why is misery permitted to enter into the creation, to interrupt its harmony, to deface its beauty, and counteract the plan of the Creator? Some heathens have inferred that the world cannot be under the care and direction of an all-powerful Superintendent. Some philosophers say the souls of men had existed in a former state, and the evils and sufferings of this life were to be considered as inflictions for crimes committed in their state of pre-existence. Others framed the hypothesis of two supreme, co-eternal, and co-equal beings, acting in opposition to each other. The sacred writings give a different account of those evils that afflict mankind. It is in them taught that the degenerate state of our nature requires Such correction and discipline, such an intermixture of good and evil as we now observe and experience in the world. Our present state of being is a state of trial or school of virtue. Afflictions, far from being indications of Gods neglecting and disregarding His creatures, are expressions of His paternal care and affection. The afflictions of heaven are never sent but with a merciful intention. Notice some moral and religious advantages that may result from afflictions.

1. Afflictions have a natural tendency to form us to virtue by disposing the mind to consideration. Sin cannot stand the test of consideration. Suffering has a natural tendency to reform the disobedient and inadvertent, to confirm and improve the virtues of the good, and to secure and advance the future happiness of both.

2. Sufferings remind us of Gods providence and of our dependence. This they do by the conviction they bring that our strength is but weakness, and that we are subject to infirmities which we cannot remove, and to wants which we cannot supply.

3. Sufferings have a tendency to correct in us a too partial and confined attachment to the world. It is doubtless in the actual power of the Almighty to secure Us a smooth and easy passage through this vale of life, and guard us from all evil. But what His power might grant His wisdom sees fit to withhold. In our future state, when we take a retrospective view of our lives, they will appear in a light very different from that in which we see them at present. What we now consider as misfortunes and afflictions will appear to have been mercies and blessings. We shall see that the intentions of the Deity were benevolent when His inflictions seemed severe. Let us, then, meet every dispensation of Providence with the most submissive resignation to the will of that supremely gracious Sovereign of nature whose unerring wisdom can alone determine what is good or evil for us, and whose unbounded goodness will direct all things finally to the happiness of His creatures. (G. Gaff.)

Preparation for and improvement of our afflictions

The words of Eliphaz imply that the general state of man in this world is a state of trouble and affliction. Yet those afflictions and troubles do neither grow up by a certain regular and constant source of nature, nor are they merely accidental and casual. They are sent, disposed, directed, and managed by the conduct and guidance of the most wise providence of Almighty God. If there were no other ends in Gods sharp providence than to keep men humble and disciplinable, His ways would be highly justified.

I. What preparation is fit to be made every man before afflictions come.

1. A sound conviction of the truth that no man can by any means expect to be exempt from afflictions. Every man shares in common public calamities. And every man has his own personal evils, such as befall the body, the estate, the name, or mens friends and relations. No man is exempt from these crosses at any time by any special privilege, and sometimes they have fallen in together in their perfection, even upon some of the best men that we read of. Even the most sincere piety and integrity of heart and life cannot give any man any exemption or privilege from afflictions of some kind. This consideration may silence that murmuring and unquiet and proud distemper that often ariseth in the minds of good men; they are ready to think themselves injured if they fall under the calamities incident to mankind. They sometimes even take up the idea that they are hated or forsaken of God because sorely afflicted.

2. Another preparative is to reason ourselves off from overmuch love and valuation of the world. Philosophy hath made some short essay in this business, but the doctrine of the Gospel has done more.

(1) By giving us a plain and clear estimate and valuation of this world; and

(2) by showing us a more valuable, certain, and durable estate after death, and a way of attaining it.

3. Another preparative is to keep piety, innocence, and a good conscience before it comes. Have the soul as clear as may be from the guilt of sin, by an innocent and watchful life in the time of our prosperity, and by a sincere and hearty repentance for sin committed.

4. Next preparative is to gain a humble mind. When affliction meets with a proud heart, full of opinion of its own worth and goodness, there ariseth more trouble and tumult than can arise from the affliction itself. If any man considers aright, he hath many important causes to keep his mind always humble.

5. Another preparative is a steady resolved resignation of a mans self to the will and good pleasure of Almighty God. That will is sovereign, wise, and beneficent.

6. The last preparative is, labour to get thy peace with God through Jesus Christ.

II. How afflictions incumbent upon us are to be received, entertained, and improved.

1. A man under affliction should have a due consideration of God as a God of infinite wisdom, justice, and mercy.

2. He should realise that afflictions do not rise out of the dust, but are sent and managed by the wise disposition of Almighty God.

3. That the best of men are visited by afflictions, and it is but need they should.

4. That all the Divine dispensations are so far beneficial or hurtful as they are received and used.

5. The consequences of all these considerations lead us into the following duties: To receive affliction with all humility, with patience, and subjection of mind; to return unto God, who afflicts; to pray unto God; to depend and trust upon God; to be thankful; to put ourselves upon a due search and examination of our hearts and ways.

III. The temper and disposition of mind we should have upon and after deliverance from afflictions.

1. We ought solemnly to return our humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God.

2. Endeavour to express the thankfulness by a sincere and faithful obedience to the will of God.

3. Take good heed lest the heart be lifted up into presumption upon God. And--

4. Be vigilant and watchful lest evil take you at unawares. Nothing is more likely to procure affliction than security and unpreparedness of mind. It is well also to keep deliverances out of affliction in memory. (M. Hale.)

Is affliction reasonable

This world really is what it seems to be--a passing stage for the discipline and improvement of beings destined for another existence. It is, however, one thing to theorise soberly and rationally upon the wondrous plan of Providence, and another to apply the truth which is thus recognised practically to ourselves. While we cannot help believing what appears to be true, such belief may go but a very short way in determining us to do what appears to be reasonable. Hence the variance between profession and practice, between principle and conduct, which appears in the world. And hence the necessity for some more pressing and operative motives than those of mere abstract reason and conviction, to compel such an attention to the truths of our Divine religion as may make its efficacy savingly felt If the first and greatest of the uses of adversity be to lead us to the knowledge of God, the second in importance is to make us feel for our fellow men, and to call into exercise our dormant charities. What manner of man is he who can behold unmoved the piteous spectacle of human misery which everyday life exhibits? Truly, not such an one as either approves himself to his God or recommends himself to his fellow men. Gods dealings with us have their chiefest reference to the purification of our hearts and minds, and the development of our faculties and affections. As far as these ends are produced, the purposes of His providence are answered. But His object vindicates His goodness, His means approve His wisdom. Important as is the duty of relieving the distressed, it is subordinate to the still more important one of purifying our own hearts and minds, and renewing a right spirit within us. Indeed, it is only as the former is subservient to the latter of these duties that it can be religiously commended. Have we, then, any bowels of compassion toward our fellow men, or any sentiment of gratitude towards God, if we withhold that liberal exercise of charity which He has thus graciously promised to consider as done unto Himself by imputation? The means with which you have been blessed by Providence have not been conferred upon you chiefly or primarily for your own sakes. (S. OSullivan, A. M.)

The shortness and vanity of human life

I. A pathetical description of the shortness, etc., of human life. Afflictions and calamities of innumerable kinds seem necessarily and constantly to attend the life of man.

II. A declaration that these miseries and troubles do not arise from chance or necessity. They come from the wise providence of God governing the world. This, indeed, is the only true and solid comfort that can possibly be afforded to a rational and considerate mind.

III. It is implied that there are many just and good and useful ends upon account of which God permits so many afflictions.

1. Some of those things which we usually esteem among the troubles and afflictions of life are such as may justly, and must necessarily, be resolved into the absolute sovereignty and dominion of God. Of this kind are mortality in general, and the shortness of human life; the unequal distribution of riches and honour and the good things of this present life; the different capacities and abilities of mind; the different tempers and constitutions of body; the different states and conditions wherein God has originally placed man in the world. Of these things there can, there needs, be no other account given than the absolute sovereignty and dominion of God. Hath not the Master a right to employ His servants in what several stations He pleases, more or less honourable, provided, in His final distribution, He deals equitably with each of them in their several and respective degrees?

2. A greater part of the troubles of life, and the afflictions we are apt to complain of, are not the immediate and original appointment of God at all, but the mere natural effects and consequences of our own sin. Most sins, even in the natural consequences of things, are, at some time or other, attended with their proper punishment. This consideration ought to make us acquiesce, with all humility and patience, under that burden which not God, but our own hands have laid upon us. But even the afflictions which are the consequences of our own folly may, by a wise improvement, by bearing them as becomes us, and by exercising ourselves to wisdom under them, become the matter of an excellent virtue, and may turn into the occasion of much religious advantage.

3. Some of the greatest afflictions and calamities of life are the effects of Gods public judgments upon the world for the wickedness and impiety of others. These are sufficient grounds of contentment and acquiescence, of willing submission and resignation to the Divine will. The ends God intends in afflictions are four--

1. To teach us humility and a just sense of our own unworthiness.

2. To lead us to repentance for our past errors.

3. To wean us from an over-fond love of the present world.

4. To try, improve, and perfect our virtues, and make some particular persons eminent examples of faith and patience to the world.

Two inferences.

(1) It is a very wrong and unjust conclusion to imagine, with Jobs friends, that whoever is much afflicted must consequently have been very wicked, and that God is very angry with him.

(2) From what has been said there appears great reason for men to resign themselves with all patience to the will of God; and to rely upon Him with full trust and assurance (in all possible circumstances of life) that He will direct things finally to our best advantage. (S. Clarke, D. D.)

Trouble a part of human life

A life without trouble would be very uninteresting. Our opportunities for greatness would be narrowed down if trials were gone. I watched a glorious sunset, marvelling at the beauty wherewith the evening skies were all ablaze, and adoring Him who gave them their matchless colouring. On the next evening I resorted to the same spot, hoping to be again enraptured with the gorgeous pomp of ending day, but there were no clouds, and therefore no glories. True, the canopy of sapphire was there, but no magnificent array of clouds to form golden masses with edges of burning crimson, or islands of loveliest hue set in a sea of emerald; there were no great conflagrations of splendour or flaming peaks of mountains of fire. The sun was as bright as before, but for lack of dark clouds on which to pour out his lustre his magnificence was unrevealed. A man who should live and die without trials would be like a setting sun without clouds; he would have scant opportunity for the display of those virtues with which the grace of God had endowed him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 5:6. Although affliction cometh not forth out of the dust — The word

און, aven, here rendered affliction, rather signifies iniquity, and the clause is literally, Iniquity cometh not forth out of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of the ground — That is, says Dr. Dodd, “As the wickedness of men does not proceed from any natural cause, but from their own free-will; so neither are their miseries to be considered as the effects of natural causes, but as the distributions of a free agent likewise, namely, of a just God, who suits men’s punishments to their crimes; and hence man, being prone to sin, is necessarily born to suffer,” as is signified in the next verse.

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

Second strophe — Suffering is of divine appointment, Job_5:6-7.

This is shown by its being inseparable from the constitution of nature.

6. Although — Rather, for. He proceeds to give the reason why it is foolish to murmur over affliction: evil is not fortuitous, but due to the wickedness of man.

Affliction — און; evil.

Spring out — Sprout up like weeds. Man’s trouble is not a growth or offshoot of nature, but a divine appointment on account of sin. It belongs to a scheme subsequent to that of nature, in which man, a sinful race, grows up to trouble as naturally as the plant sprouts from the earth, or the spark springs upward from the burning coal. The true well-spring of misery is not in nature, but within man himself.

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

That is, the earth is not the cause of barrenness and man’s misery, but his own sin.

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

Although--rather, "for truly" [UMBREIT].

affliction cometh not forth of the dust--like a weed, of its own accord. Eliphaz hints that the cause of it lay with Job himself.

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

Verse 6. 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6, 7) Although affliction. . . .—These two verses are confessedly very difficult. It is hard to see also the connection between sparks flying upwards and man’s being born to trouble. It seems to give better sense if we understand Eliphaz comparing man’s lot as prepared for him by God with his own pride and presumptuous ambition. Man is born to labour, but, like sparks of fire, he makes high his flight. Trouble and toil is no accidental growth, but a lot appointed by God, which would be beneficial if man did not thwart it by his own pride. They lift themselves up and soar on high like sparks of fire with daring and presumptuous conduct, and so bring on themselves condign punishment. The same word means trouble and toil, and it may be understood in the two consecutive verses in these cognate, but slightly different, senses. It would be no consolation to Job to tell him that man was born to trouble; besides, it is a sentiment more likely to proceed from the patient himself than from the spectator.

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

6. Although affliction] Rather, for affliction. The foregoing examples, the general evil and imperfection of man, ch. Job_4:12 seq., and the particular rebelliousness of the fool, ch. Job_5:2 seq., shew how affliction arises, and Eliphaz confirms the whole with his general maxim, for.… Eliphaz reverts here to his principle already enunciated, They that sow trouble reap the same, ch. Job_4:8. Affliction does not spring out of the earth like weeds, it is not a necessary product of the nature of things, turned out by the friction of the universe, it is due to the evil nature of men.

6, 7. Eliphaz now sums up into an aphorism the great general principle which he seeks to illustrate in this section of his speech, ch. Job_4:12 to Job_5:7. It is that affliction is not accidental, nor a spontaneous growth of the earth, but men acting after the impulses of their evil nature bring it on themselves.

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.

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust,.... Or rather, "for" or "indeed" (y), this being a reason showing that wicked men are justly afflicted and punished; seeing their afflictions come not from the creatures, though they may be instruments, but from God for the sins of men: the word for affliction also signifies iniquity or sin, the cause of affliction, as well as affliction the fruit of sin; and so does the word in the following clause; and Aben Ezra understands both, not of natural but moral evil, and so do others (z); both senses may be taken in: sin does not come from God, the Maker of the dust of the earth, he is not the author of sin, nor does this spring out of the dust which he has made; good things, as Schmidt observes, come out of the earth for the use of man as well as beasts, bread, and wine, and oil, and all the necessaries of life; the precious things produced by the influence of the sun and moon, the precious things of the everlasting hills, and of the earth, and the fulness of it; indeed, the earth was cursed for the sin of men, but this is taken off; and, however, it is not owing to the soil, or to the air and climate in which a man lives, that he is sinful; for though there may be national vices or some sins peculiar to or more predominant in one nation than in another, yet this is not to be attributed to such causes; for all sin is from a man's self, and proceeds out of his own evil heart, which is desperately wicked and evil continually, and from whence all the impure streams of sin flow, see Mat 15:19; and so afflictions are not to be ascribed to second causes, such as the things before mentioned, or Job's losses by the Sabeans and Chaldeans; nor did he place them to that account, but to the hand of God; nor to chance and fortune, or to be reckoned fortuitous events, as if they were chance productions, spontaneous things that spring up of themselves, and not under the direction of an all wise Providence; but they are to be considered as of God, and as of his appointment, and directed by his sovereign will and pleasure, and overruled for his glory; who has fixed what they shall be, of what kind and sort, what the measure of them, to what pitch they shall rise, and how long they shall last:

neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; the same thing as before in different words, neither sin, the cause of trouble, the effect of sin; sin may very fitly be expressed by a word (a) which signifies trouble, because it is both troublesome, wearisome, and offensive to God, and brings trouble to the bodies and souls of men here and hereafter. Here Eliphaz begins to lower the tone of his voice, and to speak to Job in a seemingly more kind and friendly manner, observing to him the spring of afflictions, and giving him advice how to behave under them.

(y) "quia", Pagninus, Montanus; "etenim", Beza, Mercerus; "nam", Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens; so Broughton; "sane", Bolducius. (z) "iniquitas", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Bolducius, Schmidt, Michaelis; "improbitas", Codurcus. (a) "perversitas", Pagninus; "improbitas", Schultens.

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

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.”

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

Ground. If you had not sinned, you would not suffer. (Calmet)

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).

Although, or for, or rather, because. So the following words may contain a reason why he should seek unto God, as he exhorts him, Job 5:8. Or, surely, as that particle is oft used. And so it is a note of his proceeding to another argument.

Affliction, or iniquity, as this word oft signifies; and of this the following sentence is true. And so this first branch speaks of sin, and the next branch of trouble, which is the fruit of sin; and both sin and trouble are said to come from the same spring. But this word signifies also affliction, or misery, or trouble, as Psa 90:10; Pro 12:21; which seems most proper here, both because it is so explained by the following words,

trouble; and again, trouble, Job 5:7, the same thing being repeated in several words, as is usual in Holy Scripture; and because the great thing which troubled Job, and the chief matter of these discourses, was Job’s afflictions, not his sins. Cometh not forth of the dust; it springs not up by chance, as herbs which grow of their own accord out of the earth; or, it comes not from men or creatures here below; but it comes from a certain and a higher cause, even from God, and that for man’s sins; and therefore thou shouldst seek to him for redress, as it follows, Job 5:8.

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

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. There is a tacit reference to what was said in Job_4:8. Affliction and trouble are not chance products of spontaneous growth. They only spring up when men have prepared the ground for them, and planted in it an evil seed.

Vers. 6, 7. The common lot.

"Man is born unto trouble.

I IT IS AN INEVITABLE RESULT OF HIS EXPOSED CONDITION.

II IT IS EVIDENTLY A PART OF THE PRESENT ORDER OF THINGS. But

III IT IS DUE TO THE DERANGEMENT OF THE RIGHT RELATIONS OF MAN TO HIS GOD, TO HIS NEIGHBOUR, TO THE WORLD AROUND. "Affliction cometh not forth of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.

IV IT IS GRACIOUSLY USED AS A MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, CORRECTION, AND DEVELOPMENT. We now know that that which we endure is for chastening for that culture which every wise father seeks to secure for his sons. And when the afflictions are "not joyous, but grievous," even then "God dealeth with us as with sons." He takes up the sad and dark and painful things of our life, and uses them as instruments for our discipline, "that we might be partakers of his holiness." Most assuredly we may know that "the peaceable fruits of righteousness" are yielded to them who patiently endure these afflictions when they are "exercised thereby." Let us, therefore, learn:

1. Not to be surprised if" trouble" overtakes us. We are born in a land where it is very plentiful.

2. To see to it that our afflictions come of our frailty, not of our folly.

3. Patiently to await the end, when he shall have wrought out his purpose, who maketh "all things work together for good to them that love him. R.G.

This was known even in early times, but only fully taught in Now Testament times. It is a great encouragement to men to bear pain and sorrow to know that the Lord afflicts. "He maketh sore," but "he bindeth up;" "he woundeth," but his "hands make whole again." Being a Divine correction, a chastisement from his hand will be

I A WISE CORRECTION. A good purpose will always be held in view. "Not willingly," "not for his pleasure," does he afflict. His aim is to promote our good that we may be partakers of his holiness.

II A GRACIOUS CORRECTION. Mercy will temper it. "He remembereth we are but dust." He will no load of grief impose Beyond the strength that he bestows.

If he brings low in affliction, it is that he may exalt in honour. If he takes away earthly possessions, it is that he may supplant them with heavenly. He weans the heart from the love of the temporal, that he may fix it on the eternal. It is, therefore

III A BENIGN CORRECTION. Happy fruits follow it. If he afflicts, he heals. He delivers in six, yea, seven troubles. He redeems the famishing from death. He hides from the scourge of the tongue. He screens from the stroke of destruction. He draweth men into good ways; then, when they please the Lord, he maketh even their enemies to be at peace with them. Beautifully is this illustrated: "Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee." He who keeps the commandments of God is in harmony with the whole kingdom of God.

This encourages to patience under trials.

1. It is the Lord"s chastisement.

2. It is controlled and regulated by a Divine hand.

3. It has a wise and worthy end in view.

4. It cometh to its blessed fruition in the sanctity and perfectness of human character. R.G.

He who in mercy afflicts, or in equal mercy takes up the evils and ills of life, and, using them as his own instruments, transmutes them into means of grace and blessing, will, after he has tried his servants by their exposure to the storms and pains of life, give them "a desired end." Sooner or later they see "the end of the Lord the end the Lord had in view. In these verses the happiest consequences are declared to follow those chastisements which the Lord bestowed during the process of suffering and exposure.

I CONTENTMENT AND PEACE SHALL REIGN IN THE HOME. God quiets the hearts of his children, and though heavy trials assail them, he prepares rest and peace for them. In how many instances is this daily seen! The evil exhausts itself. God puts his hand upon it and arrests it. His exposed ones he leads back to safety and repose, and, as was fulfilled in Job"s case, of which Eliphaz unconsciously predicts, he blesses them at last. Like worn veterans, they return at last to receive honour, acknowledgment, and rest. Precious are the final days of the truly tried; the life is matured, the character chastened and perfected, the experience of life is enlarged.

II BLESSING SHALL ABIDE UPON THE OFFSPRING. "Thy seed shall be great... as the grass of the earth;" yea, even though half the sorrow were caused by that very seed. The Lord will lead the wanderers back, will punish and correct and reclaim. Many a one out of his stony griefs raises a Bethel. The testimony of godly fidelity on the part of the parent speaks in its silence to the offspring, and in the end produces its good results. Every godly man has the best ground for hoping that the blessing of the Lord will be also upon his offspring.

III IN THE FULNESS OF AGE AND THE RIPENESS OF CHARACTER, LIFE SHALL CLOSE. So the tried one receives into himself, at last, the whole result of the Divine discipline. The history is complete, the work of the day finished, the journey ended, the character formed. All the history of life is written in the cultured, matured life; in the character gained; in the honour won. Faithful unto death, the struggling one receives the crown of life. In ripeness of judgment and attainment all the fruit of the patiently endured tribulation is found. The man is made. His pains, his perils, his watching and prayer, his diligence in duty and patience in suffering, all go to make up the perfected life which is his own to inherit. The exposed grain has grown through all dangers, has grown by all changes in the heat and cold, the light and the darkness, the rain and the shine. "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season." Let every one search this out, hear it and know it for his good. R.G.

Vers. 6, 7. Inevitable trouble.

I TROUBLE DOES NOT COME CASUALLY AND WITHOUT DUE CAUSE. It is not like a weed that springs up by the wayside. This might seem to be the case, because it arrives so suddenly and so unexpectedly, and because there does not appear to be any rule that governs its advent at one place rather than another. But Eliphaz is rightly persuaded that it is not the effect of chance. We have good reasons for agreeing with him thus far.

1. All things are subject to law. Chance is only a name for our ignorance. When we do not see a cause we imagine that the event has happened casually. But as we pursue our inquiries further we find that there are no stray events outside the great bond of Divine order.

2. All things are arranged by Providence. Here is another answer to the doctrine of chance. Not only is there law; there is also a supreme Administrator of law. God"s hand is unseen, but not a pawn moves unless his fingers are upon it; or if it be said that this leaves no scope for man"s free-will, still it may be asserted that, the infinite mind of God seeing the whole game, the end from the beginning, he can always so arrange that ultimately his designs shall be fully executed.

II TROUBLE COMES FROM WITHIN, NOT FROM WITHOUT. It does not spring out of the ground. Man is born to it. There is something in human nature that he disposes him to trouble. Just as the sparks fly up by nature, so the soul of man suffers by nature. It is an attribute of the human constitution to be subject to suffering.

1. Susceptibility to suffering is natural. The callous are the unnatural. The soul that never grieves is hard and dead. We are made to be sensitive to pain, just as we are made to hear sounds and see the light.

2. Trouble is born with us. Sin begets suffering. The sin of the parent descends in ca]amities on his children, who inherit the harvest of his misdeeds. The fall of man and the general sinfulness of the race ensure a certain amount of suffering to every innocent child who is born into the world. Nevertheless, do not take refuge with the fatalist. The trouble has a cause. Seek this and master it.

III TROUBLE IS UNIVERSAL AND INEVITABLE. Some have more than others. There are men to whom the lines have fallen in pleasant places, yea, they have a goodly heritage. One such had been Job. But his hour of trouble came, and then it proved to be an hour of unprecedented calamity. Though men suffer differently, all suffer if not in body or estate, yet in mind and soul; if not in sunny youth, yet in overcast manhood; if not in visible adversity, yet in inward distress. This does not mean that men are always suffering, nor that there is more pain than joy in life.

1. We should not be surprised at meeting with trouble. Many people irrationally imagine that they are to be exceptions to the universal experience. When painful facts reveal their delusion they are overwhelmed with amazement and disappointment. It would be better to be prepared to expect what is part of the common lot of man.

2. Trouble which cannot be avoided may yet be cured. The true resort should be neither to stoical indifference nor to impotent despair. There is no gospel in the assertion that trouble is universal. But there is a gospel which deals with the fact. Christ comes to give us power to utilize trouble as discipline, and ultimately to conquer it, so that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory". W.F.A. (2Co_4:17)

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

The dust - It springs not up by merely natural causes, as herbs grow out of the earth: but from God. Eliphaz here begins to change his voice, as if he would atone for the hard words he had spoken.

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

6 For evil cometh not forth from the dust,

And sorrow sprouteth not from the earth;

7 For man is born to sorrow,

As the sparks fly upward.

8 On the contrary, I would earnestly approach unto God,

And commit my cause to the Godhead;

9 To Him who doeth great things and unsearchable;

Marvellous things till there is no number:

10 Who giveth rain over the earth,

And causeth water to flow over the fields:

11 To set the low in high places;

And those that mourn are exalted to prosperity.

As the oracle above, so Eliphaz says here, that a sorrowful life is allotted to man,

(Note: Fries explains יוּלּד as part., and refers to Geiger's Lehrb. zur Sprache der Mischna, S. 41f., according to which מקטּל signifies killed, and קטּל (= Rabb. מתקטּל) being killed (which, however, rests purely on imagination): not the matter from which mankind originates brings evil with it, but it is man who inclines towards the evil. Bttch. would read יולד: man is the parent of misery, though he may rise high in anger.)

so that his wisdom consequently consists in accommodating himself to his lot: if he does not do that, he is an אויל, and thereby perishes. Misfortune does not grow out of the ground like weeds; it is rather established in the divine order of the world, as it is established in the order of nature that sparks of fire should ascend. The old critics understood by רשׁף בני birds of prey, as being swift as lightning (with which the appellation of beasts of prey may be compared, Job 28:8; Job 41:26); but רשׁף signifies also a flame or blaze (Sol 8:6). Children of the flame is an appropriate name for sparks, and flying upwards is naturally peculiar to sparks as to birds of prey; wherefore among modern expositors, Hirz., Ew., Hahn, von Gerl., Ebr., rightly decide in favour of sparks. Schlottmann understands "angels" by children of flame; but the wings, which are given to angels in Scripture, are only a symbol of their freedom of motion. This remarkable interpretation is altogether opposed to the sententious character of Job 5:7, which symbolizes a moral truth by an ordinary thing. The waw in וּבני, which we have translated "as," is the so-called waw adaequationis proper to the Proverbs, and also to emblems, e.g., Pro 25:25.

Eliphaz now says what he would do in Job's place. Ew. and Ebr. translate incorrectly, or at least unnecessarily: Nevertheless I will. We translate, according to Ges. 127, 5: Nevertheless I would; and indeed with an emphatic I: Nevertheless I for my part. דּרשׁ with אל is constr. praegnans, like Deu 12:5, sedulo adire. דּברה is not speech, like אמרה but cause, causa, in a judicial sense. אל is God as the Mighty One; אלהים is God in the totality of His variously manifested nature. The fecundity of the earth by rain, and of the fields (חוּצות = rura) by water-springs (cf. Psa 104:10), as the works of God, are intentionally made prominent. He who makes the barren places fruitful, can also change suffering into joy. To His power in nature corresponds His power among men (Job 5:11). לשׂוּם is here only as a variation for השּׂם, as Heiligst. rightly observes: it is equivalent to collacaturus, or qui in eo est ut collocet, according to the mode of expression discussed in Ges. 132, rem. 1, and more fully on Hab 1:17. The construction of Hab 1:11 is still bolder. שׂגב signifies to be high and steep, inaccessible. It is here construed with the acc. of motion: those who go in dirty, black clothes because they mourn, shall be high in prosperity, i.e., come to stand on an unapproachable height of prosperity.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

For difficulties do not come out from the soil; neither does trouble sprout from the ground

Here difficulties and trouble are spoken of as if they were plants. (See: Metaphor)

mankind is born for trouble, just as sparks fly upward

It is as natural for people, once they are born, to have trouble as it is for sparks to fly up from a fire. (See: Simile)

translationWords

trouble

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

For not from the dust does ruin emerge A plague that comes upon a person is not for nothing, nor does it spring from the ground.

ruin Heb. און. It is an expression of ruin.

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.