Study note

Job 5:19–26

  • Six calamities … in seven: This formula for wise sayings suggests a condition of completion (compare Proverbs 30:15–31).

  • This list reflects the blessings and curses of the covenant God gave to Moses (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28).

    Eliphaz believed that people in a right relationship with God would avoid:

  1. Famine, meaning starving. (Job 5:20, 22; see Leviticus 26:4–5, 10; Deuteronomy 28:4–6, 8, 11–12).

  2. Battle and its destruction (Job 5:20; 5:21, 22; see Leviticus 26:6–8; Deuteronomy 28:7, 48).

  3. Scourge of the tongue, or words spoken against them (slander).

  4. They would even be at peace with wild animals and the stones of the field (Job 5:23; see Leviticus 26:6). This peace might mean productive fields instead of rocky ones (2 Kings 3:19, 25; Matthew 13:5). Or it might symbolize broader harmony with creation (see Psalm 91:11–12).