The Book of Job

Word Study

"trouble," Hebrew amal (עָמָל), toil, hardship, misery. Here Eliphaz speaks a genuine truth: "man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." Trouble (amal) is as natural and inevitable to human life as sparks rising from a fire. In a fallen world, hardship is the common lot of all; no one escapes suffering. This is simply, soberly true. Since the fall, the ground itself is cursed, and man eats his bread "in the sweat of thy face" (Genesis 3:19); "in the world ye shall have tribulation," said the Lord Jesus (John 16:33). Eliphaz is right that trouble is universal; every person born into this world will meet sorrow. Where Eliphaz goes wrong is not in this observation but in the surrounding argument, that Job's particular trouble must be the fruit of particular sin. But the observation itself is sound and worth pondering. Trouble is not a strange, unexpected intrusion but a settled feature of life east of Eden. This truth, rightly held, guards us from two errors: the naive expectation that a godly life will be free of trouble (it will not), and the despairing thought that our trouble is unique or a sign of God's special displeasure (it is the common lot).

"sparks," benei-resheph (בְּנֵי־רֶשֶׁף), literally "sons of the flame," the sparks that rise from a fire. The image is homely and exact. Wherever a fire burns, the sparks go up; nobody has to make them rise, and nobody can stop them. "As the sparks fly upward", trouble rises inevitably in this world, as natural and unavoidable to human life as the flying embers over a hearth. Wisdom does not deny this but prepares the heart to meet it, and looks beyond this world of trouble to the God who redeems.

Explanation

Eliphaz speaks a genuine truth here: trouble is as natural and inevitable to human life as sparks rising from a fire. In a fallen world, hardship is the common lot of all; no one escapes suffering. This sober observation is simply true. Where Eliphaz errs is not in this but in assuming Job's particular trouble proves particular sin. The truth itself guards us from expecting a trouble-free life and from thinking our suffering is unique or a special sign of God's anger. Trouble is the common lot of a fallen world, and wisdom prepares the heart to meet it.

Gospel Focus

"Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward" is a sober truth that the Gospel neither denies nor leaves without hope. Since the fall, trouble is the common lot of all; the Lord Jesus said plainly, "in the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). The Christian faith does not promise a life free of suffering, that is a false gospel, but it promises a Savior who has overcome the world of trouble and is with us in it: "in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). We are not to be surprised by suffering, as if it were strange, "beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you" (1 Peter 4:12). Trouble is normal in this fallen age, and the believer is not exempt. But we look beyond this world of trouble to the redemption that is coming, when God "shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4). The sparks fly upward now; but a day is coming when trouble itself will be no more. Until then, we meet the common trouble of life not with the naive expectation of escape, nor with despair, but with the good cheer of those who follow the Savior who has overcome the world and will one day end all trouble for ever.

Word Study

"correcteth," Hebrew yokhichenu (יוֹכִיחֶנּוּ) from yakach, to reprove, discipline. Here Eliphaz speaks words of real and lasting beauty: "happy is the man whom God correcteth." The verb is the ordinary word for reproving and disciplining, and Eliphaz couples it with the surprising word "happy." The man God takes the trouble to reprove is a blessed man, for such correction is a mark of God's dealing with him and not of God's abandoning him.

"chastening," musar (מוּסָר), instruction, discipline. "Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." This is genuine, precious truth. God's discipline (musar) is a mark of His fatherly love, not His rejection, and the word carries the sense of instruction as much as of punishment: it is meant to teach and to heal, not merely to hurt. This truth is echoed and confirmed in the New Testament: "despise not thou the chastening of the Lord... for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Hebrews 12:5-6, quoting Proverbs 3:11-12); "no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11).

"maketh sore, and bindeth up," yakhiv... yechbash, He wounds and He bandages. "For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole." The tender balance is exquisite: the same God who "maketh sore" also "bindeth up"; He who "woundeth" also makes "whole." The second verb is the word for bandaging a wound, so the very hand that struck is the hand that dresses the injury. His wounding is never the end; His hands that hurt are the hands that heal. So Eliphaz here states a doctrine the whole Bible affirms. Yet, even here, his application to Job is flawed: he assumes Job's suffering must be corrective discipline for sin, when God has said Job suffers "without cause" (chapter 2:3). Not all suffering is chastening for sin; Job's was not. So we take the beautiful truth, God's loving discipline heals, and reject the false assumption, that all suffering is such discipline. The words are golden; the aim at Job misses.

Explanation

Eliphaz here speaks words of real beauty and truth: God's discipline is a mark of His fatherly love, and the one He corrects is blessed, for His chastening heals rather than merely hurts. The same God who "maketh sore" also "bindeth up"; His wounding is never the end. This doctrine is confirmed in the New Testament (Hebrews 12:5-11). Yet even here Eliphaz misapplies it, assuming Job's suffering must be corrective discipline for sin, when God said Job suffered "without cause." Not all suffering is chastening; we take the golden truth and reject the false assumption about Job.

Gospel Focus

"Happy is the man whom God correcteth... he maketh sore, and bindeth up" is a precious truth that runs through all of Scripture: God's discipline flows from His fatherly love. The New Testament takes up these very words: "despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Hebrews 12:5-6). God's discipline is not a sign of rejection but of sonship; "if ye be without chastisement... then are ye bastards, and not sons" (Hebrews 12:8). And the tender balance is the heart of it: the God who wounds is the God who heals. He "maketh sore, and bindeth up"; "I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal" (Deuteronomy 32:39); "he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up" (Hosea 6:1). His severest dealings with His children are in love and aim at their good, "afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11). Supremely, in Christ, the wounding and the healing meet: "he was wounded for our transgressions... and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). So when God's hand is heavy upon you, if it is indeed His loving discipline, do not despise it or faint under it, but receive it as the love of a Father who wounds only to heal. Yet remember Job: not all suffering is discipline for sin. Whether God is correcting you or, like Job, refining you in a trial not of your own making, His hands that make sore are the hands that will bind up, and in Christ every wound is on its way to healing.