Job · Chapter 5

Now call Up to here are words of prophecy. From here on, he returns to his rebuke: Cry out to your utmost, who will answer you? To which of the holy ones [i.e., of the angels] who decrees this upon you will you turn, to strive with him?

'Call now' — if this is not so, ask whether you can find anyone who will answer you. 'And to which of the holy ones will you turn' — or, alternatively: from the mouth of which of the holy ones who lived on earth did you hear this?

'Call now' — having finished relating the words of the angel, Eliphaz said to Job: lest you say, by what path did the spirit go to speak with you, and why did it not speak with me instead? — to this he answered: know that you have become repugnant in Hashem's eyes for having rebelled against your sufferings. Test the matter yourself: call out to the heavens and see whether there is anyone who will answer you, and to which of the angels on high will you turn to plead well on your behalf? You have become repugnant in the eyes of them all, and therefore they will no longer speak on your behalf.

Call now; is there any that will answer you? – having made known the answer he had received on this matter through prophecy, he said to Job: do not wonder why this answer came to you through Eliphaz, and not through the Holy One Himself — that is, the angel who conveys prophecy and the response concerning Job's sufferings — coming to you directly. He said to him: you, ‘call now’ and pray that the answer reach you — ‘is there any that will answer you?’ And ‘to which of the holy ones’ — that is, of the holy angels — ‘will you turn,’ that he should speak with you and inform you of the matter in a vision or a dream?

a fool like you, anger will kill him, for had you remained silent, perhaps the Divine standard of clemency would return upon you. wrath That is anger and fury, as in (Deut. 32:21), “They have provoked Me (קנאוני) to wrath.”

'For' — this is a known fact: anger kills the foolish man.

"For anger kills the foolish man" — this is a person who aims his actions at some goal but does not pursue it by the means proper to reaching it; it is clear that such a person will attain his goal only by chance, and he will therefore always be angry, as it is said, "the foolishness of man perverts his way, and his heart frets against Hashem" (Proverbs 19:3). "And envy slays the silly one" — this is a person of great desire, whose heart is seduced by every illusory success, and who therefore remains forever caught up in that envy and pain. He couples "the silly one" with "the foolish man," for it is the way of the silly person to become a fool, as it is said, "the simple inherit folly" (Proverbs 14:18); the reason is that, owing to the intensity of his craving for things, he hastens to attain them, and this becomes the very cause of his not pursuing them by the means proper [to attaining them].

'For ... the foolish man' — a fool like you is killed by the very anger he grows angry with when misfortune comes, for on account of this he finds no one to argue in his defense or answer for him. 'And the silly one' — one who lets his heart be seduced by longing after the illusory success of others is slain by the envy he feels toward the prosperity of the wicked, and he heaps up complaints against Hashem — for he thereby destroys his own world, with no fair advocate to speak up on his behalf.

Anger (ka'as) — [Spelled with a sin, but] the same as ka'as spelled with a samekh. The silly one (poteh) — A form of the word pitui ('naivety, simplicity').

For anger kills the foolish man – since you have been foolish and doubtful of Hashem's Providence, you are not worthy of having the word of Hashem and His holy ones appear to you. And with this he also answered him regarding his denial of free will, in which he had claimed that man is compelled in his actions by the stars, which decree every detail of his deeds; he showed him that this is false, for we see that anger kills the foolish man — and this happens not because of some primordial decree, but because of his own choice: it is his choosing anger and envy that brings about his ruin. This proves that man is free in his actions, and that it is his own evil choice that causes his death and destruction.

'Taking root' — like 'and it sent its roots deep' (Psalms 80:10): that it grew roots. 'But suddenly I beheld his habitation cursed' — meaning 'I cursed,' like 'How shall I curse' (Numbers 23:8). The sense: I cursed his habitation, that is, his house, so that evil would come upon him suddenly.

'I have seen' — but I myself, when I saw the fool sending his roots out to spread through the land with great strength, did not envy his success; rather, suddenly — before any thought of envy could even enter my mind — I judged in my own thinking and declared that in the end his habitation would be cursed.

(3–4) I have seen the foolish taking root — The astrologers bring proof that human deeds are compelled by fate, and that effort accomplishes nothing whatsoever — from the fact that it has happened, time and again, that one man suddenly grows rich without any labor or effort, while another toils and labors to grow rich, sparing no preparation that could lead him to that goal, and yet none of it helps him in the least. This, in their eyes, is a sign and a proof that everything depends on decree and fate, and that effort accomplishes nothing. To this Eliphaz replies that he himself has seen and verified that when a man grows rich suddenly, that wealth does not endure in his children’s hands. This is what he means: ‘I have seen the foolish taking root’ — ‘but suddenly I beheld his habitation cursed’ — ‘his children are far from safety.’ That is: I have seen a fool who neither sowed nor labored, and yet suddenly took root with great force, forming a root below and fruit above — meaning, he grew rich suddenly, without any effort at all. Then, by ‘I beheld [it] cursed,’ he means: I pronounced an explicit condemnation on the one who took root suddenly — that these roots will not endure in his children’s hands, for his children will be far from safety, and these possessions will not endure in their hands. For even though they are crushed at the gate of judgment, where the judges sit, still no one comes to save them; they find no one to plead their case. For since the wealth came without justice, so too it comes to nothing and does not endure.

May his sons distance themselves from salvation This is the curse with which I cursed him. and may they be crushed It is punctuated with a dagesh: וְיִדַּכְּאוּ, and may they be crushed, but if it was punctuated without a dagesh (וִידַכְּאוּ), it would mean that they should crush others.

'In the gate' — in public.

"His children" — these are those who follow after him, conducting themselves according to his ways; and similarly Scripture says, "and I will set My face against that man, and against his family" (Leviticus 20:5), meaning by "his family" the people who follow after him, as Onkelos explained.

'Are far' — for his children will be kept far from human help, since on account of their father's sin they will find no one to show them mercy. 'And are crushed in the gate' — in the public place, at the gate of the city, they will be crushed by other people, with no one to save them.

his harvest of the wicked man. The hungry shall eat When the wicked man dies, the hungry whom he cut off during his lifetime shall come and take payment from his property. and he will take it for the one saved from his weapons Like (Exod. 27:20), “and they shall take to you”; for the benefit of the poor man who was saved from the weapons of this wicked man, the judge who is appointed for that purpose shall take it [the estate of the wicked man]. shall swallow One of the thirsty ones whom he robbed during his lifetime shall swallow. their riches Their money that this one stole during his lifetime.

'Whose harvest the hungry eats up' — he sows, and the hungry man, even though he has no strength, overpowers him and eats his harvest. 'Out of the thorns' — like 'as thorns' (Numbers 33:55): for when the grain is not weeded, its thorns multiply, and the hungry reapers take it from among the thorns. 'The snare' — some say it means 'the thirsty' (tzeme'im), and the sense is doubled, mentioning both the hungry and the thirsty. Others say that tzammim means 'the hard stone' in the Ishmaelite [Arabic] language. And Rabbi Moshe explained it as 'maidens with braided hair' (tzammot) — but this is far-fetched. Every occurrence of 'trouble' alongside 'iniquity' carries this same sense: that evil does not spring up on its own; rather, man himself brings it forth, as though he were born for no purpose but to commit trouble and iniquity — as in 'Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity' (Psalms 51:7), for man's nature tends toward doing evil, in the sense of 'the imagination of man's heart is evil' (Genesis 8:21).

"Whose harvest the hungry eats up" — this refers back to the foolish man; the meaning is that, owing to his ill fortune, it comes about that the man of hard luck — that is, the hungry man — eats up the foolish man's harvest. "And takes it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapes for their substance" — this refers back to the sons of the fool mentioned above, or to fools in general. By "tzinnim" he means thorns and briers. The sense of "sha'af" ("gapes") is anticipation and longing, along the lines of "as a servant that pants for the shadow" (Job 7:2). And the sense of "tzammim" is a lawless, reckless man; such men are called "tzammim" because it is the way of the lawless to grow their hair long (tzamah). He is saying that the man of hard luck, who must gather his harvest from among the thorns and briers because of his ill fortune, must further expect that what he gathered from the harvest a lawless man will come, overpower him, and rob from him — and that will be the robbers' gain. This is the extreme of ill fortune: that the very unluckiest men to be found will be found triumphing over these fools, and the fools' wealth and possessions will become theirs. It is also possible that the entire verse refers to a single figure, with the word "el" ("to") to be understood as elided before the second clause as well; the meaning would then be: woe to him whose harvest a hungry, hard-pressed man eats, and to him who gathers his harvest from among the thorns and must, besides, expect that what he gathered from the thorns will be robbed from him by a lawless man — that being what becomes of the wealth of the sons of the fool mentioned above.

'Whose harvest' — it is a sure thing in store for him that the harvest of his field will be eaten by anyone who is hungry and craves it. 'And takes it even out of the thorns' — meaning, they take the harvest out from among the thorns, and they do not hurry to take it as it is, thorns and all, the way a thief would who fears onlookers and snatches something all at once; rather, he sorts out the food to take it openly, in view of everyone, with no one able to object. Or, the reverse: that they take the harvest together with the reapers themselves and leave nothing over — not in the manner of someone afraid, who grabs the best part and hurries off on his way. 'And the thirsty pant [for their wealth]' — each of the thirsty people whom this fool made to thirst by taking their wealth from them will, in the end, gain the upper hand; each will return and reclaim his own wealth that this fool had stolen from him, and everyone will take back what is his.

And takes it even out of — The word 've'el' functions like 've'et' [the object-marker], as in 'and they pursued unto (el) Midian' (Judges 7:25) [where 'el' stands for 'et']; and there 'et' has the sense of 'from,' as in 'when I go out of (et) the city' (Exodus 9:29). The thorns (mitzinim) — The mem is extra; it means thorns, as in 'thorns and snares' (tzinim pachim) (Proverbs 22:5). Gapes (sha'af) — An expression of swallowing, of drawing something toward the mouth, as in 'she pants (sha'afah) after the wind' (Jeremiah 2:24). The snare (tzamim) — Like tzeme'im ('the thirsty'). Their substance (cheilam) — Their wealth.

Whose harvest the hungry eats up — meaning, [I have also seen] the opposite: a man who toils and labors at his work, yet eats his harvest while he himself is hungry — that is, he has nothing to eat until the time of harvest arrives, when he reaps the crop that he sowed by the labor of his own hands. So too, [I have seen] the man of whom it is said, ‘and takes it even out of the thorns’ — he takes his harvest out from among the thorns, sorting his grain from the thorns and briars mixed in among it; this is the one who attains his food only through great toil, eating his bread by the sweat of his brow. And as for ‘the snare gapes for their substance’ — I have seen that this man, who enjoys only the fruit of his own labor, hungrily seizes upon the bound-up hoard of their wealth — meaning, the wealth of the children of the fool who took root suddenly. For the riches of the fool who took root suddenly do not endure in his children’s hands, but are held in reserve, in the end, for the man who enjoys the fruit of his own labor — ‘whose harvest the hungry eats’ — for it is he who will inherit it.

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.

'For ... comes not forth, etc.' — that is: do our own eyes not see that affliction and trouble occur in the world? Yet they do not sprout and come forth from the ground on their own, by mere chance; rather, they come to repay the reward of one's own deeds. Therefore, when I saw the fool taking root, I judged that he was the fitting one to be among those who receive affliction and trouble — for it becomes him, it suits him.

Trouble (aven) — An expression of calamity.

For affliction comes not forth from the dust — he speaks by way of figure: that the root put down by the one who ‘took root suddenly,’ through fraud and injustice, will not come up out of the dust, nor sprout from the ground, nor bear fruit — and the reason is:

Because man is born for trouble For it is impossible that he should not sin and receive trouble as punishment for sin. He is not like the flying creatures—the angels and spirits—who fly upward, and are not of the earthly creatures (other editions read: fly upward so as not to be among the earthly creatures), over whom the Adversary and temptation rule. flying Heb. רשף, as in (Ps. 76:4), “arrows of (רשפי) a bow.” When the arrow flies, it is called רשפי, an expression of flying. This is what I heard.

'The sparks' — some say: just as it is the nature of a bird to fly, so it is the nature of man to have trouble. Similarly, 'those devoured by burning heat' (Deuteronomy 32:24) means 'those devoured by birds.' Others say: the 'sons of resheph' — those who deserve to be in Gehinnom — rise high in this world; but apart from the word resheph itself, this reading is unconvincing. Still others say the 'sons of resheph' are sparks of fire, and this is closer to the truth: because man is accustomed to seeing the sun rise and set, though in fact its rising and setting are only apparent to his eyes; and because rain comes only at intervals, and there are times it is withheld precisely when needed, so that people cry out to the Creator, and He commands the clouds to pour rain — and this becomes for them a great sign. That is why Scripture goes on to speak of 'Who does great things' (5:9) and 'Who gives rain' (5:10).

"The sparks" [lit. "sons of flame"] — these are flashes of fire.

'But man' — was not man created to labor for his own sustenance, and not to take from another something he did not labor for? 'As the sparks' — and just as it is fixed in the nature of the sparks of a flame to rise and fly upward, so too is it the proper way of man to labor for his own sustenance. But this fool did not do so, and therefore he receives his recompense in full.

Sparks (rasheph) — A fiery coal, as in 'its flashes are flashes of fire' (Song of Songs 8:6).

But man is born to trouble — meaning: man is born to labor by the toil of his hands, and it is through his labor that he brings his bread. Whoever amasses wealth without labor and without the toil of his hands — that is ‘trouble’ and ‘iniquity,’ and it will not sprout, and will not endure in his children’s hands. In sum: a person’s success depends, at its root, on his effort, his labor, and the toil of his hands — not, as you [Job] claimed, that a person’s success is decreed by the ‘sons of the flame,’ the ranks of the stars that send their sparks and their influences down below and act upon this lower world in all human affairs. Rather, ‘the sons of the flame fly high’ means that the heavenly spiritual forces that flow from the courses of the stars — these ‘sons of the flame’ — fly high above; their flight is lofty and elevated above this lower world, and they have no power to act upon this lower world, for evil or for good.

But I would seek of God If these pains came over me, I would appeal to the Holy One, blessed be He, with prayer and supplication, and if I would commit my cause to a request.

'But as for me' — truly, if I myself were crushed by suffering, I would not complain as you do; rather, I would turn to Hashem and plead before Him. 'And to God, etc.' — Scripture repeats the same thought in these words.

But as for me, I would seek to God — After he had refuted Job’s view that attributed things to the celestial order, and had proven that man is free in his deeds and master over them, and that his effort bears fruit, he now says: it is true that, from another angle, it does sometimes appear that a person is not in control of his own choice — for we have often seen a person prepare every means necessary to attain some end, only to find not merely that he fails to attain the intended end, but that these very means become, instead, the cause of the very opposite of what he intended. From this it would seem that human deeds are, in such cases, compelled by some higher force driving him against his own will and choice. But do not conclude from this that such compulsion comes from the celestial order which governs the freely-chosen deeds of mankind. Rather, in such general matters — where a person’s choice is overridden and his deeds become compelled — I attribute this compulsion to the providence of Hashem. This is the meaning of: ‘But I would seek to God’ — that it is only through God’s providence that choice is, at times, overridden; and ‘to God would I commit my cause’ — I place and attribute my words and my conduct not to the celestial order, but to providence, for there are matters in which providence overrides choice. And he brings, as proof of this, the evidence of inquiry — for behold, we have seen that:

'Who does great things' — for He does great things that cannot be searched out or known. It is as if Eliphaz were saying: this is why I would turn to Hashem, for it is in His power to save; He rules over the celestial order and inclines it toward whatever He wishes. And even though it appears that, for the most part, things happen as the celestial order would dictate, nevertheless everything is in His hand; and even though we do not know the resolution of the matter, that is because man's understanding is limited — just as there is no fathoming all the great things that the Omnipresent, blessed be He, does. 'Without number' — on account of their vast abundance.

Who does great things and unsearchable — these are the great things seen in the ordered governance of nature, fixed since the six days of Creation; and also ‘marvelous things without number’ — these are the deeds He performs against the order of nature, by His limitless power. And he takes hold of two proofs, by way of example and demonstration: one proof from the governance seen in His conduct in general matters — namely, that He:

Who gives rain upon the face of the land The land of Israel. and sends water upon the face of outside places through a messenger to other countries.

'Who gives rain' — even though many times nature gives no sign of rain, nevertheless He gives it beyond the natural order, through individual providence. 'And sends, etc.' — this repeats the same idea in different words.

Who gives rain upon the earth — in places ‘that drink water by the rain of heaven’ (cf. Deuteronomy 11:11); and in places where no vapor rises to bring down showers of blessing, as in Egypt and certain regions of Africa, there He ‘sends waters upon the fields.’ We find there a river that fills every year with rainwater falling in another country, and it rises over its banks and waters the land, making it fertile and causing it to grow — like the Nile river in the land of Egypt. These facts testify and declare that there is a particular providence, ever watchful, so that water should not be lacking in any of the places He prepared for human habitation. For something spread throughout the whole earth in so precise a measure, with such wondrous wisdom, cannot possibly be attributed to chance. And the rain, taken as a whole, is directed toward a general purpose, in two respects:

to place the humble on high He gives the rain, and He frustrates the plans of the crafty, who intend to raise the prices and buy the fields of the poor for little grain. and those blackened whose fares are shriveled from hunger.

'He sets up on high those that are low' — those who weep, asking for rain; then the wise and the crafty saw that their wisdom was of no avail.

"And those that mourn" — these are men of hard luck, whom he calls "kodrim" (darkened) because, owing to the greatness of their mourning, it seems to them as though the light around them has grown dark. In this vein the prophet says, regarding the abundance of troubles, "and they shall look to the earth, and behold, darkness and distress, and the light is darkened in its clouds" (Isaiah 5:30); and David says, "I bowed down mournful, as one that bewails his mother" (Psalms 35:14).

'So that He sets' — so as to raise up on high, to lofty heights, those who are lowly and lack bread; for when rain comes, the earth gives its produce and brings them relief — and in this too the greatness of providence is seen. 'And those that mourn' — those darkened by the distress of famine are strengthened through God's salvation; this repeats the same idea in different words.

Those that mourn (koderim) — An expression of blackness, as in 'the sun and moon are darkened' (Joel 2:10). Are exalted to safety (sagvu yesha) — As though written 'sagvu b'yesha' [with a bet, 'are raised up into safety'].

(1) So that He sets up on high those that are low — to raise the plants and the trees from lowness to height, lifting them up and making them grow. (2) And that those who are darkened — meaning, the bodies of living creatures that are darkened and scorched by the heat — ‘are exalted to safety,’ through the rain moistening and dampening their bodies. These are the two purposes evident in the need for rain, as the Sefer Ha-Ikkarim states; and from this it is clear that this comes through particular providence, for chance does not aim at a purpose. The second proof is from the providence seen in particular matters, and this comes in two respects: (1) For we have seen that at times…

so that their hands do not carry out their plans The counsel that they planned to perform.

'Substantial' — in the sense of wisdom. Rabbi Moshe explained that it comes from [the word] 'yesh' (substance).

'Substantial' — Toshiyah is a term for any proper order and organization; for this reason the Torah is called toshiyah, since it is the fitting order and organization [for human life]. Toshiyah is likewise the name for the conduct proper for a person, as a person, to follow. This is what Job meant when he said, 'and is toshiyah driven from me?' (Job 6:13) — for the Torah had not yet been given in Job's time, nor was he a believer in the Torah, such that he would be boasting that the Torah had not been taken from him. Rather, he was boasting that the order and conduct proper for a person, as a person — the way of living by which the soul is perfected — had not been taken from him. It is also possible that some code of proper conduct already existed among the people to which Job belonged, and that he was boasting that he had followed that code in a complete and perfect way. Toshiyah is also the name for whatever is bounded and organized in thought and effort in the carrying out of actions, until they reach the goal that was intended for them. For example: if a thief plans some theft, and works out that plan in his mind — how he must proceed in it until he manages to carry out the theft — then this plan, which he worked out in his mind and made into a kind of rule for himself, is called toshiyah. In this sense it says, 'their hands can perform nothing substantial,' meaning that they will not carry out what they had planned and worked out in their minds to do.

'He frustrates' — through His providence He frustrates the plans of the crafty, who scheme with cunning and stratagems. 'Substantial' — [meaning] everything that their plans intended to accomplish.

Substantial [thing] (tushiyah) — A form of the word yesh ('substance').

He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands can perform nothing substantial – the crafty, who have skill in counsel and stratagems for harming others, have their plans frustrated by Hashem, so that their hands cannot accomplish anything of substance, and their counsel never comes to fruition. So it was with Ahithophel, of whom Scripture testifies (2 Samuel 17) that in those days his counsel was regarded as though a man had inquired of the word of God; and had Absalom then heeded his counsel, he would have killed David — yet by Hashem's providence, his counsel was not carried out. This is a second technique: sometimes it works the other way, for —

is hasty Any counsel that is planned hastily is foolishness.

'Headlong' — foolish, like 'the heart also of the rash' (Isaiah 32:4).

'The wily' — these are the obstinate people who dig deep for devious schemes until they achieve what they are after. He [Eliphaz] says that despite the depth of the scheming of such people, Hashem brings it about that their counsel becomes foolish and rash — 'rash' being related to the term 'hasty of heart,' that is, the fools.

'In their own craftiness' — with the very craftiness they devised to use against someone else, He entraps them there, so that 'he falls into the pit he made' (Psalms 7:16). 'And the counsel of the wily' — the counsel of the perverse is carried out swiftly, for it turns back upon themselves. This is a figure of speech, meaning: since he himself devised the counsel and it returns to him, it is accomplished with great speed — for a person is close to himself, and counsel need not travel from afar.

The wily (nifetalim) — Crooked, perverse, as in 'there is nothing twisted (niftal) in them' (Proverbs 8:8).

He takes the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong – when the wise choose cunning and stratagem to harm their fellows, He does not frustrate their counsel; rather, by His providence He brings it about that the very means they devised for their scheme become themselves the cause of the opposite outcome. So it was with the brothers of Joseph: the means they devised so that Joseph would not rise to greatness — namely, selling him as a slave — should by nature have been bound to achieve exactly that result, since a slave cannot succeed and rule. Yet Hashem brought it about, by His providence, that this very act became the cause of his success and greatness, until his brothers themselves became his servants. In this way He takes the wise together with their cunning and stratagems, so that by these very means they themselves are caught. And then the counsel of the wily is hastened — Hashem hastens their counsel rather than frustrating it, as happened with Joseph: Hashem did not nullify their plan but rather went along with it, that Joseph be sold as a slave, because this plan of theirs had in fact been ordained by Hashem, so that through it he would rise to greatness and his brothers would bow down to him.

By day, they meet darkness For their counsel is not executed nor accomplished, and the light of their wisdom is converted to darkness.

'In the day-time' — its meaning is 'during the day.'

'In the day-time' — in the light of day they encounter darkness; that is, even in a matter that is plain and visible to every eye, their counsel turns foolish and they go astray in it. 'As in the night' — like one walking in the darkness of night, who must feel his way with his hand so as not to stumble over something, so too they will grope about at noontime. That is, even in a matter that would be obvious at first thought, their eyes will be sealed shut so that their hearts fail to understand; this repeats the same idea in different words.

In the day-time (yomam) — [Equivalent to] 'in the daytime.' They meet with (yifgeshu) — [Means] they encounter. Grope (yemashshu) — An expression of feeling about with the hands to avoid stumbling, as in 'as the blind man gropes' (Deuteronomy 28:29).

They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope at noonday as in the night – this refers back to the two things mentioned above. In the first case — that He frustrates the devices of the crafty so that they cannot find any counsel — then they meet with darkness in the day-time, for He darkens the day for them until the light of counsel does not exist for them at all. And in the second case — that He takes the wise in their own craftiness — then they grope at noonday as in the night, for then noon and its light (which stands for counsel) do exist, but they grope in it as though it were night, because their own counsel turns around to harm them.

And He saved the stumblers. from the sword. From what sword? From their mouth, for they thought to swallow them and longed to destroy them. and... from the hand of the mighty He saves the needy.

'But He saves from the sword' — [refers to] the needy; the meaning is: from the sword of enemies. 'Of their mouth' — for if they go hungry, an enemy can besiege them. The point: when the Omnipresent wishes to chastise people, He withholds rain in its season, and when they return to Him, He answers them and saves them.

'But He saves ... from the sword' — the object [of the verb] is omitted; it refers back to the lowly and the mourners mentioned earlier [in the previous verses], or else it refers to the needy person mentioned at the end of the verse — which is the more correct reading. The intent of the verse is that Hashem saves the needy from the sword and from the hand of the mighty. 'Of their mouth' — that is, of the wicked, and from their own words. This means that He makes their own mouths and words into a tool for saving the needy person whom they intended to harm. For example: they might say that they will pursue so-and-so to kill him; someone overhears the matter and reports their plan to that man, who then is careful not to go by that road, and so is saved. Or their own words, through the very confusion of their scheming, may themselves contain what saves the needy person. It is also possible to say that the intent here is that Hashem saves the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty in this way, through providence. Yet He also saves them from their mouth in a figurative sense — that they will not become prey to their teeth, by breaking their teeth, as it says, 'and the teeth of the young lions are broken' (Job 4:10). In this sense as well, they are kept from becoming prey to their teeth, inasmuch as Hashem, may He be blessed, brings about, for these wicked men, confusion of their own scheming.

'But He saves' — through the folly of their own scheming, Hashem saves the one against whom their counsel was aimed; he is saved from the sword — that is, from the mouths of those wicked men who intended 'to swallow them alive' (cf. Proverbs 1:12) — for they will go astray and not know what to do to achieve what they hoped for. 'And from the hand of the mighty' — through this He saves the needy from the hand of one stronger than him; this repeats the same idea in different words.

But He saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty – [Malbim] explains why Hashem exercises this providence, frustrating the devices of the crafty or turning about their counsel, thereby overriding man's free choice and his own efforts: He does this in order to save the needy from the sword, from the mouth, and from the hands of the mighty. For had He not intervened providentially in matters of free choice, to nullify the counsel of the mighty and the tyrannical who scheme to harm their fellows, mankind could not have survived — for the tyrannical and the mighty, who are always numerous, would swallow up the needy, and people would be like the fish of the sea, where the great swallow the small, whether by the sword of war, or by mouth and evil speech, or by hands that do evil. Therefore He watches over the weak to save them, and the evil of the wicked does not suffice to destroy the human race, for it is preserved by Hashem's providence. And through this —

and libel Heb. ועלתה. The libel (עלילה) and the wickedness, as (Ps. 64:7), “They search for false charges,” equivalent to עלילות, libels. shut Heb. קפצה, shut, as (Deut. 15:7), “nor shut (תקפץ).”

'So the poor has hope' — the very folly of the wicked's own scheming will serve to fulfill the hope that the poor person waits upon. 'And iniquity' — behold, iniquity has stopped up her own mouth and can no longer harm him; and thus, from all this, the greatness of providence is seen.

Stops (kaftzah) — An expression of shutting, as in 'and all iniquity shuts its mouth' (Psalms 107:42).

So the poor has hope, and iniquity stops her mouth – for if human effort alone were effective in everything, there would be no hope at all. Given the multitude of wicked and tyrannical people in the world, whose whole intent is to kill the weak and plunder their possessions, and given how greatly they exert themselves toward this end, it would not be possible for the poor and the weak to survive, and he would have no hope of being saved from their harm. But through Hashem's providence over the poor and the weak, saving them from their harm, iniquity stops her mouth, for they will see that there is a supreme Overseer who stands at the right hand of the needy to help and save him.

Behold, fortunate is the man etc. with pains, and just as He heals the pain of these [people], so would I [myself] appeal to Him about these pains that would come upon me. So should you accept them and not despise them.

'Behold' — since everything comes about through providence, happy is the man whom God corrects through the ordeal of suffering, for through this his sin is purged so that his end will be good; and you too should not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty – after having explained that a person's actions are in part matters of free choice and in part determined through providence, he now says that the same is true of the sufferings that come upon a person. Even though many of them are self-inflicted, coming upon him through his own wrong choices — as it is written, 'vexation kills the fool' — such as one who overindulges in food until he falls ill with a digestive disease, or in intercourse until his body sickens — there nevertheless also exist providential sufferings, which come by Hashem's providence to atone for and purge his sins, or to bring him back to repentance. And although the self-inflicted sufferings are absolutely bad — as it is written, 'vexation kills the fool,' 'for their course leads to the shades' — the providential sufferings, by contrast, are nothing but good and kindness. This includes sufferings that come upon a person in order to turn him back to the good way in the future, of which it says, 'behold, happy is the man whom God corrects' — meaning light sufferings that come to reprove his way and turn him toward good — as well as the harsh sufferings that come to purge sins he has already committed in the past, of which it says, 'and the chastening of the Almighty' — these too should not be despised.

'Make whole' — spelled with a yod, but meaning as though with an aleph, as in 'we would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed' (Jeremiah 51:9).

'For He makes sore' — through suffering He causes pain, and by that very suffering He also provides the bandage and the cure, for through it the sin is purged and goes away. 'And His hands' — the very hands with which He wounds are the same hands that heal that wound from the sickness of sin; this repeats the same idea in different words.

And binds up (vayachbosh) — A form of the words tachbosheth ('bandage') and refu'ah ('healing'), as in 'to bind up the brokenhearted' (Isaiah 61:1). He wounds (yimchatz) — An expression of striking, as in 'He strikes (machatz) the head' (Psalms 110:6).

For He makes sore, and binds up; He wounds, and His hands make whole – [Malbim] explains this verse as corresponding to the two things just mentioned. Corresponding to the reproof, whose purpose is to correct a person's way for the future — which is comparable to one who binds a bandage around a wound so that it not spread further — it says, 'for He makes sore,' and by this very act, 'binds up' — He binds around the wound, meaning that by this He shuts, as it were, a door before the stirrings of the soul, so that they do not lead to further sin. And corresponding to the chastening that comes to punish him for sins already past, it says, 'He wounds, and His hands make whole' — meaning that even when He wounds with great suffering in order to purge past sin, this very wounding is itself what heals — like one who gives a sick person bitter medicine as a cure, where the very bitterness of the medicine is itself the remedy.

In six troubles When they come to the world, he will save you through the pains with which you wee tormented, and also with the seventh one, which when it comes will not touch you.

'In six troubles' — it is possible that this alludes to seven, in the way Scripture sometimes does; indeed, others have counted them and found they are seven in number.

'In six troubles' — know, then, that because of the sufferings that have come upon you, your sin has been purged, and troubles will not touch you further; for Hashem will deliver you whenever one of the six troubles named below comes into the world. 'In seven' — and as for the seventh, which is not counted as a trouble like the others, nevertheless its evil will not touch you.

He will deliver you in six troubles; indeed, in seven there shall no evil touch you – after having explained the reason for the sufferings of the righteous that come to purge past sin or to correct his way — which is the very thing he mentioned had come to him by prophecy, that it is impossible to find a righteous man who does good and never sins, as it is written, 'can a mortal be acquitted by God?' — he now adds, from his own understanding, that sometimes evil comes upon a person, and it is in truth for his own good, saving him thereby from a still greater evil from which he would not have been saved at all. So too here: sometimes six troubles will come upon you — meaning, many troubles — and through these six troubles He will save you from the seventh trouble, which is very dangerous, so that through this, in the seventh, no evil touches you — the seventh evil does not touch you — as he goes on to explain by way of illustration.

'In famine' — when famine comes into the world, Hashem will redeem you so that you do not die of hunger; and in war He will redeem you from the power of the enemy's sword.

In famine He will redeem you from death – Sometimes He brings famine upon you, and by this very thing He redeems you from death. For example: the land in which you dwell is destined to be overturned by an earthquake; He brings famine upon you so that you are forced to leave for another land in search of bread, and by this you are saved from the death you would have died in the earthquake. And in war from the power of the sword – for example: a man lies in wait to kill you with the sword, and because it happens to be a time of war, you have girded on weapons to go out to battle; your enemy then encounters you, meaning to kill you, but because you were armed you are saved from his hand — whereas had it not been a time of war, he would have killed you, since you would have had no weapon in hand to withstand him.

from the scourging tongue of the Adversary you shall be hidden. These are the seven troubles: 1 famine, 2) the sword, 3) the tongue, 4) plunder etc., and 5) the beasts of the land, which are brigands.

'From the scourge of the tongue' — for slander is like a whip. But more correct: that it means the language of a nation, as in 'the tongues of the nations' (Zechariah 8:23). 'And roaming' — from [the same root as] 'range through the streets of Jerusalem' (Jeremiah 5:1): when the tongue roams through your land, you shall be hidden.

'You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue' — meaning: when the evil tongue roams about the land — which is the cause of intense and harmful quarrels — there you shall be hidden, meaning that you will not be mentioned [i.e., not made a target of it].

'From the scourge of the tongue' — when slander increases in the world and the tongue roams about to gossip, you will be hidden and concealed from it, for it will not speak against you; and so you need not fear the ruin and destruction that come through evil speech.

The scourge (shot) — An expression of roaming here and there, as in 'roaming (mishut) about the earth' (above, 1:7).

You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue – Sometimes a slanderer gains power over you, testifying falsely against you before a king and officials, until they cast you into prison; and this was for your good, for through it you are hidden away and do not fear the destruction when it comes — since meanwhile ruin and calamity come upon the city, while you, hidden away in prison, are saved. Or that through it —

'Famine' — Targum renders [it] 'hunger'; or it is from [the same root as] 'its roots bent' (Ezekiel 17:7), whose meaning there is 'gathered.'

'Famine' — this is when the grain is in the hands of those guarding the storehouses [i.e., hoarded], so that it becomes expensive, not because of any actual shortage of grain. Real hunger, by contrast, is an actual shortage of grain.

'At destruction' — when a robber comes to plunder wealth, or when famine comes — that is, when grain is hoarded to drive up prices — you will laugh and scoff at these, for they will not touch you for harm. 'The beasts of the earth' — when there is an onslaught of wild beasts you will not fear them. These, then, are the six troubles in number: famine, war, evil speech, robbers, dearth, and the beasts of the earth.

And famine (ulechafan) — An expression of gathering; so too, 'and its roots turned toward it' (kafnah shorasheha) (Ezekiel 17:7); and in the words of our sages there is the term kenufya ('assembly') (Shabbat 60) — the letters being transposed.

At destruction and famine you shall laugh; neither shall you be afraid of the beasts of the earth – or: so that you will not fear the beasts of the earth poised to come and destroy the city — for at that time you were confined in a strong fortress, in a prison, and so you were saved from the calamities that were then raging over the city. Accordingly, the evil that came upon you was in fact for your good — as our Sages said, in the parable of two men who wished to travel by ship, and a thorn lodged in the foot of one of them [so that he could not board], and the ship sank: the thorn that had lodged in his foot was thus, in fact, for his good.

the stones of the field They are: 6) a type of man. and the beasts of the field That is what is known as grouse(?) in Old French, and this is actually a beast of the field. In the language of the Mishnah in Torath Kohanim, they are called “adnei hasadeh.” made peace with you will have peace with you.

'For you shall be in league with the stones of the field' — as though you had made a covenant with the stones that they would not harm you, and made peace with the wild animals.

'For you shall be in league with the stones of the field' — with the stumbling-stones scattered about the field, it will be as though he made a covenant with them, so that you do not 'strike your foot against a stone' (Psalms 91:12). This is the seventh, which is not counted as a trouble like the first six. 'And the beasts of the field' — this is a figure of speech, meaning: it is as if the beasts of the field were the agents sent to mediate peace between you and the stones of the field, as if they themselves had made peace for you with those stones.

For you shall be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you – through the Providence hovering protectively over you, you will be so guarded that you will have, as it were, a covenant even with the stones of the field, so that they will not cause your feet to stumble; and even the predatory beasts will make peace with you and not touch you. This is like what the master of the prophets [Moses] said concerning one under [divine] guardianship: ‘They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone; you shall tread upon the lion and the adder.’

Then you shall know that there is peace in your tent Then, wherever you are, you will be confident that all is well in your tent. and you shall visit your habitation and miss nothing Heb. תחטא, like (Jud. 20:16), “at a hairbreadth and not miss (יחטא).” This is the seventh [trouble] that we counted above.

'You shall visit your habitation' — you will find it just as you had pictured it in your mind, missing nothing. 'In a ripe age' — this word occurs nowhere else except twice in this book. Its meaning: that he will die when the number of his days is complete, that is, old age.

'And you shall visit your habitation, and shall miss nothing' — meaning the children of your dwelling, that is, the members of your household. It is as if he is saying that a person has already sinned if he failed to watch over his children in the manner proper to keep them from sin.

'And you shall know' — wherever you may be, you will know, and be assured, that peace is in your tent. 'And you shall visit' — you will look in on your dwelling and find it still your own, with nothing of it lost to you by passing into another's hand.

And you shall visit (ufakadta) — An expression of remembering and taking note, as in 'I have surely taken note (pakod pakadti)' (Exodus 3:16). Your habitation (navecha) — A form of the words naveh ('abode') and madur ('dwelling'). Shall miss (techeta) — Its sense is lacking, missing, as in 'slings a stone ... and does not miss' (Judges 20:16).

And you shall know that your tent is in peace; and you shall visit your habitation, and shall miss nothing – Now that he has explained that it is Hashem’s Providence which governs the steps of man, and not mazal or the celestial order, he says: even the three particular things — children, life, and livelihood — of which it is said that they do not depend on merit but depend on mazal, these too proceed from Providence and come to you from it. Corresponding to livelihood — the needs of the household in food, drink, and clothing — you shall know that your tent is at peace, and you will lack nothing in it; and when you visit your habitation to see whether all the needs of your household are found there, you shall not fail — meaning, you will lack nothing that you need. And corresponding to children, he says —

'You shall know also' — you will know and be confident that your descendants will be many. 'And your offspring, etc.' — this repeats the same idea in different words.

You shall know also that your seed shall be great, and your offspring as the grass of the earth – meaning: your seed — your grown children — will be many, and your offspring — your young ones — will flourish like the grass of the earth. And corresponding to life, he says —

You shall come to the grave at a ripe old age Heb. בְכֶלַח. [In other words,] you will be saved from pestilence. As for the word בְכֶלַח: there is no Biblical support to understand its meaning, but according to the context, it can be interpreted as an expression of the completion of the ripening of the grain, when it is completely ripe. Our Rabbis, however, interpret בְכֶלַח as “sixty years,” according to its numerical value. as the grain stock is taken away As the grain stack is taken off the ground in its time.

'Like as a shock of corn comes in' — like being cut down [reaped]; similarly: 'do not take me away in the midst of my days' (Psalms 102:25).

'Like as a shock of corn comes in' — this is an expression of being cut down; similarly, 'Take me not away in the midst of my days' (Psalms 102:25). Explanation of the words of the response: Eliphaz responded and said: We know that if one takes up a discourse and speaks to you in reply to your words, it will be a burden to you; but even so, I cannot refrain from replying to your words, for who could hold back words in the face of words like these of yours? Or perhaps the sense is: when Hashem tested you by bringing some evil upon you, did you grow weary? And who could hold back words from reproving you for this trait of yours? Now, in the past, you used to instruct many people whenever you heard the likes of these things from them: the hands that were weak in faith in Hashem you would strengthen; the stumbling man you would set back on his feet with your words; and the buckling knees you would brace. You would tell such a person that whatever evil befalls us comes as punishment for a prior transgression — that is, whoever was troubled in his faith in Hashem, blessed be He, because of some punishment that had befallen him, you would strengthen, until all would come to believe that for every deed there is reward and judgment, this being for the betterment of society and the securing of man's success. For if the masses had no fear of punishment, they would not refrain from doing evil, since their own nature draws them to desire it. But now, when evil has come upon you, you are too weary to bear it, and now that it has touched you, you are dismayed. This proves that your fear of Hashem was only for the sake of your own security, so that He would guard your possessions for you, and that your hope that He would guard these possessions for you was the reason for the integrity of your ways — not a genuine faith. For, to judge by your words now, you do not believe that there is reward and punishment at all. Eliphaz then began to refute Job's words from experience, and said: 'Remember, I pray you, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?' — for I have seen that it is the men who exert themselves with all their strength to do wrong and violence who perish and are consumed by the breath of Hashem's anger; whereas the innocent and the upright, even if some evils do befall them, are not consumed and destroyed utterly by them, as happens with the evils of the wicked. This is proof that these evils do not fall out by chance, as you suppose — for if that were so, there would be no difference between the upright and the wicked. Rather, the evils of the upright are milder, because their sins are fewer, not because they suffer evils with no prior transgression at all, as Job supposed. Behold, the wicked, whose desire is to tear prey like fierce beasts, are found with their teeth broken, so that they are kept from what they scheme to do; you see them perishing for want of prey, and their young scattering here and there, roaming in search of enough to eat. This is something established beyond doubt by experience: for you will find that many wicked men, whose whole effort is bent on harming others, most of the time do not succeed, and their evil plan is thwarted. This shows that the providence of Hashem extends to individual human beings. Eliphaz said: In truth, the manner of His providence is hidden and concealed from me; but my ear has caught a whisper of it — a little of that perception which establishes for us that His providence reaches even the lowly. For, amid disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, fear and trembling seized me, and the multitude of my bones was made to shake — from the vision I would see in a dream of things destined to befall me, the cause of whose being made known to me is Hashem, blessed be He; for what that vision told me was a spiritual matter. 'It passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up' whenever it came, out of the sheer dread of it; for true dreams are distinguished from other dreams in that dread and agitation of spirit come from them, as is stated in the Book of Sense and the Sensed; and what is told of Pharaoh's dream and Nebuchadnezzar's dream attests to this. That it was a spiritual matter is shown by the fact that 'it stood before me, and I could not discern its appearance' — but rather, an image before my eyes, which the imaginative faculty presented to me; and 'I heard its wondrous words' as though they were composed of both a voice and a silence — for the intellect receives them spiritually, without any sound, while the imaginative faculty pictures them as though they were vocal words made of letters and sound. After this, Eliphaz began a third argument, and said: How could you believe that Hashem, blessed be He — who makes, brings into being, and governs the human race — does not exercise providence over it, so that a righteous man may fare ill and a wicked man fare well? 'Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker?' For matters of this kind would have to be attributed to injustice in a human being — that is, if he governs a state and does not govern it justly. How, then, could it be conceived of Hashem, blessed be He, who is utterly perfect, that something which is a deficiency and an injustice by human standards could apply to Him? 'Behold, He puts no trust in His servants' — these are the separate intellects: He does not attribute to them truth and existence from their own essence, but whatever truth and existence they have comes from something other than themselves, namely, Hashem, blessed be He. Nor does He credit His angels with a light of their own; for they have no light — that is, no apprehension — that they attain from their own essence, but only from what has flowed to their existence from the First Cause, namely, Hashem, blessed be He. It is therefore clear that these beings, however perfect in relation to man, are greatly deficient in relation to Hashem, blessed be He; for there is no comparison between one whose existence, subsistence, and apprehension come from his own essence, and one whose existence, subsistence, and apprehension come from something else. And if even these beings, for all their simplicity, perfection, and eternity, are found deficient in relation to Hashem, blessed be He, then there is no doubt that man is exceedingly deficient in relation to Him. For man 'dwells in houses of clay' — meaning, in this lowly world — 'whose foundation is in the dust' — meaning, that the subsistence of his form lies in its matter, since matter is the substrate of his form, his form being material. (This may also be what is meant by 'those who dwell in houses of clay' — that their forms are material.) And along with the deficiency inherent in their very essence, it further follows that they are subject to decay; nor is even this decay fixed for them at any determined point, such that they could feel secure from it for a while. Rather, mishaps crush them and destroy them before natural wasting and decay ever reach them: 'from morning to evening' death overtakes them for a trifling cause, before they have ever turned their attention to human perfection; they perish an utter loss, with no survival for them at all. Indeed, even though man has some measure of perfection — the intellectual readiness by which he has an advantage and the possibility of survival — it happens to him, in most cases, that this advantage is taken from him, and he dies 'without wisdom,' since attaining perfection is exceedingly difficult for him, both because of the great difficulty inherent in the task itself and because of the multitude of obstacles in his way. 'Call now, is there any that will answer you?' — if you thought yourself to be on the intellectual level of the angels, on account of your possessing intellect, see how far your level is from theirs: were you to call to them, you would find no one to answer you. 'And to which of the holy ones will you turn?' — for even the lowliest of them would not answer you, so distant is your level from his; and if this is so with respect to the lowliest of them, see how much further your level is from the level of Hashem, blessed be He. This being so, it is clear that it cannot be that a deficiency found in man — man, who stands at the utmost extreme of deficiency in relation to Hashem, blessed be He — should be attributed to Hashem, blessed be He, in His utter perfection. Eliphaz then went on to resolve a certain difficulty regarding the evils that appear to befall a person without any prior transgression, saying that these are not truly evils that ought to trouble a person, and ascribing them instead to foolishness and gullibility. On this he said: 'For anger kills the foolish man' — since he is perpetually troubled when the things he desires fail to come about, a failure caused by his not having pursued them through the proper means; and it is clear that such a man is perpetually angry when what he aimed at does not come about, and thinks that Hashem, blessed be He, has punished him — whereas it is clear that this should not be called an evil at all, any more than it would be called an evil if a ship failed to emerge from a pit dug in the ground, since a ship is not made to perform such a feat. 'And the gullible man, whose heart is led astray by every illusory success — jealousy kills him,' for his eyes are never satisfied, and he is left forever with that jealousy and pain. Added to this, out of the intensity of his jealousy he strives to attain what he desires quickly, and so treads a path toward it through unsuitable means. So it is with the fool: even should it happen that a fool takes root and prospers in some matters — 'I have seen it: his calamity came suddenly, and I cursed his habitation' — for so little remains of the possessions he had aimed at; a man such as this attains no goal at all except by chance, and what comes by chance is scant, as has been established elsewhere. 'His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate,' in the sight of all the people, 'with none to deliver them' — since such a man does not strive to acquire friends either, just as he does not strive to pursue the other means that would bring about what he desires. Rather, such evil already comes upon the fool and upon his children who follow his ways, until their wealth belongs to a man of hard luck: the hungry man forces him and eats his harvest, and whatever he does manage to gather from among the thorns, so ill is his fortune that the predatory man hopes to seize it from him. This is the extreme of the evil — that the lowliest among men gain mastery over them. 'For calamity does not come forth from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground' — meaning, the earth is not the cause of the flawed order that befalls the good and ill fortune of individual men, which he calls calamity and trouble, as Job had supposed. For Job's reasoning was that, given the great distance in rank between these earthly matters and Hashem, blessed be He, it must follow that He does not exercise providence over them — as he himself had said, 'What is man, that You should make so much of him... that You should set Your heart upon him?' (Job 7:17), and, 'Do You open Your eyes upon such a one?' (Job 14:3). But the evils that occur here without prior transgression ought not to be called evils, since they are due to the folly of the one who suffers them, as he said regarding the fool and the gullible man. For man is born to toil and to strive for the possessions he needs, since his perfections were not given to him already realized, but rather he was given the tools by which he might possibly attain what he needs — just as sparks of fire are born to move the instant they come into being, and to lift aloft whatever they touch for as long as they last, until the fiery element in them departs and the ash falls. This being so — that is, that man is born to toil for those perfections whose attainment he desires — then if he does not pursue their attainment through the proper means, it is no punishment that they fail to reach him; and this is self-evident. Given this, Eliphaz concluded his argument that the evils that came upon Job were meant as chastisement and reproof for a prior transgression, and so said to him: As for me, I would seek unto God, and to God would I commit my cause — that is, I would appeal to Him and pray to Him to have mercy on me, for He watches over this lowly world with a wondrous providence, as is proved by the great and marvelous things He does. Among these is the giving of rain in an orderly and just manner, on which the life of every plant depends. For rain generally falls on those regions of the earth that lie exposed and parched, the winds having carried the clouds there from elsewhere; and whatever occurs in this manner would ordinarily be attributed to chance and coincidence — but what is due to chance and coincidence ought to be a rare occurrence, whereas we see rain falling, again and again, in just the way that lets the plants reach completion. This is strong proof that there is One who watches over the giving of rain, beyond nature alone. That is why you will find that, throughout the Prophets and the Sages, whenever they recount the wonders of Hashem, they mention the giving of rain first. A further point strengthens the claim that Hashem, blessed be He, exercises providence over individual human beings: the wicked, who strive to harm the lowly and the weak, are, more often than not, prevented from carrying out what they scheme, even though they possess the strength and cunning to do harm. For Hashem, blessed be He, brings it about that the lowly and persecuted are raised up to the heights of success, and that the deliverance of the crushed and the mourning is made great, while He frustrates the counsel of the clever wicked who strive to harm them, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had planned. 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness' — meaning, Hashem, blessed be He, turns the very abundance of their cunning into the instrument that prevents them from accomplishing what they scheme. For example: when they learn that a man is setting out on the road and seek to pursue him and seize what is his, they will reason about which direction he went, probing the matter deeply, and conclude that he is more likely to have gone in this direction for such-and-such reasons that they cite; and it is precisely the depth of their reasoning about this that leads them to conclude that he went in the direction he did not actually go, so that they pursue him there and do not find him. 'And the counsel of the crafty is hastened' — the counsel of the crooked wicked, who seek roundabout paths and reason deeply about them in every possible direction so as to attain their goal of wrongdoing and violence, Hashem, blessed be He, renders hasty and deficient, and this becomes the cause of their failing to judge the matter as they would wish, even in matters that are otherwise perfectly clear. 'They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as in the night' — meaning, that even in matters self-evident from the very start of their thinking, their counsel is thrown into confusion. In this way, Hashem, blessed be He, saves the lowly and the mourning from the sword of the wicked, so that they are not harmed by the mouths and words of these wicked men — that is, Hashem, blessed be He, turns their very mouths and words, on which their counsel had relied, into the instrument for saving the lowly and the mourning. In this way, Hashem, blessed be He, 'saves the needy from the hand of one mightier than he,' so that the poor come to have hope that Hashem, blessed be He, will not abandon them into the hands of the wicked, and 'unrighteousness shuts her mouth' — the wicked are grieved that the goal they aimed at was not reached. This argument that he mentions here is plain and evident from experience: for we find many wicked men who set their minds on evil and strive to carry it out, possessing the means by which they could harm many people — yet, despite this, the damage that actually results from them is slight. This shows that 'there is a higher One who watches.' This being so, you have no cause to complain against Hashem, blessed be He, for having reproved and chastised you for your sins; for 'happy is the man whom Hashem reproves' — He reproves the good so that they will return to the right path, whereas He puts the wicked to death once their measure of guilt is full. You therefore ought not despise the chastisement of Hashem, blessed be He, for when He chastises the good, He heals them, and binds them up again after having struck and wounded them. If you repent and humble yourself before the troubles come into the world, He will deliver you from them. He mentions the numbers six and seven, these being whole numbers, having already listed that same number of troubles — namely, famine, war, the evil tongue, plunder, hunger, the wild beasts of the field, and the stones of the field. 'In famine He will redeem you' from dying for lack of food, 'and in war He will deliver you' from being killed. While the tongue roams about to harm people through evil speech, you will not be named there as its target; and when the plunderer comes to seize spoil and take booty, you will not fear, for no harm will touch you. 'At destruction and famine you will laugh,' because you will not be harmed by them; you will not fear that wild beasts will tear you apart, nor that the stones of the field will bruise your feet — for you will have, as it were, made a covenant with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field will have made peace with you. 'And you shall know that your tent is at peace' — you will know that there will be peace in your household; and you should look after the members of your household and charge them to walk in the way of Hashem and not to sin. Eliphaz says this to hint to Job that he had perhaps sinned by failing to attend to the proper conduct of the members of his household, that they might be God-fearing — even though he himself had not sinned in his own deeds — and that this is why his children were punished, and why he himself was punished with the loss of the rest of his possessions. He therefore says: were you to act in this manner, you would come to know in truth that your offspring would be many, and your children as numerous as the grass of the earth; and you, too, would not die before your time if you conducted yourself this way, but would come to your grave in a ripe age, just as a shock of corn is cut down in its season. This, then, is what we have examined, and it is the very truth. Hear it, and know the truth, and conduct yourself by it. The general conclusion that emerges from all this is that Eliphaz believed the evils that come upon individual human beings come to them from Hashem, blessed be He, as punishment for sins they have committed. He resolved the difficulty posed by evils that appear to occur without any prior transgression by saying that there are indeed evils that occur on account of foolishness and gullibility, and that these do not deserve to be called evils, as we have explained. He first established his view from experience, saying that we do not find utter ruin and destruction among the upright and the innocent as we find among the wicked; this shows that the reason evil is found among the wicked is their very wickedness, and that this is indeed by way of punishment — whereas the innocent and the upright, when they commit some sins, Hashem, blessed be He, reproves and chastises, but does not destroy or cut off. This is also, in part, an argument against Job for having chosen death over the sufferings by which he was being chastised. The second argument is drawn from the knowledge conveyed through a dream, which proves His providence, blessed be He, over individual human beings; but this is a weak argument, so long as nothing more than this is said about it. For even granting this piece of knowledge, it does not necessarily follow that Hashem, blessed be He, exercises providence over individual human beings in the manner Eliphaz believes — as is clear to anyone who studies the Book of Sense and the Sensed. Eliphaz himself already sensed the weakness of this argument, and therefore said, 'and unto me a word was stealthily brought,' and so on. Elihu, however, expanded on this argument at greater length, and established from it the matter of providence in a way that leaves no room for doubt. The third argument is drawn from the perfection of Hashem, blessed be He, and the deficiency of man, and its structure of reasoning is this: man himself, on account of whatever perfection is found in him, does not shut his eyes to those he governs, nor does he do injustice to those under his rule. For a perfect master does not shut his eyes to what is done in his realm, nor does he do injustice to those he governs; it therefore follows that the more truly perfect a being is, the more truly it keeps its distance from injustice and from disregarding those it governs, since the more perfect a being is, the further it distances itself from deficiency. But the evils that appear to happen without prior transgression are due to foolishness and gullibility, and do not deserve to be called evils, as we have explained; and it is likewise possible, for this same reason, that good things may come to the wicked — except that this does not last more than a short while, as in 'I have seen a fool taking root,' and so on. This argument, then, is drawn from the reasoning of the lesser to the greater. The fourth argument is drawn from what is seen in the falling of rain in an order that lets the plants reach completion, and in the fact that the clever wicked are, more often than not, prevented from carrying their evil scheme of harming the weak and lowly into effect. The structure of the reasoning here runs as follows: if Hashem, blessed be He, did not exercise providence over this lowly world, then rain falling on any given exposed region of the earth would be a rare occurrence, and it would not generally be possible for the plants there to reach completion — since most of what occurs in this way is attributable to chance and coincidence — unless there were some single agent at work in the rains beyond nature, since it is generally the winds that carry the clouds to the place where they fall. But we further find that the plants do, in fact, generally reach completion through the rain; it therefore follows that Hashem, blessed be He, does exercise providence over this lowly world. And the second syllogism runs in just the same way: if Hashem, blessed be He, did not exercise providence over individual human beings, then the scheme of the clever wicked would, more often than not, be carried into effect, since they strive to carry it out by the most suitable means — just as with the other crafts that a person carries out through forethought and effort, whose goal is generally attained. But we further find that the scheme of the clever wicked is carried into effect only rarely; it therefore follows that Hashem, blessed be He, does exercise providence over individual human beings. On the strength of these arguments, then, Eliphaz attributed the evil that came upon Job to a prior transgression on his part and on the part of his children, in the manner we have explained, and advised him to return to Hashem so that He might have mercy on him.

'You shall come to your grave in a ripe age' — in old age you will come to the grave; just as a stack of sheaves is removed from the field once it has fully dried, so you will be taken from the world once your days are complete.

In a ripe age (bechelach) — The time of old age; so too, 'their vigor is lost' (below, 30:2). To your grave (elei qever) — [Equivalent to] 'el qever' ('to the grave'). Comes in (ka'alot) — An expression of being taken up, as in 'do not take me away (ta'aleni) in the midst of my days' (Psalms 102:25). A shock of corn (gadish) — A heap made up of sheaves of grain.

You shall come to your grave in a ripe age, like as a shock of corn comes in in its season – like a stack of grain that is brought in at its proper time, at the time it bears its sheaves.

'Lo this' — this response we have examined with intellect and understanding, and so it is the truth; therefore listen to it, and understand it well. 'And know you it' — as if to say: behold, I have done my part; now you must decide for yourself, in your own mind, whether you accept my words or refuse them. (What emerges from this discourse is that Eliphaz concluded that everything happens through providence, bringing proof from the destruction of the wicked, who never recover, whereas the righteous do not perish in that way; and he deems foolish Job's view that everything is handed over to the celestial order, with one and the same fate befalling the righteous and the wicked alike. For he replies as follows: surely, even in the estimation of a human being who is himself whole, it would be reckoned an injustice to wrong one who is not whole — true even of the angels on high; how much more, then, is such a thing beyond all comparison with the perfection of the Omnipresent, blessed be He! How, then, could it occur to the mind that such injustice exists within His statute, may He be blessed? And though it appears that, most of the time, things happen as the celestial order would dictate, nevertheless it comes about through providence, and because of the limits of human understanding we cannot know the resolution of the matter. He goes on to prove providence further from the giving of rain apart from the natural order, from the downfall of the wicked through the very evil they devised against others, and from the folly of their minds even in a matter plain to every eye. And he pronounces judgment concerning the sufferings of the righteous — that they come to purge the small measure of sin in their hands, so that their end may be all the greater — and he conveys his counsel to Job not to kick against his suffering, for it came to purge his sin, for his good, all his days.)

Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good – In contrast to the first reason he gave for the sufferings of the righteous (namely, that they atone for iniquity and wipe away the small sin they had committed, not having fulfilled their service as required, relative to God and the worth of His service) — which reached him through prophecy, and which is, in his own view, the principal reason, since according to him he attained this reason by the holy spirit — he now says that the reasons he has just given, that suffering comes upon [the righteous] in order to save them from a future evil, are not, in his eyes, fundamental. For these reasons he offers on the basis of investigation; that is why he says, ‘Lo this, we have searched it’ — meaning, this reason we have investigated, and so it is. But in matters reached by investigation, every person has license to test it by his own judgment, and if the reason does not seem sound to him, he need not accept it. That is why he says, ‘hear it, and know you it for your good’ — meaning: examine it, and know from your own understanding whether this reason is good in your eyes or not.