(1) В¶ Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn? (2) For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. (3) I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. (4) His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them. (5) Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance. (6) В¶ Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; (7) Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Eliphaz still harps upon the same string in these verses, that affliction is sure mark of sin, and therefore it is plain, that in his mind his conclusions were unfavorable concerning Jobadiah And there is somewhat invidious in his several expressions, as referring to the short-lived triumphs of the wicked, because he referred to Job's former prosperity. Certain it is that all the prosperity of the wicked is but as the grass. But then, this was nothing in respect to Jobadiah Eliphaz had no consciousness, notwithstanding what he here saith of affliction not coming forth from the dust, that, though the LORD sends chastisement, yet, to his children, love is at the bottom. Hebrews 12:5-6.