By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
Eliphaz, one of Job's friends, has just laid down his rule: those who plow iniquity reap the same. Verse 9 shows God collecting that harvest by His own breath — and the question is whether this neat rule fits the man in front of him.
The breath and blast of God
One writer traces this phrase through Scripture while commenting on a New Testament passage that uses the same picture. He finds it covers both creation and judgment, and puts this verse with the judgment passages.
William Kelly"The breath of his mouth" expresses the inner energy of divine power (whether creative, Ps. 33:6, or judicial, 2 Sam. 22:16, Job 4:9, Ps. 18:15, Isa. 11:4, Isa. 30:33) with which the Lord will dispatch the lawless one.
Another writer checks where else Scripture uses the phrase.
W. Trotter"The breath, or spirit of his mouth" does not, as far as I can gather from Scripture, mean "the gospel" or the "saving influences of the Spirit." Job 4:9-15, 30; Isaiah 30:28 and 33 all use the phrase of judgment on wicked persons, not of converting influences on men's souls.
The logic Eliphaz is building
Put the verse back with the two before it and the argument becomes a trap with only two exits.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinEliphaz had told Job he was a pious and righteous man (verse 6). And now he tells him: "Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?" Only those that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap what they have sown. God makes such to perish in His wrath. They are cut off even if they were like strong lions. What dogmatic logic! Job, if you are righteous and suffering like this, then God is without any justice. But if God is justice, then you have plowed iniquity and sown wickedness, and all your suffering is your own harvest.
True sometimes, not always
The statement is true. The error is treating what sometimes happens as a rule that always holds.
William KellyEliphaz shows in a very animated and striking way what is a general modern principle — "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." But it is not an absolute rule. There are those who have sown and plowed iniquity too, and yet they have reaped a good deal in this world. They have stored up wealth and honour to the highest degree, and have become kings and emperors and all the rest of it. It was extremely short-sighted to talk as he did. "By the breath of God they perish" — sometimes. That is true, and Job never denied it, without making it an absolute truth or an absolute falsehood — "and by the blast of his anger they are consumed."
The case that breaks the rule
One name from the opening pages of the Bible collapses the whole structure.
F. B. HoleIn his next paragraph (verses 7-11) Eliphaz completely misunderstands the situation. He asks, "Who that was innocent ever perished?" … What about Abel? He perished being innocent. The first disaster recorded after sin entered the world disproved the position Eliphaz took. The righteous Abel was cut off. So the idea, which he developed by his figure of the lions, broke down. Reaping disaster does not necessarily mean that those who reap "plow iniquity and sow trouble."
Abel was the son of Adam and Eve, and his brother Cain killed him.
Experience turned into a law
Notice where Eliphaz got his rule. He watched, and then he generalised.
C. H. MackintoshThese sentences make it clear that Eliphaz belonged to the kind of people who argue mostly from their own experience. His motto was, "As I have seen." Now, what we have seen may be true enough, so far as we are concerned. But it is a total mistake to build a general rule on one person's experience, and yet thousands fall into it.
Every word true, the whole thing wrong
So the problem is not in any single sentence Eliphaz speaks.
William KellyEvery word may be true in itself; all is said with the greatest dignity and force; yet it is misapplied and one-sided, and so, in effect, mistaken as a whole. Eliphaz assumes that God is displaying His government right now, measuring out prosperity or hardship to each person exactly as they deserve. This is false ground, and it ruins the application, especially to one like Job.
Summary
- Breath. God acts directly. The same power that creates also judges, and Scripture uses this phrase of judgment on the wicked, not of saving influence.
- Rule. Eliphaz turns that judgment into the fixed law of every life. Suffering proves guilt, so either Job is a sinner or God is unjust.
- Sometimes. It does happen, but it is not an absolute rule. Many plow iniquity and still gather wealth and honour in this world.
- Abel. One innocent man cut off at the start of the Bible is enough to break the rule, and it breaks over Job too.
- Misapplied. True words go wrong as a whole when one man's experience becomes the law for everyone, and Job is the proof.