His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.
Eliphaz has been describing a man he calls "the foolish." The man seemed to take root, and then a curse fell on him. Now Eliphaz reaches the man's sons, ruined in public with no one to step in. He says all this to a father who has just lost every one of his children. It raises the question the whole book turns on: does disaster prove guilt?
The argument Eliphaz is making
The verse is one link in a chain of observations, and the chain is meant to lead Job somewhere. One writer traces how the older man builds his case without ever naming his friend:
Leslie M. GrantHe warns Job about what he had seen: the foolish man taking root, then suddenly exposed to a curse, his sons far from safety and crushed in the gate. Job's sons had died suddenly. Was Job then a foolish man? Eliphaz did not say so. But he hinted that Job might be very close to such a charge. Eliphaz had watched foolish people suffer, and he reasoned that since Job was suffering like this, something must be badly wrong in Job.
The gate
The gate of a town was its courtroom, where the judges sat. Job later uses the same phrase about himself, and one writer explains it:
Samuel RidoutWhen Job saw his "help in the gate" — the judges ready to decide in his favor, not because they were bribed, but because they were giving him what he was owed — he did not press his case against the orphans.
So the sons in Eliphaz's picture are not just unlucky. The one place that should protect a wronged person destroys them instead, and no one steps in.
A hint, not an accusation
Eliphaz keeps his language general, and that is what makes it cut. One writer notes both the restraint and the wound:
William Kelly"Do not judge by appearances," said the law. We must wait for solid facts... Sometimes a good man may be in such circumstances that appearances are very much against him. There we have to take great care. So judging by appearance is very dangerous ground. That is exactly where they were... "His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them." That was a very painful thing for Job to hear. Job had been most careful about his children. Job watched over them with much prayer to God, and burnt offerings... Eliphaz did not make it personal; still, there are many ways of giving a hint.
Commentators differ on how pointed the hint is. One reads it as a summary of long experience that only later hardens into open charges:
Samuel RidoutSo far he barely hints at Job's family, and yet verses 4 and 5 could be read as a description of them — children crushed with no one to rescue them, and harvests taken by the hungry robber... This picture of life is plainly incomplete and unsatisfactory. Even in the Old Testament the "man of the earth" prospers; the wicked spreads himself "like a green bay tree."
True in itself, false about Job
The trouble is not that Eliphaz is lying. He takes a real rule, stretches it into a law for every case, and aims it at one particular man:
H. L. RossierAll he says is true in principle, but false in Job's case. It is right in itself, yet wrong in the way he applies it. The wicked often grow old in their sin, while good people are cut off in the strength of their youth. The ungodly often live in plenty, while those who fear God go without the basic necessities of life... In his view, Job's sufferings proved that his earlier righteousness was nothing but spiteful hypocrisy.
Why Job's children died
The opening chapters give the reader information Eliphaz never had. Job's sons were not struck down as a verdict on their lives:
An Outline of Sound WordsDespite all the burnt offerings Job made for his children, God did not spare their lives. It was not a divine judgment because of their sins. It was what God allowed in His government to test Job.
Job's reply, chapters later
Chapters later, Job answers this whole line of reasoning. He points to the evidence his friends will not look at:
Samuel RidoutHe looks at the other side, at the case of the prosperous wicked... They live to old age and grow mighty in power. Their families grow up around them, everything stays quiet, and the rod of God never falls on them... Their children — in sad contrast to the now childless speaker — are like a flock of lambs skipping around the home, and the home rings with the sound of tambourine, harp and pipe.
Summary
- Observation. Eliphaz argues from what he has watched: the foolish take root, then their sons are crushed with no rescuer.
- Insinuation. He never names Job, but Job had just lost all his children. One writer calls it a very painful thing to hear — a hint rather than a charge.
- Appearance. Judging by how things look is dangerous ground. A good man's circumstances can make him look guilty.
- Misapplication. The sayings are true in principle but false about Job. The wicked often grow old, while those who fear God go without.
- Answer. Job's children did not die as a judgment on their sins. God allowed it to test Job. Later Job points to wicked homes full of music and safety.