Albert Barnes Commentary Job 5:21

"Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh." — Job 5:21 (ASV)

You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue—The margin says, "Or, when the tongue scourges." The word translated "scourge"—שׁוט shôṭ—properly means a whip. It is used of God when He scourges people by calamities and punishments (Isaiah 10:26; Job 9:23). See the use of the verb שׁוּט shûṭ in Job 2:7. Here it is used to denote a slanderous tongue, as being that which inflicts a severe wound upon the reputation and peace of an individual. The idea is that God would guard the reputation of those who commit themselves to Him, and that they will be secure from slander, "whose breath," Shakespeare says, "outvenoms all the worms of Nile."

Neither shall you be afraid when destruction comes—That is, your mind will be calm in those calamities that threaten destruction. When war rages, when the tempest howls, when the pestilence breathes upon a community, then your mind will be at peace. A similar thought occurs in Isaiah 26:3: You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You; and the same sentiment is beautifully illustrated at length in Psalm 91. The Chaldee Paraphrase applies all this to events that had occurred in the history of the Hebrews.

Thus, Job 5:20: "In the famine in Egypt, He redeemed you from death; and in the war with Amalek, from being slain by the sword;"Job 5:21: "In the injury inflicted by the tongue of Balaam you were hidden among the clouds, and you did not fear the desolation of the Midianites when it came;"Job 5:22: "In the desolation of Sihon, and in the famine of the desert, you laughed; and of the camps of Og, who was like a wild beast of the earth, you were not afraid."