Albert Barnes Commentary Job 5:3

"I have seen the foolish taking root: But suddenly I cursed his habitation." — Job 5:3 (ASV)

I have seen the foolish - The wicked. To confirm the sentiment that he had just advanced, Eliphaz appeals to his own observation, and says that though the wicked for a time seem prosperous, yet he had observed that they were soon overtaken by calamity and cut down. He evidently means that prosperity was not evidence of divine favor; but that when it had continued for a short time, and was then withdrawn, it was proof that the man who had prospered was at heart a wicked man. It was easy to understand that he meant this should be applied to Job, who, though he had been favored with temporary prosperity, was now revealed to be a wicked man at heart. The sentiment Eliphaz advanced here, as the result of his observation, strikingly accords with the observation of David, as expressed in Psalm 23:1-6:

“I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a green bay-tree;
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not:
Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.” (Psalms 37:35–36)

Taking root - This figure, signifying prosperous and rapid growth, is often used in the Scriptures. Thus, in Psalm 1:3:

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.”

So Isaiah 27:6:

“Those that come out of Jacob shall he cause to take root;
Israel shall blossom and bud,
And shall fill the face of the world with fruit.”

So Psalm 80:9-10:

“Thou preparedst room before it,
And didst cause it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it,
And the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.”

But suddenly - This means either that calamity came upon him suddenly—as it had upon Job, that is, without any apparent preparation—or that calamity came before much time passed, that is, this prosperity did not continue. Probably there is an implied reference here to the case of Job, meaning that Eliphaz had known just such instances before; and since Job's case accorded with what he had previously seen, he hastened to the conclusion that Job must have been a wicked man.

I cursed his habitation - I had occasion to regard it as accursed; that is, I witnessed the downfall of his fortunes, and pronounced his habitation accursed. I saw that God regarded it as such, and that He had suddenly punished him. This accords with the observation of David, referred to above.