Albert Barnes Commentary Job 5:7

"But man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward." — Job 5:7 (ASV)

Yet man is born to trouble—All this is connected with the sentiment in Job 5:8 and following. The meaning is that “since afflictions are ordered by an intelligent Being, and since man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward, therefore it is wise to commit our cause to God, and not to complain against Him.”

The margin reads, “or labor.” The word here (עמל, ‘âmâl) rather means trouble or affliction, than labor. The sense is that as certainly as man is born, so sure is it that he will have trouble.

It follows from the condition of our being—as certainly as unconscious objects will follow the laws of their nature—that sparks will ascend. This seems to have a proverbial quality and was doubtless regarded as a sentiment universally true.

It is as true now as it was then. For it is still the great law of our being that trouble as certainly comes sooner or later, just as material objects obey the laws of nature which God has impressed on them.

As the sparks fly upward—the Hebrew expression here is very beautiful: “as בני רשף (b^enēy reshep)—the sons of flame fly.” The word used (רשף, reshep) means flame or lightning; the sons, or children of the flame, are what it produces, that is, sparks.

Gesenius strangely renders it, “sons of the lightning; that is, birds of prey which fly as swift as the lightning.” So Dr. Good translates, “As the bird-tribes are made to fly upwards.” So Umbreit renders it, “Gleichwie die Brut des Raubgeflügels sich hoch im Fluge hebt”—that is, “as a flock of birds of prey elevate themselves on the wing.” Noyes adopts the construction of Gesenius, partly on the principle that man would be more likely to be compared to birds, living creatures, than to sparks.

There is considerable variety in the interpretation of the passage. The Septuagint renders it, νεοσσοι δε γυπος (neossoi de gupos)—the young of the vulture.

The Chaldee renders it בני מזיקי (b^enēy m^ezēyqēy)—“the sons of demons.” The Syriac, “Sons of birds.” Jerome states, “Man is born to labor, and the bird to flight”—et avis ad volatum. Schultens renders it, “glittering javelins,” and Arius Montanus, “sons of the live coal.”

It seems to me that our common version has expressed the true meaning. But the idea is not essentially varied whichever interpretation is adopted. It is that as sparks ascend, or as birds fly upward—following the laws of their being—so is trouble the lot of man.

It certainly comes, and it comes under the direction of a Being who has fixed the laws of the inferior creation. It would be wise for man, therefore, to resign himself to God in the times when those troubles come.

He should not sit down and complain about this condition of things, but should submit to it as the law of his being, and should have sufficient confidence in God to believe that He orders it aright.