Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 5:6-7

"For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; But man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward." — Job 5:6-7 (ASV)

Although affliction... . —These two verses are admittedly very difficult. It is also hard to see the connection between sparks flying upwards and man's being born to trouble.

It seems to make better sense if we understand Eliphaz as comparing man’s lot, prepared for him by God, with his own pride and presumptuous ambition. Man is born to labor, but, like sparks of fire, he flies high. Trouble and toil are not an accidental growth, but a lot appointed by God, which would be beneficial if man did not thwart it by his own pride.

They lift themselves up and soar high like sparks of fire with daring and presumptuous conduct, and so bring on themselves deserved punishment. The same word means trouble and toil, and it may be understood in the two consecutive verses in these related, but slightly different, senses. It would be no consolation to Job to tell him that man was born to trouble; besides, this is a sentiment more likely to come from the sufferer himself than from an observer.