Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 5:17-27

"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole. He will deliver thee in six troubles; Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he will redeem thee from death; And in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh; Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; And thou shalt visit thy fold, and shalt miss nothing. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, Like as a shock of grain cometh in in its season. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it for thy good." — Job 5:17-27 (ASV)

Eliphaz had already accused blessed Job of both impatience and presumption because he declared himself innocent. Now, he tries to address the despair he thought he perceived in the words Job used to detest his life. Note, then, that building on what he already said to affirm divine providence in both natural and human affairs, he assumes it is true that all adversities happen to people by divine judgment. However, these adversities happen to those who cannot be corrected as a final condemnation, and to those who amend their lives because of them, they happen as a correction.

He maintains that the latter are blessed, saying, Behold, happy is the man the Lord reproves. For if correction from humans is beneficial—even though they cannot perfectly know the measure and manner in which correction can be saving, nor are they almighty in taking away all evil and establishing good—then the correction of the almighty and all-knowing God ought to be considered much more beneficial and happy. From this idea, he concludes with the proposition, Therefore, despise not the chastisements of the Almighty. This is as if to say: Although you suffer this adversity from God because of your sins, you should still think of this as a kind of rebuke from God to correct you. Therefore, you should not despise this adversity to the point of hating your life because of it.

He explains the reason when he says, For he wounds, with greater adversity, and he binds up, by taking away evil and restoring good. He smites, with lesser adversity, and his hands, that is, his works, will heal, that is, liberate you. Eliphaz, then, did not maintain that the one corrected by God is blessed because of the afterlife—for he did not believe in it—but because of the present life, during which a person obtains immunity from evils and an abundance of goods after the correction. Consequently, he next speaks about immunity from evil: He will deliver you from six troubles; in the seventh no evil shall touch you.

Since all time is represented by seven days, a whole is commonly designated by the number seven. The meaning would be that no adversity will harm the one corrected by God after the correction is complete. According to Eliphaz’s opinion, the more free one is from fault, the less adversity one would suffer in this world. Therefore, he says, in the seventh, no evil shall touch you. He means that before correction, a person is not free from adversity. But when one begins to be freed, one is touched by evil but not crushed while God is delivering him. After perfect liberation, one is not touched at all.

This is true for the mind, which is weighed down by worldly adversities as long as it places its ultimate purpose in worldly affairs. When the mind removes its love from them and begins to love God, it is indeed sad in the face of adversities but is not weighed down by them, because it does not place its hope in this world. When it becomes completely contemptuous of the world, then worldly adversities scarcely touch it. But this opinion is not true for the body, which is how Eliphaz understood it, because the most perfect people sometimes suffer very grave adversities. As the Psalmist says, Because of you, we suffered death all the day long (Psalms 43:22), which is said about the Apostles.

Since he had mentioned seven tribulations, he now enumerates them. The first trial concerns a particular danger to an individual’s life, which can be threatened by withholding its necessities. To describe this, he says, In famine, he will redeem you from death. This is as if to say: You will suffer famine while being reproved by God, but God will free you, and you will not die from it.

The second trial is when life is lost through the violence of someone actively inflicting harm. Regarding this, he says, and in war from the stroke—that is, the power—of the sword. This is as if to say: War will come upon you, but you will not be delivered into the power of the sword. (Physical life is also taken away by natural death, but this does not count among the trials, since it is demanded by human nature.)

The third trial is a personal danger that consists in the loss of honor one enjoys in civil life. About this, he says, You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue. The “scourge of the tongue” is the slander of someone seriously trying to destroy another’s reputation. A person is hidden from this scourge when the deeds that could form the basis of this defamation are hidden from the slanderer.

Next are adversities from more general dangers. The fourth trial threatens people, for example, when an enemy army, from which people commonly fear death or captivity, unexpectedly overruns their country. Expressing this, he says, and you shall not fear damage when it comes. This is as if to say: You will not fear when damage to your country from an enemy threatens. A common danger also threatens property, either through the barrenness of the earth in a time of famine or through the devastation of crops. Regarding these, he says, And you shall laugh at destruction and famine. This means you will have such an abundance that it will be a source of joy for you. In this, he addresses the fifth and sixth trials.

Finally, the seventh trial is adversity from the attack of wild animals, either individually or in groups. About this, he says, and you shall not fear the beasts of the earth. This seems to be the trial in which evil will not touch him.

He lists the abundance of goods that follows immunity from evil.

1. Regarding the fertility of the earth, he says, You shall be in league with the stones of the field; that is, the stony and sterile land will bear fruit for you. As Deuteronomy says, Glean honey from the rock, and so on (Deuteronomy 32:13).
2. Regarding the wild animals, he says, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you, for they will not attack you. (These two verses can also be explained in another way: the stones can mean hard and rude people, and the beasts can mean cruel people.)
3. He speaks about the members of one's household, saying, and you will know that your tent is at peace, because the members of your household will be at peace with each other.
4. He speaks about one's wife in a special way, saying, Seeing your likeness you will not sin. This is as if to say: You will have a virtuous and peaceful wife with whom you can dwell intimately without sin.
5. Regarding one's children: Your children will be like the grass of the earth. That is, you will have many children and grandchildren.
6. Regarding the peace and quiet of death, he says, You shall come to your grave in a ripe old age, in prosperity, not stripped of your property, like the stock of grain is reaped in due season, as though not cut short by a sudden and untimely death.

Finally, he confirms what he has said: Lo, what we have investigated is true. Since he thought Job was so overcome with sadness that he would not think much about these things, he tries to get his attention back, saying, Once heard, study this with an attentive mind.