Job 5 20

Job 5:20 kjv

In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

Job 5:20 nkjv

In famine He shall redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword.

Job 5:20 niv

In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

Job 5:20 esv

In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

Job 5:20 nlt

He will save you from death in time of famine,
from the power of the sword in time of war.

Job 5 verses

Job 5 20 Meaning

Job 5:20 describes God's power to protect the righteous from severe calamities. Eliphaz, speaking to Job, asserts that God delivers His favored ones from death in times of extreme scarcity (famine) and preserves them from destruction and injury during warfare, specifically from the deadly force of the sword. This statement presents a traditional wisdom view that divine blessing includes physical preservation from life-threatening dangers.

Job 5 20 Context

Job 5:20 is spoken by Eliphaz the Temanite, who is delivering his first response to Job's laments (chapters 4-5). Eliphaz is the oldest and perhaps the most respected of Job's three friends. His discourse here attempts to explain Job's suffering through the lens of traditional wisdom, often referred to as retribution theology. According to this view, God punishes the wicked but prospers the righteous. Eliphaz suggests that Job, if he humbles himself and repents (5:17-19, 5:21-27), will experience God's benevolent protection from the very calamities (famine, war, sickness) that Eliphaz presents as standard consequences for the wicked or trials for the erring. Historically, famine and war were ever-present, terrifying threats in the Ancient Near East, making deliverance from them a clear sign of divine favor and intervention, validating the prosperity Eliphaz is describing for those in good standing with God.

Job 5 20 Word analysis

• In famine:
  • "In" (בְּ - be): Denotes the circumstance or condition "within" which the action occurs.
  • "famine" (רָעָב - ra'av): Refers to a widespread scarcity of food, a period of hunger and starvation. This was a frequent and devastating calamity in the ancient world, often caused by drought, disease, or siege. Survival during famine was a sign of extraordinary divine providence.
• he shall redeem:
  • "he": Refers to God, implicitly the subject of the entire statement, emphasizing His agency and power.
  • "shall redeem" (יִצִּלְךָ - yitsilcha - from נצל natsal): To snatch away, deliver, rescue, save. While "redeem" can sometimes imply payment (like ga'al), natsal here focuses on active, forceful deliverance from danger or destruction, highlighting God's immediate and potent intervention to pluck someone from the jaws of peril. It is a saving action.
• thee from death:
  • "thee": Refers to Job, or generally, to the one who humbles himself before God, aligning with Eliphaz's counsel.
  • "from death" (מִמָּוֶת - mimaveth): Deliverance from the ultimate outcome of famine, which is death from starvation. It signifies God's preservation of life.
• and in war:
  • "and" (וְ - ve): Connects two distinct, yet equally devastating, perils from which God delivers.
  • "in war" (וּבְמִלְחָמָה - u'vemilchamah): Referring to armed conflict, battle, or prolonged warfare. Another major destructive force in antiquity.
• from the power of the sword:
  • "from the power" (מִידֵי - miydei - lit. "from the hands"): Yad (יד) can mean "hand," "power," "strength," "control," or "dominion." Here it signifies the destructive agency or effectiveness of the sword. It is not just about avoiding the sword itself but escaping its capacity to kill or maim.
  • "of the sword" (חָֽרֶב - charev): The weapon, symbolizing the violence and death brought by war.

Words-group analysis:

• "In famine he shall redeem thee from death": This phrase speaks to God's miraculous ability to preserve life when resources are utterly depleted, turning inevitable demise into rescue. It emphasizes God's providence over fundamental human survival.
• "and in war from the power of the sword": This parallel phrase highlights divine protection from violent external threats. The "power of the sword" encapsulates the brutal lethality of combat, and escaping it points to a special intervention by God, securing the individual's safety from the primary instrument of death in battle. Together, these two clauses describe comprehensive protection from the two most devastating societal perils known in the ancient world.

Job 5 20 Bonus section

Eliphaz's advice in Job 5 is often considered wise from a human, empirical perspective of the time. His reliance on vision (Job 4:12-16) and ancestral wisdom positions him as an authority. While he is correct about God's ability to deliver from death and disaster, his rigid framework of cause-and-effect (you suffer because you sin) fails to account for God's larger purposes, such as testing faith, refining character, or demonstrating sovereignty. The "redemption" Eliphaz speaks of is immediate and physical, yet the Bible's ultimate theme of redemption extends to spiritual deliverance from sin and eternal death through Christ, providing a much deeper form of "redemption from death" than Job's friends could conceive. The physical deliverance described by Eliphaz is a shadow of the comprehensive salvation God offers.

Job 5 20 Commentary

Job 5:20 encapsulates Eliphaz's core theological position: God is just and faithful, and His favor guarantees physical protection from major calamities. For Eliphaz, the lack of such protection (as experienced by Job) implicitly pointed to Job's sin, necessitating repentance to regain divine blessing. While true that God can and often does deliver His people from physical perils (a common theme throughout the Scriptures), Eliphaz’s application is overly simplistic, reducing God's dealings to a predictable formula of sin leading to suffering and righteousness leading to prosperity. The larger narrative of Job, however, ultimately demonstrates that God's ways are more complex and inscrutable, and suffering is not always a direct consequence of specific sin. Eliphaz's statement remains a valid general truth about God's protective character but falls short as an explanation for innocent suffering. It points to a blessed reality for those walking with God, even if the inverse is not always true in human experience.