For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he wounds, and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole.
- KJV For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
- NKJV For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.
- NASB “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, but His hands also heal.
- NLT For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God wounds but binds up, injures but his hands heal. It assures that the God who brings pain is also the one who restores.
Overview
Eliphaz beautifully describes God's twofold work: he both wounds and heals, breaks and makes whole. This captures the redemptive purpose behind God's severe mercies. Supremely it points to the gospel, where by Christ's wounds we are healed, and where the God who allowed his Son to be stricken raised him to bring everlasting wholeness to his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Hos 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Deut 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
- Isa 30:26The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.
- Ps 147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- 1 Sam 2:6The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 5:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.