At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
- BSB You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
- NKJV You shall laugh at destruction and famine, And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
- NASB “You will laugh at violence and hunger, And you will not be afraid of wild animals.
- NLT You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.
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
At destruction and famine you can laugh and need not fear wild animals. It pictures the security of one under God's protection.
Overview
Eliphaz describes such confidence that one laughs at calamity and fears no beast. This portrays the peace of those who trust God's keeping. The promise that even creation will not harm the protected echoes the Edenic and ultimately the new-creation hope, when, through Christ, the redeemed will dwell in perfect safety free from every threat.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ezek 34:25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
- Isa 35:9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
- Ps 91:13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
- Hos 2:18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
- Isa 65:25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
- 2 Kgs 19:21This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
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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 5:22 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
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