For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
Parallel translations
- WEB For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
- BSB For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- NKJV For wrath kills a foolish man, And envy slays a simple one.
- NASB “For irritation kills the fool, And jealousy brings death to the simple.
- NLT Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
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
Eliphaz warns that resentment kills the foolish and jealousy slays the simple. He hints that Job's anguish springs from a sinful, self-destructive spirit.
Overview
Here Eliphaz suggests Job's distress is rooted in vexation and envy, the marks of folly. There is wisdom in the warning that bitterness destroys, echoed in later Scripture. Yet aimed at Job it is a misdiagnosis, treating an upright sufferer as a resentful fool, a reminder that counsel must rightly discern the person before applying even sound proverbs.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Eccl 7:9Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
- Ps 75:4I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
- Ps 92:6A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
- Ps 14:1The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
- Job 18:4He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
- Hos 7:11Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
- Gen 30:1And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
- Prov 12:16A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.
- 1 Sam 18:8–9And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
- Rom 2:8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
- Ps 107:17Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
- Prov 1:22–23How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
- 2 Tim 3:6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
- Jonah 4:9And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
- Prov 8:5O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
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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 5:2 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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