“For irritation kills the fool, And jealousy brings death to the simple.
Parallel translations
- WEB For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
- KJV For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
- BSB For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- NKJV For wrath kills a foolish man, And envy slays a simple one.
- 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 7:9Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
- Ps 75:4I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn.
- Ps 92:6A senseless man doesn’t know, neither does a fool understand this:
- Ps 14:1For the Chief Musician. By David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.
- Job 18:4You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?
- Hos 7:11“Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.
- Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”
- Prov 12:16A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.
- 1 Sam 18:8–9Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?”
- Rom 2:8but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
- Ps 107:17Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.
- Prov 1:22–23“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?
- 2 Tim 3:6For some of these are people who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
- Jonah 4:9God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”
- Prov 8:5You simple, understand prudence. You fools, be of an understanding heart.
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 5:2 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
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.