I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
- KJV I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
- NKJV I have seen the foolish taking root, But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.
- NASB “I have seen the fool taking root, And I cursed his home immediately.
- NLT I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.
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 says he saw a fool taking root, then suddenly pronounced his home cursed. He claims firsthand evidence that the wicked's apparent prosperity is short-lived.
Overview
Drawing on observation, Eliphaz testifies that he watched a fool flourish only to see his dwelling come under curse. His point is that prosperity rooted in folly cannot last. This contains real truth about the instability of ungodly success, but as a universal rule it falters, for Job is no fool, and the book exposes the limits of judging hearts merely by outcomes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 73:18–20Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Ps 92:7that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- Jer 12:1–3Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Acts 1:20“For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’
- Ps 73:3–9For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Deut 27:15–26‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Ps 69:25May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
- Ps 37:35–36I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Job 24:18They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 5:3 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.