His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
Parallel translations
- WEB His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
- KJV His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
- NKJV His sons are far from safety, They are crushed in the gate, And there is no deliverer.
- NASB “His sons are far from safety, They are also oppressed at the gate, And there is no one to save them.
- NLT Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
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
The fool's children are left without safety, crushed in the city gate with no one to deliver them. It paints the ruin that Eliphaz believes overtakes the wicked's family.
Overview
Eliphaz describes the offspring of the foolish suffering injustice at the gate, the place of legal judgment, with no rescuer. The cutting implication is that Job's bereavement signals such judgment. While sin's consequences can indeed touch families, Eliphaz wrongly reads Job's grief as proof of guilt, and the reader knows from the prologue that Job's losses came not from his sin but from a heavenly test.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 127:5Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.
- Job 18:16–19The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.
- Ps 119:155Salvation is far from the wicked because they do not seek Your statutes.
- Ps 109:9–15May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
- Job 8:4When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion.
- Amos 5:12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
- Job 4:10–11The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
- Exod 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Luke 13:4–5Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem?
- Ps 7:2or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Job 10:7though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
- Job 1:19when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Job 27:14Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.
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 5:4 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.