You will laugh at destruction and famine, neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
Parallel Translations
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You will laugh at destruction and famine, neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
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At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
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At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Job 5:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 34:25 “ ‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
- Isaiah 35:9 No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there.
- Psalms 91:13 You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
- Hosea 2:18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.
- Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Whereas the wicked lament in their troubles, thou shalt…
Whereas the wicked lament in their troubles, thou shalt have occasion to rejoice.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh:…
Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Ver. 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh] viz. By the force of thy faith, which (like perfect love) casteth out sinful fear; as grounding upon God’s infallible promises, and knowing that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies, Psa 25:10. All the passages of his providence are to such not only mercy, but truth; they come to them in a way of a promise, as bound to them by covenant; and hence their holy courage lifteth them up so far above dangers and fears, that they even laugh at them, as Leviathan laugheth at the shaking of the spear, Job 41:29. They famish famine, and destroy destruction itself; like as Christ Jesus, the Captain of their salvation, swallowed up death in victory; and as many of the martyrs baffled it, deriding their tormentors.
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Neither shall thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth] i.e. Wild beasts, that devour men and cattle, as lions, bears, boars, wolves, &c., whereunto we may add those cannibals, man-eating persecutors, who eat up God’s people as they eat bread, Psa 14:4. Such lycanthropi, or beasts in the shape of men, Paul fought with at Ephesus, and God had delivered him out of the mouth of that lion Nero, 2Ti 4:17, who yet afterwards martyred him. But the viper at Malta did him no harm; no more did the lions Daniel; neither would they meddle with some of the primitive martyrs, cast before them to be devoured.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thou shalt not only be redeemed from famine, Job…
Thou shalt not only be redeemed from famine, Job 5:20, and not fear destruction, Job 5:21, but thou shalt laugh at them; not with a laughter of scorn and contempt, as this word is used, Job 39:18; Psa 2:4; 37:13; (for God’s judgments are to be entertained with reverence and godly fear;) but with a laughter of joy and triumph, arising from his just security and confidence in God’s watchful and gracious providence, which will either keep him from it or in it, or do him much good by it.
The beasts, i.e. the wild beasts, which were numerous and mischievous in those parts. See Deu 28:26; 1Sa 17:34; Jer 7:33.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh,.... Not deride…
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh,.... Not deride and despise them, and make a jest of them; for good men have a reverence and awe of the righteous judgments of God upon them, when they are in the world, Psa 119:120; but the sense is, that such shall reckon themselves safe and secure amidst such calamities, provision being made for their protection and sustenance; and be cheerful and comfortable, putting their trust and confidence in the Lord, as Habakkuk was, in a time of great distress, when all the necessaries of life were cut off from the stall, the herds, the flocks, and the fields; Hab 3:17; just as a man that is in a good harbour, or has a good house over his head, laughs at blustering storms and winds (h), or thinks himself secure, and so is cheerful and pleasant amidst all the noise that is about him, see Hab 1:10,
neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth; either, literally taken, beasts of prey, that wander about in the earth, noisome and pernicious ones; which are one of God's sore judgments which he threatens the disobedient with, and promises the obedient he will rid them of; and therefore they have no reason to be afraid of them, see Eze 14:21; some think serpents are particularly designed, which creep upon the earth, and whose, food is the dust of the earth, with all other poisonous animals, between which and men there is an antipathy; and yet good men need not be afraid of these; see Mar 16:18; or figuratively, cruel and barbarous men, thieves and robbers, as Jarchi; or rather fierce and furious persecutors, and particularly the beasts of Rome, Pagan and Papal; though the literal sense is to be preferred; the Targum interprets this of the camp of Og, comparable to the beasts of the earth.
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(h) "Ridebis ventos hoc munere teetus et imbres", Martial.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Laugh - With a laughter of joy and triumph,…
Laugh - With a laughter of joy and triumph, arising from a just security and confidence in God's watchful and gracious providence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh]…
Verse 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh] This most forcibly expresses the strongest security, and confidence in that security. "In the desolation of Sihon, and in the famine of the desert, thou shalt laugh; and of the camps of Og, who is compared to a wild beast of the earth, thou shalt not be afraid." - Targum.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh - That…
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh - That is thou shalt be perfectly safe and happy. They shall not come upon thee; and when they approach with threatening aspect, thou shalt smile with conscious security. The word here rendered famine (כפן kâphân) is an unusual word, and differs from that occurring in Job 5:20, רעב râ‛âb. This word is derived from כפן kâphan - to languish, to pine from hunger and thirst. It then means the languid and feeble state which exists where there is a lack of proper nutriment. A sentiment similar to that which is here expressed occurs in Martial, iv. 19, 4. Ridebis ventos line munere tectus, et imbres. “Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.” Wild beasts in new countries are always objects of dread, and in the fastnesses and deserts of Arabia, they were especially so. They abounded there; and one of the highest images of happiness there would be, that there would be perfect safety from them. A similar promise occurs in Psa 91:13 :
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder;
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The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot.
And a promise similar to this was made by the Savior to his disciples: “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.” The sentiment of Eliphaz is, that they who put their trust in God would find protection, and have the consciousness that they were secure wherever they were.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain famine thou shalt laugh--Not, in spite of destruction and…
famine thou shalt laugh--Not, in spite of destruction and famine, which is true (Hab 3:17-18), though not the truth meant by Eliphaz, but because those calamities shall not come upon thee. A different Hebrew word from that in Job 5:20; there, famine in general; here, the languid state of those wanting proper nutriment [BARNES].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Second strophe — The blessings that shall crown the…
Second strophe — The blessings that shall crown the life of such a favourite of heaven, Job_5:22-26.
22. Thou shalt laugh — The man of God, secure in his tower of faith, looks down upon the most formidable evils, and, in the bold imagery of the East, laughs at them. He thus expresses his sense of superiority; an idea that Hobbes has embodied in his theory of laughter.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (22) Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts…
(22) Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.—Literally, and of the beasts of the earth be not thou afraid.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain At destruction (rather, devas tation) and famine; rather, dearth.…
At destruction (rather, devas tation) and famine; rather, dearth. The word is not the same as that used in ver. 20, but a weaker cue.
Thou shalt laugh; "Thou shalt smile" (Lee). Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. "The beasts of the earthi.e. destructive and ferocious wild beasts, like the Indian "man-eaters are enumerated among God"s "four sore plagues". (Eze_14:21; comp. 2Ki_17:25) In ancient times they were sometimes so numerous in a country that men were afraid to occupy it.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.