Job 5 · Verse 2

Job 5:2

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
Job 5:2, King James Version

Job 5:2 in other translations

BSBFor resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
WEBFor resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
ASVFor vexation killeth the foolish man, And jealousy slayeth the silly one.
YLTFor provocation slayeth the perverse, And envy putteth to death the simple,
DARBYFor vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple.
BBEFor wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.
WebsterFor wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

What does Job 5:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. wrath ... envy--fretful and passionate complaints, such as Eliphaz charged Job with (Job 4:5; so Pr 14:30). Not, the wrath of God killeth the foolish, and His envy, &c.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 For wrath killeth the foolish man - Foolish, silly, and simple, are epithets given by Solomon to sinners and transgressors of all kinds. Such parallelisms have afforded a presumptive argument that Solomon was the author of this book. See the preface. The words of Eliphaz may be considered as a sort of maxim, which the wisdom and experience of ages had served to establish; viz., The wrath of God is manifested only against the wicked and impious; and if thou wert not such, God would not thus contend with thee.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 5:1-5

Eliphaz here calls upon Job to answer his arguments. Were any of the saints or servants of God visited with such Divine judgments as Job, or did they ever behave like him under their sufferings? The term, "saints," holy, or more strictly, consecrated ones, seems in all ages to have been applied to the people of God, through the Sacrifice slain in the covenant of their reconciliation. Eliphaz doubts not that the sin…

Read the full comment on Job 5:1-5 →

Job 5:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
לֶֽ֭אֱוִילLe.'e.vil<to> a foolH191
יַהֲרָג\־ya.ha.rog-it slaysH2026
כָּ֑עַשׂKa.'asvexationH3708
וּ֝פֹתֶ֗הu.fo.Tehand a simple [one]H6601
תָּמִ֥יתta.Mitit killsH4191
קִנְאָֽה\׃kin.'AhjealousyH7068

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 5:2

  • Ecclesiastes 7:9

    Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

  • Job 18:4

    He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?

  • Hosea 7:11

    Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

  • Psalms 92:6

    A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

  • Psalms 14:1

    To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

  • Genesis 30:1

    And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

  • 1 Samuel 18:8-9

    And 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? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

  • Psalms 75:4

    I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

  • Proverbs 12:16

    A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.

  • Psalms 107:17

    Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

  • Romans 2:8

    But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

  • 2 Timothy 3:6

    For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
wrath.
18:4; Jon 4:9
the foolish.
Ps 14:1; 75:4; 92:6; 107:17; Pr 1:22,23; 8:5; Ec 7:9
envy. or, indignation.
Ge 30:1; 1Sa 18:8,9; Ro 2:8
one.
Ho 7:11; 2Ti 3:6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 5:1

    Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

  • Job 5:2

    For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

  • Job 5:3

    I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

Read all of Job 5

Job 5:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Es cierto que al necio la ira lo mata, y al codicioso consume la envidia.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car le chagrin fait mourir le sot, et la jalousie tue le simple.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn den Narren erwürgt der Gram, und den Einfältigen tötet der Eifer.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Vere stultum interficit iracundia, et parvulum occidit invidia.