Bible Strands
Job 5:3
I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz addresses Job during a direct response to Job's complaints about suffering. He uses a personal observation to illustrate the inevitable collapse of the wicked.
The words — The Hebrew מַשְׁרִישׁ (mash.Rish) literally means "taking root" or "growing firmly," depicting the fool's apparent stability. This is immediately countered by פִתְאֹם (fit.'Om), meaning "suddenly," which marks the abrupt destruction of his habitation.
The thread — This pattern of sudden ruin for the temporarily prosperous wicked appears in Psalms 73:18 and Psalms 92:7, where God casts down those who flourish. It aligns with the covenantal warning in Deuteronomy 27:15 that rebellion and idolatry trigger immediate divine cursing.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to accept that visible stability does not protect against sudden judgment. It demands a sober assessment of folly's end without relying on outward appearances of prosperity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
Cross-references
- Psalms 73:18 Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Psalms 92:7 that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘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!’
- Job 24:18 They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
- Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Psalms 37:35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Psalms 69:25 May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
- Psalms 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Jeremiah 12:1 Righteous 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.’