Bible Strands
Job 5:4
His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Eliphaz addresses Job, describing the sudden legal ruin that befalls a fool's household. The words — יִרְחֲקוּ (yirchaku) means "they are distant" and בָּנָיו (banav) means "his children." The thread — The text's claim that safety is far away parallels Psalms 119:155, while the "gate" as a place of judgment connects to the legal imagery in Psalms 127:5 and the withering destruction described in Job 18:16. Why it lands — The passage states that the accused lack a defender and face ruin, requiring the reader to acknowledge the concrete reality of legal vulnerability without a protector.
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
His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
Cross-references
- Psalms 127:5 Blessed 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 The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.
- Psalms 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked because they do not seek Your statutes.
- Exodus 20:5 You 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,
- Job 1:19 when 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 4:10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
- Job 8:4 When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion.
- Job 10:7 though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
- Job 27:14 Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.
- Psalms 7:2 or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.