Job 5 · a question people ask
Is "happy is the man whom God corrects" true of Job?
These are Eliphaz's words: "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty" (5:17). Proverbs says much the same of the LORD: "for whom the LORD loves, he corrects" (Proverbs 3:12), and Hebrews gives believers a saying that follows Proverbs, beginning "My son" (Hebrews 12:5-6). So neither reading below doubts what Proverbs and Hebrews say about God's discipline of his children. Christians read differently whether Eliphaz's saying describes what was happening to Job. Both readings agree on what the book says: the LORD said Job was ruined "without cause" (2:3), and he said to Eliphaz, "you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has" (42:7), without saying which words he meant.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
True of Job, as training
Those who hold this view read God's discipline as training, not only as a penalty for a sin, and so find that the saying can fit a righteous sufferer. They point to Hebrews: "but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10), and chastening "yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:11). They point to where Job comes at the end: "therefore I have uttered that which I didn’t understand" (42:3), and "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you" (42:5). They hold this apart from Eliphaz's question, "who ever perished, being innocent?" (4:7).
Hebrews 12:10-11 · Job 42:3 · Job 42:5 · Job 4:7
True words, not Job's case
Those who hold this view take the saying as true in itself but not as a description of what was happening to Job. They point to the book's own account of Job's ruin: the LORD's words to Satan in 1:8-12 and 2:3-6, where the LORD says, "you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause" (2:3), and to "In all this, Job didn’t sin" (1:22). They note that in Eliphaz's speech the saying comes after his words about "the foolish" (5:3) and his question "who ever perished, being innocent?" (4:7). On this reading, what Job suffered is what chapters 1 and 2 tell, not God's correction.
Job 1:8-12 · Job 2:3-6 · Job 1:22 · Job 5:3 · Job 4:7
The verses
““Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.”
“My son, don’t despise the LORD’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction; for whom the LORD loves, he corrects, even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.”
“You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.””
“The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause.””