The Meaning of Job 5:21 Explained

Job 5:21

KJV: Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

YLT: When the tongue scourgeth thou art hid, And thou art not afraid of destruction, When it cometh.

Darby: Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

ASV: Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thou shalt be hid  from the scourge  of the tongue:  neither shalt thou be afraid  of destruction  when it cometh. 

What does Job 5:21 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 5:1-27 - The Benefits Of Chastisement
In this chapter Eliphaz closes his first speech. He had already suggested that Job's sufferings were the result of some secret sin. It could not be otherwise according to his philosophy. Affliction and trouble did not come by chance. It was as much a law of nature, so Eliphaz thought, for calamity to follow sin as for sparks to fly upward. However deeply evil men had rooted themselves, they were doomed to be destroyed. Was it not obvious that Job had in some way offended? Let him confess and be restored!
The ideal life which will ensue on a genuine repentance is described in the most thrilling and glowing terms, Job 5:8-17. Each sentence is a priceless jewel, and each has been tested by generations of returning prodigals, for whom each promise has been countersigned by the "Yea" of Christ, 2 Corinthians 1:20. Paul quotes Job 5:13 in 1 Corinthians 3:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 5

1  Eliphaz shows that the end of the wicked is misery;
6  that man is born to trouble;
8  that God is to be regarded in affliction;
17  the happy end of God's correction

What do the individual words in Job 5:21 mean?

From the scourge of the tongue You shall be hidden and not you shall be afraid of destruction when it comes
בְּשׁ֣וֹט לָ֭שׁוֹן תֵּחָבֵ֑א וְֽלֹא־ תִירָ֥א מִ֝שֹּׁ֗ד כִּ֣י יָבֽוֹא

בְּשׁ֣וֹט  From  the  scourge 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֹׁוט 
Sense: scourge, whip.
לָ֭שׁוֹן  of  the  tongue 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: לָשֹׁון  
Sense: tongue.
תֵּחָבֵ֑א  You  shall  be  hidden 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: חָבָא  
Sense: to withdraw, hide.
וְֽלֹא־  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תִירָ֥א  you  shall  be  afraid 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יָרֵא 
Sense: to fear, revere, be afraid.
מִ֝שֹּׁ֗ד  of  destruction 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֹׁד  
Sense: havoc, violence, destruction, devastation, ruin.
יָבֽוֹא  it  comes 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.