The Meaning of Job 5:4 Explained

Job 5:4

KJV: His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

YLT: Far are his sons from safety, And they are bruised in the gate, And there is no deliverer.

Darby: His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer:

ASV: His children are far from safety, And they are crushed in the gate, Neither is there any to deliver them:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

His children  are far  from safety,  and they are crushed  in the gate,  neither [is there] any to deliver  [them]. 

What does Job 5:4 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 5:4 mean?

Are far His sons from safety and they are crushed in the gate and [there is] no deliverer
יִרְחֲק֣וּ בָנָ֣יו מִיֶּ֑שַׁע וְיִֽדַּכְּא֥וּ בַ֝שַּׁ֗עַר וְאֵ֣ין מַצִּֽיל

יִרְחֲק֣וּ  Are  far 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: רָחַק  
Sense: to be or become far, be or become distant, be removed, go far away.
בָנָ֣יו  His  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
מִיֶּ֑שַׁע  from  safety 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יֵשַׁע  
Sense: deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare.
וְיִֽדַּכְּא֥וּ  and  they  are  crushed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hitpael, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: דָּכָא  
Sense: to crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken.
בַ֝שַּׁ֗עַר  in  the  gate 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שַׁעַר  
Sense: gate.
וְאֵ֣ין  and  [there  is]  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
מַצִּֽיל  deliverer 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָצַל  
Sense: to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder.