The Meaning of Job 5:5 Explained

Job 5:5

KJV: Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

YLT: Whose harvest the hungry doth eat, And even from the thorns taketh it, And the designing swallowed their wealth.

Darby: Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.

ASV: Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, And taketh it even out of the thorns; And the snare gapeth for their substance.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Whose harvest  the hungry  eateth up,  and taketh  it even out  of the thorns,  and the robber  swalloweth up  their substance. 

What does Job 5:5 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 5:5 mean?

Because his harvest the hungry eat up and even from the thorns Taking it and snatches a snare their substance
אֲשֶׁ֤ר קְצִיר֨וֹ ׀ רָ֘עֵ֤ב יֹאכֵ֗ל וְאֶֽל־ מִצִּנִּ֥ים יִקָּחֵ֑הוּ וְשָׁאַ֖ף צַמִּ֣ים חֵילָֽם

אֲשֶׁ֤ר  Because 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
קְצִיר֨וֹ ׀  his  harvest 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: קָצִיר 
Sense: harvest, harvesting.
רָ֘עֵ֤ב  the  hungry 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רָעֵב 
Sense: to be hungry, be voracious.
יֹאכֵ֗ל  eat  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
וְאֶֽל־  and  even 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
מִצִּנִּ֥ים  from  the  thorns 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine plural
Root: צֵן  
Sense: thorn, barb.
יִקָּחֵ֑הוּ  Taking  it 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
וְשָׁאַ֖ף  and  snatches 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁאַף 
Sense: to gasp, pant, pant after, long for, breathe heavily.
צַמִּ֣ים  a  snare 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צַמִּים  
Sense: snare, trap, noose.
חֵילָֽם  their  substance 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: חַיִל 
Sense: strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army.