The Meaning of Job 5:7 Explained

Job 5:7

KJV: Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

YLT: For man to misery is born, And the sparks go high to fly.

Darby: For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards.

ASV: But man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Yet man  is born  unto trouble,  as the sparks  fly  upward. 

What does Job 5:7 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 5:7 mean?

Yet man to trouble is born and as the sparks upward fly
כִּֽי־ אָ֭דָם לְעָמָ֣ל יוּלָּ֑ד וּבְנֵי־ רֶ֝֗שֶׁף יַגְבִּ֥יהוּ עֽוּף

כִּֽי־  Yet 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
אָ֭דָם  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
לְעָמָ֣ל  to  trouble 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָמָל  
Sense: .
יוּלָּ֑ד  is  born 
Parse: Verb, QalPass, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
וּבְנֵי־  and  as 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
רֶ֝֗שֶׁף  the  sparks 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: רֶשֶׁף  
Sense: flame, firebolt, spark.
יַגְבִּ֥יהוּ  upward 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: גָּבַהּ  
Sense: to be high, be exalted.
עֽוּף  fly 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: עוּף 
Sense: to fly, fly about, fly away.