Literally, “sons of the flame.” All men sin; therefore it is as natural for them to experience trouble as it is for sparks to fly upward. Why should Job complain of his lot so bitterly when sorrow is the common lot of all mankind? Eliphaz fails to recognize that stating a reason for trouble does not comfort the sufferer. The human heart is not healed by a knowledge of the inevitability of trouble any more than sin is forgiven by a knowledge of the universality of sin.