What Not to Do

Ryrie

• (4:1) Eliphaz is “the most sympathetic of Job’s three friends, who speaks first and appeals to experience for authority. He was likely the eldest.”

• (4:5) “it” = “the calamity that had befallen Job”

• (4:7) “Eiphaz declares that the wicked, not the innocent, perish. But this is not always true.”

• (4:10-11) Eliphaz’s meaning is that “Although wicked men may be strong, they cannot ultimately prosper.”

• (4:12-21) “Eliphaz tried to bolster his argument by relating it to a vision he had had. He asks, ‘If angels cannot be considered trustworthy, how can man be?’”

• (4:12-21) “Death is likened to the collapse of a tent when the tent-cord is pulled up.”

• (5:1) “Eliphaz warns Job against appealing his case to angels (saints).”

• (5:3-7) “Eliphaz cites from personal experience (the basis of all his pronouncements) the case of a foolish man who began to rposper and was then cursed. Trouble, he concludes, comes from a man himself.”

• (5:7) Literally, “sparks” is “sons of Resheph, a god of plagues and flames. As certainly as sparks from a fire fly upward, man is born for trouble.”

• (5:8-27) “Eliphaz urges Job to submit to obvious discipline from God, who would bless him if he would repent.”

• (5:8-27) “in six troubles” = “in all possible trouble.”

• (5:17) This is the only occurrence of the word “happy” in the entire book of Job.

• (5:27) “Eliphaz boasts of the authority of his pronouncements.”

• (8:1-7) “Less sensitive than Eliphaz, [Bildad] implies that Job’s children were killed because of their sins. His diagnosis of Job’s problem is basically the same as Eliphaz’s; i.e., Job was suffering because of his sin.”

• (8:1-7) “Shuhite” = “a descendant of Shuah, son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:2); an Arab.”

• (8:8-10) “For authority, Bildad appeals to the teachings of his predecessors and expects Job to listen to their wisdom.”

• (8:11-19) “Caling Job hypocrite (lit., godless) and his defense weak as a spider’s web could only have added to his great distress.”

• (8:19) “joy of his way” is “probably an ironical statement meaning that the wicked can only look forward to the ‘joy’ of calamity.”

• (11:1-3) “More blunt and harsh than the other two friends, [Zophar] also concludes that Job is suffering because of his sins. In fact, he says that God has given Job only a fraction of what he deserves. To his simple way of thinking, all Job needed to do was repent and everything would change.”

• (11:1-3) “Zophar’s authority was not religious experience or tradition, but intuition or common sense. His ultimate authority, therefore, was really himself; what appeared right to him was considered to be indeed right. This kind of person sees all issues as either black or white.”

• (11:1-3) “Zophar was not interested in probing the mysteries of God’s working. He not only called Job a sinner but rebuked and insulted him for attempting to understand God’s ways.”

• (11:6) “Divine wisdom has two sides to it: one that man sees, and another known only to God.”

• (11:12) “With extreme sarcasm Zophar says that there is no more possibility that a vain (witless) man like Job could ever become wise than that an ass (donkey) could give birth to a man.”

• (11:13-20) “Zophar also calls on Job to repent and assures him of rich rewards if he will do so.”

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Reflecting God

Archaeological

ESV Study Bible

• (3:1-42:6) “Between the brief narrative sections of the prologue (1:1–2:13) and epilogue (42:7–17), the large central section of the book consists of dialogue in poetic form (except for the narrative introduction of Elihu in 32:1–5) that focuses on the question of what Job’s suffering reveals both about him and about God’s governing of the world. This section progresses in five main parts: Job’s opening lament (3:1–26), a lengthy section of interchanges between the three friends and Job (4:1–25:6), Job’s closing monologue (26:1–31:40), Elihu’s response (32:1–37:24), and the Lord’s appearance to and interaction with Job (38:1–42:6).”

• (4:1-25:6) “The main section of the book contains the dialogue between Job and the three friends that opens with Job’s initial lament (3:1–16) and then alternates between speeches by each friend (Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar) and responses by Job. The dialogue consists of two full cycles containing a speech by each friend and response by Job (4:1–14:22; 15:1–21:34). Job appears to cut off Bildad in the midst of his third speech (22:1–25:6), which is followed by a lengthy section of Job’s final argument (26:1–31:40).”

• (4:1-25:6) “In his opening response, Eliphaz initiates what will become a recurring question and theme for the speeches of the friends: “Can mortal man be in the right before God?” (4:17; see also 9:2; 15:14; 25:4). The friends assume that both Job’s circumstances and his response to them are indications that he is in the wrong before God and needs to acknowledge and repent of his sin. However, Job will insist not only that he is not guilty of some hidden iniquity but that it is God who ultimately has allowed and governed his circumstances.”

• (4:1-14:22) “Although Eliphaz begins this round of dialogues with a fairly gentle tone (4:3–4), sympathy for Job rapidly fades. The character of Job is consistently probed under the assumption that his moral failures account for his present plight (by Eliphaz in chs. 4–5, Bildad in ch. 8, and Zophar in ch. 11). Job responds in kind: bewildered by his suffering, he angrily argues (chs. 6–7), legally disputes (chs. 9–10), and resolutely rejects (chs. 12–14) the counsel of his friends.”

• (4:1-5:27) “Eliphaz opens his first response with a brief affirmation of Job’s character (4:2–4) before asserting what he knows to be true about how God works (4:7–5:16) and articulating the core of the friends’ argument: in light of Job’s circumstance, he cannot be in the right before God (see 4:17). In light of his confidence that his description and inferences are correct, Eliphaz suggests that Job accept his circumstance as God’s reproof in order that he might be delivered (5:17–27). When the dialogue with the three friends is finished, Elihu will suggest something quite similar to Eliphaz, even if he takes a slightly different approach (see 32:1–37:24; and 36:7–21 in particular).”

• (4:7) “Eliphaz speaks as if God’s protection to the righteous were a universal rule. But the mystery of the death of Christ the innocent one shows the superficiality of his reasoning.”

• (4:8) “At the opening of his speech, Eliphaz states the dictum that the friends will relentlessly defend throughout the dialogue. For them this proverb is unequivocal—it is true in all circumstances in the same way. Character can be judged by circumstances.”

• (4:10-11) “Typical of wisdom exponents, Eliphaz turns to nature to demonstrate his truth. Even an animal as mighty as the lion is incapable of altering the operation of natural law to protect its own young. A man like Job cannot alter the function of moral law any more than the lion can alter natural law.”

• (4:12-21) “In his first speech, Eliphaz describes the event (vv. 12–16) and content (vv. 17–21) of a vision. The implied heavenly source of the vision is meant to grant authority to the message, which centers on the opening question: “Can mortal man be in the right before God?” While the vision has been typically read as belonging to Eliphaz, some interpreters have argued that it should be understood as a vision originally reported by Job, which is then quoted by Eliphaz. The primary impetus for interpreting the vision as a quotation is the argument that the recurring question of v. 17 (see 9:2; 15:14; 25:4) is in tension with the theology of Eliphaz and the friends (i.e., they are arguing precisely that a righteous person can be in the right before God). While interpreting the vision as a quotation offers a solution if there is in fact a conflict, it lacks the support of the typical features found in Job that would mark a quotation in the text (e.g., there is no attribution of the speech to Job, nor has Job said anything like this up to this point) and creates other interpretative difficulties. Nevertheless, this view is set out here to present both interpretative options for readers of Job.”

• (4:15) “Eliphaz does not realize that he may have seen an evil spirit who, like Satan, accuses God’s people.”

• (4:17-18) “The opening questions of v. 17 present an interpretative difficulty: what do they mean and what is their function in the dialogue? Are they Eliphaz’s way of reminding Job that all creation has been affected by sin? Are they Job’s questions (see note on vv. 12–21) asking whether it is possible to live in such a manner as to receive only good things from God? Neither of these possibilities appears fully satisfying: the first because Eliphaz would then be arguing that what has happened to Job is a consequence that should be expected by all people, including himself; the second because it is not the purpose of Job’s lament to ask whether it would have been possible so to live as to avoid his circumstances. A literary key for answering the question is found in the function of the prologue. The content of the heavenly dialogues (1:8; 2:3) and the comments of the narrator (1:1–5, 22; 2:10) place the evaluation of Job’s character at the forefront for interpreting the book as a whole.”

• (4:17-18) In the dialogue of chs. 3–31, the friends are seeking to judge the nature of the very thing to which the reader has been made privy: God’s evaluation of Job. The tension of the dialogue begins with Eliphaz’s vision, which functions as a response to Job’s initial lament (3:1–26): How can you presume that you are in the right? Eliphaz argues that if even angels are found at fault before God, then the fact of compounded and devastating suffering should lead Job, a mortal man, to seek God for help rather than presuming the right to protest against him (see 5:8).”

• (4:17) “Yes, a man can be pure, as is demonstrated by the purity of Christ. Moreover, Christ gives his righteousness to his people through justification (Rom. 5:1; 2 Cor. 5:21).”

• (4:19-21) “Eliphaz follows the opening question to Job with an extended description to illustrate his greater-to-lesser argument. If angels are held guilty (see v. 18), then how much more so are mortals who dwell in houses of clay (v. 19), who perish forever without anyone regarding it (v. 20), and who die … without wisdom (v. 21)?”

• (5:1) “After Eliphaz presents what he regards as the weight of his vision (see 4:17–21), he asks rhetorically if there are any creatures left on earth (anyone) or in heaven (the holy ones) to whom Job can presume to appeal.”

• (5:6-7) “Eliphaz reinforces his previous point (see 4:8) by returning to the language of agriculture: affliction and trouble do not grow out of the dust or ground, but out of what is sown from the day a person is born.”

• (5:13) “God catches the wise with the foolishness of the cross, according to 1 Cor. 3:19. Ironically, Eliphaz, who claims to be wise, is himself caught in his speeches (Job 42:7), because he does not know the wisdom of the cross, and its meaning for the suffering of the innocent.”

• (5:16) “The wicked sit in stunned silence at the reversal of their fortune. As is the case in several places in the dialogues, the second line of the verse (injustice shuts her mouth) is similar to a line from the Psalms (see Ps. 107:42, “the wickedness shuts its mouth”). Eliphaz implies in this section (Job 5:8–16) that Job should reconsider the reversal of his circumstances as representing God’s just purposes (see v. 17).”

• (5:18) “The statement parallels Hos. 6:1. Eliphaz correctly describes God’s discipline to sinful people. But he does not see that God may discipline the innocent for more mysterious purposes (Job 1:12; 2 Cor. 5:21; see note on Job 4:7).”

• (5:21) “The reference to the lash of the tongue is included in a list of troubles that threaten a person’s life (vv. 19–26) along with famine, war, danger of wild beasts, and anything that might endanger the peace of flocks, family, or person (e.g., disease, disaster, etc.). Eliphaz uses the numerical saying (“from six … in seven”) to draw particular attention to the final element: if Job will accept his situation as God’s discipline, he will be spared from his trouble and brought to “a ripe old age” (v. 26).”

• (8:1-22) “Bildad immediately begins with a stern rebuke: Job’s words are a tempestuous wind (see 6:26), and whatever has come upon his children or upon Job himself has to be right, because God does not pervert justice (8:1–7). If Job will simply listen to the wisdom to which Bildad is pointing him, he will remember that the wicked do not endure (vv. 8–19), and that God will surely restore Job if he is truly blameless (vv. 20–22).”

• (8:3) “God is just, but his justice is deeper than straightforward rewards and punishments in this life. The issue of justice points forward to the achievement of justice in the work of Christ (Rom. 3:23–26) and in the final judgment (Rev. 20:11–15).”

• (8:4-6) “After the rhetorical questions of v. 3, Bildad presents two conditional statements to Job that are meant to represent the necessary consequences of God’s justice. The first (v. 4), though set as a conditional, assumes that Job’s children have suffered because of their sin. The second is then meant to call Job to remember that if he will repent (v. 5) and if he is blameless (v. 6), then God will spare him from the end that his children have suffered.”

• (8:8-10) “ If Eliphaz based his counsel on the night vision (see note on 4:12–21), here Bildad appeals instead to the tradition of the fathers.”

• (8:11-19) “Typical of wisdom literature, Bildad uses an analogy from nature to illustrate his point regarding the vulnerability of the wicked. Papyrus and reeds grow quickly in the wetlands to a height of 15 feet (4.6 m) or more, but are also the most vulnerable of plants, dependent on a constant supply of water. Other plants are deeply rooted in rocky soil, but they can be uprooted, leaving no trace of their presence. The way of the wicked is precarious and futile.”

• (8:20-22) “In his conclusion, Bildad asserts two things: if Job were a blameless man God would not have rejected him (v. 20); and the tent of the wicked will not stand for long (v. 22). Job will question the truth of each assertion: If a man were blameless, how could he show himself to be right before the God of justice (see 9:2)? And if shame and disaster are the fate of the wicked, how is it that the wicked so often appear to prosper in relative safety (see 12:6; 21:7)?”

• (11:1-20) “Like Bildad (see 8:1–22), Zophar responds with a sharp challenge to what he sees as empty words and presumption in Job (11:2–12). He then calls Job to prayer and repentance, promising that God will transform Job’s circumstances if he will simply step back from his pride (vv. 13–20).”

• (11:1-20) “Zophar’s indignant speech makes an implicit connection between moral standing and knowledge of God: since Job’s situation marks him out as morally corrupt (cf. vv. 5–6, 11, 14), he cannot know God rightly.”

• (11:5-6) “Zophar shares Job’s longing that Job might have a direct audience with God, but for exactly the opposite purpose. Job longs for vindication; Zophar is certain that Job would be condemned.”

• (11:7) “There is irony in this verse that will be revealed to Zophar only in the events of the epilogue (see 42:7–9). Although he accusingly asks Job whether he is able to discover the depth and extent of God’s work, it is Zophar who presumes that God’s purposes in Job’s suffering are transparent enough to rebuke Job and call him to repent.”

• (11:12) “Although there is a question about how the second line of this proverb relates to the first (i.e., whether the first line is being compared to the impossibility in the second of a wild donkey giving birth either to a man or to a domesticated colt), the function of the proverb in Zophar’s speech is clear. He is calling Job to stop insisting on foolishness, because, like the path of the stupid man, it will never lead to understanding. Zophar calls Job instead to turn away from the insistence that he is in the right and to seek God in prayer and repentance (vv. 13–20).”

• (11:17) “The life of the righteous will end in bright day (Prov. 4:18), ultimately the day of consummation (Rev. 21:23–22:5). But Zophar underestimates the complexity. The mysteries of God’s providence lead to consummation only through the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 2:21–25) and his people (Phil. 2:10–11).”

• (11:20) “ Zophar’s final statement about the fate of the wicked stands in stark contrast to what he describes in vv. 13–19 as the benefits God will bestow on Job if he will only repent. Zophar’s statement is meant to warn Job against continuing in his current path (see v. 18 and the contrast relating to hope).”

HCSB Study Bible

• (4:1) “Since Job had broken the silence (chap. 3), Eliphaz offered his concerned counsel, filled with various forms of traditional wisdom. Although Eliphaz's counsel contained truthful observations, they failed to address the reason for Job's condition.”

• (4:4) “Stumbling and knees... buckling relate as much to the psychological aspects of tragedy as to the physical (Ps 109:24; Ezek 21:7; Nah 2:10).”

• (4:6-9) “Eliphaz's advice was meant to be an encouragement and a gentle call for Job's self-reflection, yet it could have implied that Job's children deserved what they got.”

• (4:10-11) “This traditional wisdom from Eliphaz declared that individual strength could not deliver the wicked (Nah 2:11-12). The lion is at times symbolic of the wicked (Ps 7:2) or those who rely on self rather than God (Ps 34:10).”

• (4:12-16) “Eliphaz seems to have been awakened out of deep sleep to receive a supernatural message. Whether this was a theophany (appearance of God) or an angelic visitation (Dan 2:5) is uncertain. Eliphaz thought his experience had provided him with wisdom to understand one of life's mysteries.”

• (4:17) “The basic question was not whether man is more righteous than God, but could he be truly righteous and pure before his Maker (25:4). No one can make special claim to God based on his supposed total moral integrity.”

• (4:18-21) “Eliphaz's point here was that because people are not sinless before God, they may expect difficulties in this life, even tragedy and death. People need to acquire godly wisdom in order to live properly before God.”

• (5:1) “The call-answer motif often expresses intimacy of fellowship between God and the believer (14:15; Isa 65:24; Jer 33:3) and God's availability in times of distress (Job 13:20-22; Ps 86:5-7; 102:1-2).”

• (5:1) “Eliphaz told Job not to expect help from the holy ones. The need for a mediator is an important theme in Job (Job 9:33; 16:19-20; 19:25).”

• (5:2-7) “Rather than being angry or resentful, Job should realize that trouble is part of the cycle of human life.”

• (5:2-7) “The Hebrew word for sparks (lit "sons of flame" or "sons of Resheph") may contain an allusion to Resheph, the Canaanite god of pestilence and plague, reinforcing the inevitability of natural disasters.”

• (5:9-16) “This is a hymn of praise, possibly used in an ancient worship ceremony.”

• (5:17) “The rendering here of the Almighty (Hb Shaddai) represents a derivation from a verbal root known both in Hebrew and Akkadian indicating overpowering force. Other lexicographers suggest a literal meaning "Destroyer" or "(God of) the Mountain."”

• (5:18) “Eliphaz suggested that Job was in need of divine discipline, so he should bear his condition happily (Pr 1:2,7; 3:11-12; 23:12). Then God would bless him again with peace, prosperity, and a large family (Job 5:18-26). For Eliphaz, as for Job, the evidence of personal piety was seen in God's external blessings.”

• (5:19) “The parallel use of six and seven is an example of a Semitic literary device in which a number and the next higher number are used to indicate indefiniteness. Where a definite number is intended, it is always the second one and the details are spelled out (Pr 30:18-19,21-23,29-31; Am 1:3-2:8).”

• (5:27) “Eliphaz exhorted Job to apply the tested and true principles Eliphaz had just applied to Job's condition. In so doing Job would understand why God was disciplining him and be able to bear it profitably (v. 17).”

• (8:2) “Bildad acted like God's "defense attorney." He charged Job with speaking like an empty windbag.”

• (8:3-4) “Bildad's rhetorical question (v. 3) expected a negative answer. God is always righteous in His actions (Dt 32:4). Bildad believed Job's sinning children got what they deserved.”