King james bible now when jobs three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place. It made sense to eliphaz that suffering was the consequence of sin and that, if a person suffered, he was being punished by god. Given the ancient setting of the book of job, it is entirely possible that jobs. Eliphaz the temanite, in the old testament book of job chapters 4, 5, 15, 22, one of three friends who sought to console job, who is a biblical archetype of unmerited suffering. Job will later deny this and of course, eliphaz made the charge but gave no evidence. One of job s three friends who visited him in his affliction 4. Eastons bible dictionary a man of teman, the designation of eliphaz, one of jobs three friends job 2. Zophars street cred mostly comes from his gruesome details about how the.
But satan the accuser comes before the lord, and god allows him to test job. Eliphaz the temanite was one of job s three friends who showed up to comfort job but ended up adding to his misery by asserting that job s suffering was a punishment for secret sin. Job s final speech in his own defense is probably where the book originally ended. Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies. This part of the bible touches fundamental question of guilt, punishment, justice, good and evil. In this epic wager between god and the devil, discover how job reacts to the shocking curses inflicted upon him and what we can learn from his incredible example of remaining faithful through suffering. Eliphaz just knows job has done something horrible to cause all this suffering, so he just pulls the accusations out from his imagination. Job 5 eliphaz explains the cause of job s troubles a. Eliphaz the temanite, in the old testament book of job chapters 4, 5, 15. Why elihu is so mysterious july 24, 2015 by peter krol at a recent pastors conference on the book of job, a leader asked the attendees whether the speeches of elihu job 3237 should be trusted, like gods job 3841, or discarded, like those of job s three friends job 4.
More insights from your bible study get started with logos bible. Their basic concept of suffering and their repeated. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. Where did the biblical story of creation come from. The people of amalek was the ancestral enemy of the israelite people book of exodus ex 17. Job, who is sure in his innocence, does everything in order to serve god as good as possible. In order for eliphaz s statements in chapters 4 and 5 to be true, then job needs to be a deceitful liar. His language is uniformly more delicate and gentle than that of the other two, although he imputes to job. This book tells a story of job who is loyal and obedient to god but has to go through much suffering. Jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, have historically been known for offering lengthy speeches that resulted in their being condemned by god job 42. The majority of the debate section in the book of job is in prose form. The most hurtful comments of job s friends,barry york study from the bible and be encouraged to grow your faith. The play unfolds as each man gives a long speech, and job responds to each with a speech of. However, it can be helpful to understand general information about the geography and history of the area to give you a context for reading and studying the book of job.
Commentary on the book of job chapter four by wm w wells. These three men have been silent since they first appeared on the scene in job 2. Likely the oldest and most influential of the comforters, eliphaz was the first to speak. Job had three comforters, or friends, who came to talk with him. His friends speak in more or less three rounds, with each speech followed by a reply from job. Its tricky to identify as the name uz seems to be an informal name applied by the israelites to a region and not the formal name of a country. In the book of job, it becomes clear that the first three of job s friends eliphaz, blidad, and zophar speak wrongly. And what seems to be hurting job most about eliphaz s criticisms of job is that eliphaz is indicating that job is lying. Eliphaz is an example of someone responding with the worlds wisdom to suffering. Job, on the other hand, recognizes that the system is more randomized and thus more scary, hence 6.
Only eliphaz and nehemiah only elihu and habakkuk habakkuk, nehemiah, and zophar isaiah, bildad, and ezekiel. Post 29 the faithful man job lived in the land of uz job 1. The skeptical character of the symposium, with its challenge to timehonored views, most likely would have kept the book of job out of the canon of old testament writings had some additions not been made to the original book. The friend believes it is divine wisdom from god, and we will examine the dream to see if that is. The word temanite probably indicates that he was an edomite, or member of a palestinian people descended from esau. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim section of the hebrew bible, and the first poetic book in the old testament of the christian bible. He is one of job s three friends and wouldbe comforters. Why was god angry about what eliphaz, bildad, and zophar said to job. Some bible scholars debate whether he was an actual person or legend, but job is mentioned as a historical figure by the prophet ezekial ezekial 14. He appears in the book of job in the hebrew bible eliphaz appears mild and modest. It is unwise to pull an isolated verse from the book of job and use it to understand godif the verse comes from a speech of eliphaz. Unfortunately, two erroneous interpretations of job s theses are by far the most popular. Eliphaz is identified as the temanite because he was from the city of teman in idumea edom, a city known as a home of sages and wise men see jeremiah 49.
The second speech of eliphaz and job s response chapters 15 and 16 eliphaz accuses job of impiety in his speech 15. The book of job is quite possibly the strangest book in the hebrew bible, and is notoriously difficult to date. There is no more evidence of sin in job s life than in eliphaz except the tragedies job has suffered. Eliphaz is identified as the temanite because he was from the city of teman in. The book of job wednesday evening at calvary chapel spring valley, las vegas, nevada with pastor derek neider.
He gave three speeches and spoke longer than the other two men. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. A genuine interest in gods creation is revealed in the content of job. Ridiculed job s integrity and claimed that god had no faith in his servants job 4, 5 called job presumptuous and wicked and claimed that job had no fear of god. But the whole point of the debate is whether those tragedies are. The book begins with the description of job as a just and upright man. Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil man. The author of the book of job was a hebrew poet who had an extensive vocabulary. And since job s sufferings were the worst ever seen, his sins must have been particularly severesocial oppression. Each time i read through the drama of the book of job.
For todays study in the book of job, we are looking at a portion of the first response by job s three friends to his predicament. He appears in the book of jo b in the hebrew bible. Lets see how this main point plays out in the debates between job and his three friends. Eliphaz the temanite was one of jobs three friends who showed up to comfort. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. Job s life is a clear example of how sometimes the innocent suffer. At one point job, weary of their unhelpful rhetoric, told them, you are miserable comforters, all of you. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite.
Eliphaz, bildad, and zopharfalse accusers book of job. For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one. The bible story of job, from the book of job, is a powerful tale of testing the devotion and fortitude of the human will. As eliphaz speaks to job, he does so as a temanite,that is, as a representative of the wisdom of the world. Misfortune befalls job, and, in three cycles of speeches, his three friends give the explanation that this must be. Thus, the relationship between job and eliphaz may be proven by connecting genesis 46, 1 chronicles 1, and job 2. Eliphaz and job would agree that god gives and god takes away, but eliphaz believes that this system corresponds to who does evil and who does good. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a wartorn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of gods allcontrolling will.
There is limited information in the book of job about its geographical and historical background. However, eliphaz, along with bildad and zophar, failed in his attempt to comfort his suffering friend. This begins a long section in the book of job where job s friends counsel him and he answers them. And so, job tells eliphaz and his friends to look right at him and job is. Two factors characterizing the style and content of the book of job include its limited source of knowledge and a timid hebrew writing style. What eliphaz fails to acknowledge is that job has responded appropriately to the grace of god revealed to him. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they. The most hurtful comments of jobs friends bible study. Elihu, the forgotten prophet of job the book of job is one of the most important of the entire bible, and is a prerequisite to all discussions of christian theology, particularly theodicy. Hes blameless and upright, and he has kids, a wife, land, and a bunch of sheep. Fresco from the cathedral of the annunciation depicting job and his friends. How was what eliphaz said any different from what jobs other friends.
At the end of job 2, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar enter stage left. The midrash relates that when jacob escaped from esau and fled to his uncle laban in haran, esau sent eliphaz to pursue and kill jacob, his uncle, who was his rabbi also. Twopage spread from johannes gutenbergs 42line bible, c. In his first speech he deduces jobs affliction from the natural sequence of. What did job s three friends have wrong, and what did they have right. As you can imagine, this is a popular aspect of the book of job in christian. This article is not a discourse on the whole book of job in the bible, but only concerns the second half of chapter 4, where one of job s friends explains a dream he once had.
These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan. Not only do they incur the indignation of job and his other friend elihu, but god himself rebukes them, saying to eliphaz, i am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has. It has been widely praised for its literary qualities, with alfred lord tennyson calling it the greatest poem of ancient and modern times. In his first reply to job s complaints, he argues that those who are truly good are never entirely forsaken by providence, but that punishment may justly be inflicted for secret sins. Eliphaz felt job had deceived himself by trusting in his ritual piety what he had done for god while his real sin was what he failed to do for his fellow man note on verses 411. However, some may say that the people in the book of job reference a different job and a different eliphaz. In his first reply to job s complaints, he argues that those who are truly good are never entirely forsaken by providence.
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