UNROLL
Dusk at the ash heap: a wrapped man seated far off, three older men on the ground near him, and the tallest beginning to rise on his staff.

The Book of

Job 4

Eliphaz speaks, and round one begins. Job has just cursed the day he was born.

21 verses≈ 3 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–3The testBlameless, stripped of everything, and his cry
  2. 4–14Round oneThe friends speak; Job answersChapter 4
  3. 15–21Round twoMy Redeemer lives
  4. 22–31Round threeThen wisdom, and Job's last defense
  5. 32–37ElihuA younger voice
  6. 38–41The LORD speaksOut of the whirlwind
  7. 42The endJob prays and is restored

Eliphaz: The Innocent Prosper

Eliphaz
Eliphaz, a tall old man with a white beard, stands at the edge of the ash heap at last light, both hands on his staff, looking down.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

Job 4:4

Eliphaz

Is your reverence not your confidence

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

Consider now, I plead:

Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Or where have the upright been destroyed?

As I have observed, those who plow iniquity

and those who sow trouble reap the same.

By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl,

yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

The old lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

The friends’ rule

butSow troubleyou will reap thesameStay uprightyou will notperishThe ruleGod pays out in thislifeJob has losteverythingso Job must havesinnedWhat we knowblameless, saidthe LORD

Whiteboard

Every friend argues from this one rule. It sounds like faith. But the reader has seen chapter 1, and the rule cannot explain Job.

Reflect

When someone is hurting

Eliphaz begins with “Yet who can keep from speaking?” Think of someone in pain. Have you ever explained their trouble when you could have stayed beside them? What would it look like to stay this week?

Eliphaz
Deep night inside a black tent: an old man sits bolt upright on his mat, seen from behind and to the side, a small clay lamp burning low, the tent wall stirring.

Now a word came to me secretly;

my ears caught a whisper of it.

In disquieting visions in the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

fear and trembling came over me

and made all my bones shudder.

Then a spirit glided past my face,

and the hair on my body bristled.

It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance;

a form loomed before my eyes,

and I heard a whispering voice:

0:24

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God,

or a man more pure than his Maker?

If God puts no trust in His servants,

and He charges His angels with error,

how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundations are in the dust,

who can be crushed like a moth!

They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;

unnoticed, they perish forever.

Are not their tent cords pulled up,

so that they die without wisdom?’

Eliphaz

Can a mortal be more righteous than God

Question

Quick question

Eliphaz has a rule for how the world works.

Whom does Eliphaz say has never perished?

You’ve experienced

Job 4

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A verse to carry with you

Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

Job 4:4

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