Job 4 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Job 4

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2   “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    Yet who can keep from speaking?
3   Behold, you have instructed many,
    and you have strengthened the weak hands.
4   Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
    and you have made firm the feeble knees.
5   But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
    it touches you, and you are dismayed.
6   Is not your fear of God¹ your confidence,
    and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7   “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?
    Or where were the upright cut off?
8   As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
    and sow trouble reap the same.
9   By the breath of God they perish,
    and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10   The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
    the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11   The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12   “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
    my ear received the whisper of it.
13   Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on men,
14   dread came upon me, and trembling,
    which made all my bones shake.
15   A spirit glided past my face;
    the hair of my flesh stood up.
16   It stood still,
    but I could not discern its appearance.
  A form was before my eyes;
    there was silence, then I heard a voice:
17   ‘Can mortal man be in the right before² God?
    Can a man be pure before his Maker?
18   Even in his servants he puts no trust,
    and his angels he charges with error;
19   how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
    whose foundation is in the dust,
    who are crushed like³ the moth.
20   Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
    they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
21   Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
    do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

Footnotes

[1] 4:6 Hebrew lacks of God
[2] 4:17 Or more than; twice in this verse
[3] 4:19 Or before

Commentary

v1: Eliphaz the 'theologian'; he was the oldest, and therefore the first to speak in response to Job (see 32.4,6-7).

v2: Eliphaz' compulsion to speak.

v3-4: Eliphaz' commendation of Job;

he had taught others, instructed many; his words upheld the one who was stumbling;
he had cared for others; strengthened weak hands and feeble knees.

v5: Now Job needs the encouragement of others. He is weary and troubled, yet his friends don't really help him; in 19.2-3, he accuses them of tormenting and reproaching him.

v6: Reverence and integrity; Job's reputation on earth as well as in heaven - he is known as a godly man.

v7-11: Eliphaz' theology; "Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?" By using the word "ever", he does not allow any exception to his statements. Such words can bring no comfort to Job.

Those who sow trouble do reap the same (Gal 6.8), but the reverse is not necessarily true. Those who desire to live godly lives will also suffer persecution (2 Tim 3.12). His later statement is truer, that troubles are the lot of the godly and the ungodly (5.7).

Eliphaz implies that Job (or his whole family) has received punishment from God; the breath of God, and the blast of His anger.

We do not base our doctrine on divine retribution. It is not the starting point. The Bible says, "God is light" and "God is love." These are where we start in understanding God and His ways.

v12-16: Eliphaz' authority; a vision from God. He experienced a dream, which troubled him; there was a form, a spirit, and a voice. The Pharisees later held similar views; although they were legalistic, they believed in angels, and that God would speak.

He claims to speak with divine authority; this is his defence to his harsh approach. Such a contrast with Paul in Philem 9, and even with Paul's style when writing to the Galatians.

v17-21: Words of truth about God; He is utterly righteous. When considering difficult issues, we are right to begin with the character of God. In contrast with God, mankind, and even His angels, fall short.

Human excellence is a passing thing. The best that a man can achieve is like grass that withers; Eccl 2.12-16; 3.19-21, concluding in Eccl 4.2-3. The writer of Ecclesiastes had departed from God, and therefore had lost hope. In contrast, Job clung to the Lord God, yet still endured terrible trials.