NOTES for Job 4:1-21
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, |
2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? |
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. |
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. |
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. |
6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? |
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? |
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. |
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. |
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. |
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad. |
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. |
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, |
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. |
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: |
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, |
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? |
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: |
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? |
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it. |
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom. |
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Job's friends, of course, could not leave unanswered the cry they had heard, although that cry was in essence addressed not to them but to God. Still, as Eliphaz observed, who could compel him, or any of those taking part in the conversation that had begun, to be silent (v. 2)? All the more when the subject was such fundamental matters as righteousness and humility before God! And Eliphaz begins his exhortation. He, like the rest of Job's friends, says things that are completely correct from the point of view of any religion.
Indeed, Job had surely more than once had to speak encouraging words to those who found themselves in a difficult situation, perhaps one like the situation in which Job himself now found himself (vv. 3-4). And now Eliphaz calls Job to courage. He says to him: what sort of example are you showing to those whom you used to support (v. 5)? The call to courage is followed by a quite traditional, religiously impeccable reflection that God does not abandon the righteous person, that he will not perish, that righteous Job should not despair, that he may boldly rely on his righteousness and be confident that everything will end well for him, since he is not wicked (vv. 6-11).
Such a speech might seem like the speech of a professional religious optimist, highly inappropriate and even somewhat mocking, if Eliphaz were not being utterly frank with Job, the way people are frank only with close friends. He shares with Job his own deeply personal, even one might say intimate, experience of a revelation he himself had lived through (vv. 12-21). Its meaning is quite understandable: a human being is never clean and blameless before God, so no one can be certain of anything when it comes to relationship with Him. And if that is so, then anything can happen even to a righteous person; a righteous life cannot be a one-hundred-percent guarantee against troubles and misfortunes. Still, Job is a righteous man, and he has nothing to fear. He need only rely on God, trust Him completely, and all will be well.
Other notes
For Job 4:6-7
6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? |
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? |
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