The structure and message of the book of job jstor. Overwhelmed by the encounter, job acknowledges gods unlimited power and admits the limitations of his human knowledge. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused. This passage introduces jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. Jan 02, 2020 bildad, along with eliphaz and zophar, visit job after they heard of the calamity that had befallen him. Eliphaz is sensitive, bildad is logical, and zophar is hotheaded. Then it was bildad s time to speak which elicited a response from job. The debate comes about after god allows satan to torment job as a test of his faith, with satan claiming that job is only righteous and faithful to god because he. In his sorrow he sits mourning on an ash heap, scraping his sores with a piece of pottery while he laments his misfortune. Eliphaz the temanite was one of job s three friends and socalled comforter. Their personalities clearly vary, but they are still cut from the same strip of. Although quickwitted, and quick to respond, eliphaz loses his composure in chapter 22, accusing job of oppressing widows and orphans, a far cry from how he had originally described job. After jobs complaints in job 3, eliphaz is the first of the friends to speak. The book of job introduction to philosophy of religion.
They will engage in dialogue with him for many chapters. 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. Instead of giving comfort, jobs three companions added to his distress with unkind, false accusations. They each take turns speaking to job, and job replies to them individually. Many scholars tend to view the approach of eliphaz, bildad, and zophar to. It is also going to be repeated by bildad in job 25. Again there was a day when the sons of god came to present themselves before the lord, and. This response pleases god, but he is upset with eliphaz, bildad, and zophar for spouting poor and theologically unsound advice. Jobs friends came to counsel him eliphaz, bildad, zophar. Job intercedes on their behalf, and god forgives them. He does not use the same words job s three friends did. Jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, have historically been known for offering lengthy speeches that resulted in their being.
Then eliphaz the temanite answered job s three friends reasoning on the principles of an equal providence, and supposing that affliction could happen only in the way of punishment, which necessarily inferred guilt, and thinking his complaints exceeded the bounds of decency, the eldest of them, eliphaz, here interposes. What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they. Jan 02, 2020 in the end, zophar is rebuked by god along with his two friends. Three friends eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the. After addressing himself to divine wisdom, confident that god will hear him chap. To support job in his grief, they sat in silence with him for seven days. Another look at the book of job church of the great god.
Eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, three of jobs friends went to visit him. When bildad first arrives, he cannot believe the horrific nature of jobs condition. They both assert that, at times, job had spoken without wisdom and knowledge job 34. Bildad has answered, god does not discort justice, bildad asserts, therefore, job s children have offended god. Eliphaz spoke to job with the most respect and restraint, bildad was more direct and less courteous, and zophar was the most blunt and brutal. In the land of uz there lived a man whose name was job. After eliphaz, bildad the shuhite is the second of jobs friends to speak.
Elihu shows some of the strengths and weaknesses of his youth. And throughout the book we see jobs steadfast faith in god in the midst o. God, job, bildad, elihu, satan, eliphaz, and zophar. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing god and shunning evil. So eliphaz the temanite and bildadthe shuhite and zophar the naamathite went, and did what yahweh commanded them, and yahweh accepted job. This response pleases god, but he is upset with eliphaz, bildad, and zophar for. They thought god was punishing job for any sins and could not see that god uses suffering also to refine and to teach believers. So eliphaz the temanite and bildad the shuhite and zophar the naamathite went and did as the lord commanded them. But job answered and said, job himself has virtually said much the same as bildad job 9. My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends.
Job denies the accusations of his three friends that he is being punished for sin and openly questions the validity of the retribution dogma by. Job begins his response with remarkable sarcasm directed at his friends, whose approach has been impervious to his suffering 26. Chapters 414 are the first of three sets of speeches between job and the three men who came to comfort him, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. Jan 19, 2012 speeches of eliphaz, bildad, and zophar job s friends do not waver from their belief that job must have sinned to incite gods punishment. What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they have. Jan 02, 2020 however, eliphaz, along with bildad and zophar, failed in his attempt to comfort his suffering friend. Eliphaz was more sympathetic in his counseling than job s other two friends, bildad and zophar. Three of job s friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, come to visit him, sitting with job in silence for seven days out of respect for his mourning. Elihu was also angry at eliphaz, bildad, and zophar because they had failed to solve the controversy they.
At one point job, weary of their unhelpful rhetoric, told them, you are miserable comforters, all of you. Commentary on the book of job bible study notes and comments by david e. In job 32 elihu focuses his response on rebuking jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. Eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite are often. The book of job is one of the most celebrated pieces of biblical.
This is a true theological statement, in general, but eliphaz is misapplying it by implying that it only applies to job. Zophar last appears in verse 9, where we find him offering the sacrifices god had required. Implied that job s sons had sinned and deserved the calamity that struck them and suggested that job himself was godless. The book of job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. Be careful of the folly of eliphaz, bildad, zophar jobs friends. Therefore i say, listen to me, i also will declare my opinion. On the seventh day, job speaks, beginning a conversation in which each of the four men shares his thoughts on job s afflictions in long, poetic statements. Eliphaz, bildad, and zopharfalse accusers book of job jw. A lesson in friendship from the book of job hodgepodge. They believed there were no exceptions to the rule that god blesses good people and punishes bad people in this life. Unlike friends bildad and eliphaz, zophar only speaks twice to job. For a whole week after arriving they said nothing, but sat silently with him, because they saw how great his suffering was. So eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite did as.
Eliphaz, bildad, and zopharfalse accusers book of job. Indeed i waited for your words, i listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say. Read the passage nrsv find more resources related to this. Bildad expresses the view of the mutazillitesjob is being tested to receive a greater reward. From chapter 4 to 31 job conversed with his three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, about the meaning of suffering. Feb 11, 2018 well, then job s friends come to him with the desire to comfort but they just discourage this poor man. The book of job is a book many people turn to in times of suffering. Then answered bildad the shuhite bildad, whose sentiments are the same with those of the preceding friend, now comes to the attack, and tells job that his general asseverations of innocence are of no avail. Job and his friends eliphaz, bildad, zophar, and elihu. Zophar is portrayed as more hotheaded than his two friends. Bildad, along with eliphaz and zophar, visit job after they heard of the calamity that had befallen him. The most hurtful comments of jobs friends bible study. Job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar were not able to understand these ways of god. Job prays for them for the lord not to deal with them according to their.
This summary is written by smartypantsed writers that will make you enjoy learning about the bible. But he too wanted job to admit that his punishment by the lord was just, for the sins he committed eliphaz was the oldest of the three friends and was a. As the speeches progress, job s friends increasingly berate him for refusing to confess his sins, although they themselves are at a loss as to which sin he has committed. Jan 02, 2020 elihu is identified only as the son of barakel the buzite, of the family of ram job 32. God rebuked job s three companions, addressing eliphaz as their head he was the first of the three to speak. Those that have a mind to fall out with their brethren, and to fall foul upon them, find it necessary to put the worst colours they can upon them and their performances, and, right or. Jun 02, 2008 the lesson from the big book of job is 1 that god is sovereign over all our suffering. In the end, zophar is rebuked by god along with his two friends. Learn about the figures in book of job found in the bible. Eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. The contents of the book, together with its artistic structure and elegant style, place it among the literary masterpieces of all time. 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. Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil man.
It is important to note that job never loses his faith in yahweh. Dec 29, 2016 though eliphaz, bildad, and zophar made many barbed remarks through the three cycles of their discourse with job that impugned his character, questioned his faith, and mocked his knowledge, perhaps. Job maintains his frustrations with god, and the friends continue to. Every major character in the book job, eliphaz, bildad, zophar, and elihuassumed that god governed humankind on the basis of retribution. Job made his last speech in rebuttal to eliphaz, bildad, and zophar.
It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the. He rebukes job for so easily comparing god with a man, and for asserting that god is unfairthat he is somehow unrighteous in his dealings with his creation, and that he was being unjust with job. A dispute between him and his friends upon them, in which, 1. So we will look at zophar s speech in job chapter 11 and how he seeks to reel in job.
Summary the book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world. So the lord rebukes the friends of job, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, ordering them to present a burnt offering for themselves of seven bulls and seven rams. Three of jobs friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, come to visit him, sitting with job in silence for seven days out of respect for his mourning. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the east. A phonological existential analysis to the book of job jstor. His three speeches were shorter and more hurtful than those of eliphaz. Zophar is the last job s friends to attempt an explanation for job s suffering. Job s three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, keep interrupting him to try to convince him that he is at fault, but job knows otherwise and refuses to plead guilty to a sin he did not commit. Then answered bildad the shuhite, and said, this was the second of jobs friends that came to. Job refutes the theory of the three that he is a secret sinner as against the common moralities, but the real problem, why are the righteous afflicted remains.
Naked i came from my mothers womb, and naked i will depart. When bildad first arrives, he cannot believe the horrific nature of job s condition. The difference between job and his three friends knowable word. Jul 29, 2017 the debate between job and his friends eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, centers around the idea of whether or not a human can ever question a vastly superior and perfect being like god. Finally, job himself is stricken with a terrible skin disease. And if youve been hurt and well meaning people have done damage, pray fo. These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan. In job 3237 elihu offers a response to job that lifts up the lord, condemns jobs three friends, and rightly confronts job. He then compares his own weakness with the limitless power, majesty, and wonder of yahweh. He likely is a descendant of esaus son eliphaz, though his son teman. It was a custom, at that time, that the afflicted or grieving person should be allowed to speak first. So far, eliphaz and bildad have answered job and now it is zophar s turn. The history of job s sufferings, and his patience under them job 1. And last, zophar spoke and then job responded to all of them.
According to maimonides, a superscholarly medieval, guy, each of jobs friends represents a different position on divine providence. In verse 12 he notes, i gave you my full attention. Then answered zophar the naamathite how hard is it to preserve calmness in the heat of disputation. But eliphaz, bildad, and zophar are sinners also as before god, and yet they are not afflicted. Eliphaz the temanite was one of jobs three friends who showed up to comfort job but ended up adding to his misery by asserting that jobs suffering was a punishment for secret sin. So eliphaz the temanite and bildad the shuhite and zophar the naamathite went and did what the lord had told them. Sep 21, 2019 job had 3 friends that showed up for him in his time of need. Throughout the book of job, this is the major question that god is answering. So then, last time we saw eliphaz speak for the second time. After eliphaz, bildad the shuhite is the second of job s friends to speak. Job 2227 eliphaz, bildad, and zophar state their third set of arguments. Job 1521 eliphaz, bildad, and zophar voice their second set of arguments against job. Job pokes fun at bildad asking him what spirit revealed it to him because he recognizes the argument as eliphaz s spiritual revelation. The lessons i learned from jobs friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar.
Eliphaz bases on human experience in all three speeches chap. This is fruitless because, job contends no mortal cant be just before god. Now when job s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place. This is when job s three friends eliphaz, bildad, and zophar arrive to mourn with him and to offer comfort. First cycle eliphaz, job, bildad, job, zophar, job, iv 1xiv 22.
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