Job 4 Study Notes: Eliphaz Answers Job
Eliphaz the Temanite begins the friends’ first round of speeches, reminding Job how he once encouraged others and arguing that the innocent are never destroyed. He then describes a terrifying night vision whose message is that no human can surpass God in righteousness or purity, since people are frail as dust.
General
What does Eliphaz give as the basis for his claim that evildoers harvest the harm they plant (Job 4:8)?
Answer: His own experience of watching how things turn out
Eliphaz rests this part of his case on what he himself has seen (4:8). In his experience, people who plow wickedness and plant trouble harvest more of it, and they are destroyed when God’s anger blows on them (4:9). He then pictures powerful lions whose teeth are broken and whose cubs are scattered, an image of the mighty wicked being brought down (4:10-11). Scripture does teach that people reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7; Proverbs 22:8). Eliphaz’s mistake is running the rule backward: he reasons that because Job is suffering, Job must have sown evil. The LORD had said the opposite about Job (1:8).
- Job 4:8-9 (BSB)“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.”Eliphaz bases his claim on what he has observed about the wicked.
- Job 4:10-11 (BSB)“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.”Eliphaz adds the picture of mighty lions brought low.
- Galatians 6:7 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.”Scripture does teach that people reap what they sow.
- Proverbs 22:8 (BSB)“He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.”Proverbs affirms that injustice leads to disaster for the one who sows it.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD’s own testimony describes Job as blameless and upright, not as one who had sown evil.
Theological
On what ground does Eliphaz rest his claim that evildoers harvest the harm they plant (Job 4:8)?
Answer: His own experience of watching how things turn out
Eliphaz appeals to experience: he has seen that those who plow wickedness and plant trouble harvest the same, perishing when God’s anger blows on them (4:8-9). The broken teeth of the lions and the scattered cubs illustrate the powerful wicked being brought down (4:10-11). The principle of sowing and reaping is biblical (Galatians 6:7; Proverbs 22:8), but Eliphaz inverts it, reasoning from Job’s suffering back to Job’s supposed sin. The LORD’s own verdict on Job was the reverse (1:8).
- Job 4:8-9 (BSB)“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.”Eliphaz bases his claim on what he has observed about the wicked.
- Job 4:10-11 (BSB)“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.”Eliphaz adds the picture of mighty lions brought low.
- Galatians 6:7 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.”Scripture does teach that people reap what they sow.
- Proverbs 22:8 (BSB)“He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.”Proverbs affirms that injustice leads to disaster for the one who sows it.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD’s own testimony describes Job as blameless and upright, not as one who had sown evil.
General
How does Eliphaz say a secret word came to him (Job 4:12-16)?
Answer: In a frightening night vision, as a spirit passed his face
Eliphaz claims a second source of authority beyond his own observation. A message reached him in secret, he says, in troubling visions at night while people lie in deep sleep (4:12-13). Fear seized him, his bones shook, a spirit passed close to him, and his hair stood on end (4:14-15). A form stood before him that he could not make out, and he heard a quiet voice (4:16). Eliphaz presents this as weighty revelation, yet nothing in the book confirms where it came from. At the end, the LORD says Eliphaz and his two friends had not spoken rightly about Him, and that Job must pray for them (42:7-8).
- Job 4:12-16 (BSB)“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:”Eliphaz describes the secret, terrifying experience he offers as the source of his message.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD later tells Eliphaz that he and his friends did not speak accurately about Him.
- Job 42:8 (BSB)“So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.””The LORD requires the friends to offer sacrifices and have Job pray for them, so that He will not deal with them according to their folly.
Theological
By what means does Eliphaz claim a secret word reached him (Job 4:12-16)?
Answer: In a frightening night vision, as a spirit passed his face
Beyond experience, Eliphaz appeals to private revelation: a message reached him stealthily in disturbing night visions while people lie in deep sleep (4:12-13), accompanied by dread, trembling, a spirit passing his face, and a form he could not discern, from which came a hushed voice (4:14-16). He offers it as authoritative, but the book never validates its source, and the LORD’s closing verdict that the friends did not speak rightly about Him, so that Job must intercede for them (42:7-8), weighs against treating Eliphaz’s vision as divine teaching.
- Job 4:12-16 (BSB)“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:”Eliphaz describes the secret, terrifying experience he offers as the source of his message.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD later tells Eliphaz that he and his friends did not speak accurately about Him.
- Job 42:8 (BSB)“So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.””The LORD requires the friends to offer sacrifices and have Job pray for them, so that He will not deal with them according to their folly.
General
What does Eliphaz remind Job of at the start of his first speech (Job 4:3-5)?
Answer: Job once steadied many who were faltering, but now he is shaken himself
Eliphaz the Temanite, the first of the three friends to answer Job, opens politely by asking whether Job can bear to hear a word (4:2). He reminds Job that he used to teach many people and put strength back into weak hands and failing knees (4:3-4). Now that trouble has reached Job himself, Eliphaz says, he has lost heart (4:5). He then asks whether Job’s reverence for God and his upright life should not give him confidence and hope (4:6). Strengthening weak hands and knees is a picture Scripture uses for encouraging the discouraged (Isaiah 35:3; Hebrews 12:12). The friends had come to comfort Job (2:11), but as this speech goes on Eliphaz moves from comfort toward correction.
- Job 4:3-5 (BSB)“Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling. But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.”Eliphaz recalls how Job had helped others and contrasts it with his present dismay.
- Job 4:6 (BSB)“Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?”Eliphaz points Job to his own reverence and integrity as grounds for confidence.
- Isaiah 35:3 (BSB)“Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!”The same picture of strengthening weak hands and knees describes encouraging those who are faltering.
- Hebrews 12:12 (BSB)“Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.”The New Testament uses the same image for renewing strength in a time of hardship.
- Job 2:11 (BSB)“Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.”The three friends came with the stated purpose of sympathizing with Job and comforting him.
Theological
With what observation about Job does Eliphaz open his first speech (Job 4:3-5)?
Answer: Job once steadied many who were faltering, but now he is shaken himself
Eliphaz, first of the three friends to respond, begins courteously (4:2) and then turns Job’s own past against his present: the man who once instructed many and put strength into weak hands and failing knees (4:3-4) has himself lost heart now that calamity has struck him (4:5). He adds that Job’s piety and integrity ought to be his ground of confidence (4:6). The image of strengthening weak hands and knees is a recurring biblical picture of encouraging the faint (Isaiah 35:3; Hebrews 12:12). The friends had come to console Job (2:11), yet Eliphaz’s speech moves steadily from consolation to correction.
- Job 4:3-5 (BSB)“Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling. But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.”Eliphaz recalls how Job had helped others and contrasts it with his present dismay.
- Job 4:6 (BSB)“Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?”Eliphaz points Job to his own reverence and integrity as grounds for confidence.
- Isaiah 35:3 (BSB)“Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!”The same picture of strengthening weak hands and knees describes encouraging those who are faltering.
- Hebrews 12:12 (BSB)“Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.”The New Testament uses the same image for renewing strength in a time of hardship.
- Job 2:11 (BSB)“Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him.”The three friends came with the stated purpose of sympathizing with Job and comforting him.
General
In Job 4:19, whom does Eliphaz’s vision describe with the phrase “houses of clay”?
Answer: Frail human beings, whose bodies came from dust
The vision reasons from the greater to the lesser. If God does not trust even His servants, and finds fault in His angels (4:18), then human beings are far less able to stand before Him (4:19). The houses of clay are human bodies, set on foundations of dust and as easily crushed as a moth. Their lives can end between morning and evening, and they die without gaining wisdom (4:20-21). Scripture agrees that God made the first man out of dust (Genesis 2:7) and that He remembers our frailty (Psalm 103:14). Paul also speaks of the body as a tent that can be taken down (2 Corinthians 5:1). Eliphaz uses this frailty to press Job toward admitting sin, which is where his argument goes wrong.
- Job 4:18-21 (BSB)“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?’”The vision argues from God’s view of His servants and angels to the frailty of human beings.
- Genesis 2:7 (BSB)“Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.”Man was formed from the dust of the ground, the background for picturing the body as a house of clay.
- Psalm 103:14 (BSB)“For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.”God remembers that human beings are dust, frail and limited.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 (BSB)“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”Paul likewise pictures the present body as an earthly dwelling that can be taken down.
Theological
In Job 4:19, to whom does the phrase “houses of clay” refer?
Answer: Frail human beings, whose bodies came from dust
The vision argues from greater to lesser: if God withholds trust from His servants and charges even angels with fault (4:18), how much more frail mortals whose bodies are houses of clay founded on dust, as easily crushed as a moth, cut off between dawn and dusk and dying without wisdom (4:19-21). The image fits the biblical account of man made from dust (Genesis 2:7) and God’s awareness of our frame (Psalm 103:14), and Paul uses a similar picture of the body as a dwelling that can be dismantled (2 Corinthians 5:1). Eliphaz’s misstep is to turn this general frailty into an accusation against Job.
- Job 4:18-21 (BSB)“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?’”The vision argues from God’s view of His servants and angels to the frailty of human beings.
- Genesis 2:7 (BSB)“Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.”Man was formed from the dust of the ground, the background for picturing the body as a house of clay.
- Psalm 103:14 (BSB)“For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.”God remembers that human beings are dust, frail and limited.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 (BSB)“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”Paul likewise pictures the present body as an earthly dwelling that can be taken down.
General
What principle does Eliphaz ask Job to consider in Job 4:7?
Answer: No truly innocent person is ever destroyed by disaster
Eliphaz asks Job to think of any innocent person who ever perished, or any upright person who was ever wiped out (4:7). His point is that disaster comes only on the guilty, so Job’s ruin must have a cause in Job himself. The opening chapters have already shown otherwise. The LORD Himself called Job blameless and upright and said Job had been ruined for no reason (2:3). At the end of the book the LORD tells Eliphaz that he and his two friends had not spoken rightly about Him (42:7). Jesus also rejected the idea that great suffering proves great sin (John 9:2-3; Luke 13:2-3). Eliphaz’s rule sounds godly, but the LORD Himself sets it aside.
- Job 4:7 (BSB)“Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?”Eliphaz states the principle on which his whole first speech rests.
- Job 2:3 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.””The LORD Himself calls Job blameless and says he was ruined without cause, contradicting Eliphaz’s assumption.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD later says Eliphaz and his two friends did not speak accurately about Him.
- John 9:2-3 (BSB)“and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.”Jesus rejects the assumption that a particular affliction must be traced to a particular sin.
- Luke 13:2-3 (BSB)“To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this way? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”Jesus denies that those who suffered disaster were worse sinners than others.
Theological
What principle does Eliphaz set before Job in Job 4:7?
Answer: No truly innocent person is ever destroyed by disaster
Eliphaz’s argument rests on a rigid principle of retribution: no innocent person perishes and the upright are never cut off (4:7), so Job’s calamity must reveal hidden guilt. The opening chapters have already refuted the premise, since the LORD declares Job blameless and says he was ruined for no reason (2:3), and the closing chapter confirms that the friends did not speak rightly about God (42:7). Jesus likewise refuses to read particular suffering as proof of particular sin (John 9:2-3; Luke 13:2-3). Eliphaz’s rule has the sound of piety, but the LORD Himself sets it aside.
- Job 4:7 (BSB)“Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?”Eliphaz states the principle on which his whole first speech rests.
- Job 2:3 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.””The LORD Himself calls Job blameless and says he was ruined without cause, contradicting Eliphaz’s assumption.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD later says Eliphaz and his two friends did not speak accurately about Him.
- John 9:2-3 (BSB)“and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.”Jesus rejects the assumption that a particular affliction must be traced to a particular sin.
- Luke 13:2-3 (BSB)“To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this way? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”Jesus denies that those who suffered disaster were worse sinners than others.
General
True or False: The voice in Eliphaz’s vision asks whether any human being could surpass God in righteousness, or be cleaner than the One who made him (Job 4:17).
Answer: True
This is true. The message Eliphaz reports asks whether any human could outdo God in righteousness, or be purer than his own Maker (4:17). Taken by itself, the point is sound: Scripture says no one living is righteous before God (Psalm 143:2) and that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Job himself later asks how a mortal can be in the right before God, meaning that no one could win a dispute with Him (9:2-3). The problem is how Eliphaz uses it. He treats Job’s suffering as proof that Job is a sinner being punished, while the LORD had called Job blameless (1:8).
- Job 4:17 (BSB)“‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?”The voice in Eliphaz’s vision asks whether any human could be righteous or pure compared with God.
- Psalm 143:2 (BSB)“Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.”The psalmist confesses that no one living is righteous before God.
- Romans 3:23 (BSB)“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”Paul teaches that all people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.
- Job 9:2-3 (BSB)““Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.”Job later asks how a mortal can be in the right before God, since no one could win a dispute with Him.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””Yet the LORD calls Job blameless and upright, so Job’s suffering is not punishment for being a sinner.
Theological
True or False: The voice Eliphaz heard asks whether a mortal could exceed God in righteousness, or be purer than the One who made him (Job 4:17).
Answer: True
This is true. The oracle Eliphaz reports asks whether any mortal could surpass God in righteousness or his Maker in purity (4:17). In itself the statement agrees with the biblical teaching of universal sinfulness (Psalm 143:2; Romans 3:23), and Job himself later asks how a mortal can be in the right before God, since no one could win a dispute with Him (9:2-3). The fault lies in Eliphaz’s use of it: he makes general human sinfulness the explanation for Job’s particular suffering, though the LORD had declared Job blameless (1:8).
- Job 4:17 (BSB)“‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?”The voice in Eliphaz’s vision asks whether any human could be righteous or pure compared with God.
- Psalm 143:2 (BSB)“Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.”The psalmist confesses that no one living is righteous before God.
- Romans 3:23 (BSB)“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”Paul teaches that all people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.
- Job 9:2-3 (BSB)““Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.”Job later asks how a mortal can be in the right before God, since no one could win a dispute with Him.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””Yet the LORD calls Job blameless and upright, so Job’s suffering is not punishment for being a sinner.