# Job 04 đ: Eliphaz Speaks
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[[-Job Overview]] | [[Job 03]] | [[Job 05]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Eliphaz Begins to Speak
[[#Verse 01.]]Â Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
[[#Verse 02.]] âIf someone should attempt a word with you,
will you be impatient?
But who can refrain from speaking?
[[#Verse 03.]] Look, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened feeble hands.
[[#Verse 04.]] Your words have supported those
who stumbled,
and you have strengthened the knees
that gave way.
[[#Verse 05.]] But now the same thing comes to you,
and you are discouraged;
it strikes you,
and you are terrified.
[[#Verse 06.]] Is not your piety your confidence,
and your blameless ways your hope?
[[#Verse 07.]]Â Call to mind now:
Who, being innocent, ever perished?
And where were upright people ever destroyed?
[[#Verse 08.]] Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and those who sow trouble reap the same.
[[#Verse 09.]] By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
[[#Verse 10.]] There is the roaring of the lion
and the growling of the young lion,
but the teeth of the young lions are broken.
[[#Verse 11.]] The mighty lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
### Ungodly Complainers Provoke Godâs Wrath
[[#Verse 12.]] âNow a word was stealthily brought to me,
and my ear caught a whisper of it.
[[#Verse 13.]] In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night
when a deep sleep falls on men,
[[#Verse 14.]] dread gripped me and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
[[#Verse 15.]] Then a breath of air passes by my face;
it makes the hair of my flesh stand up.
[[#Verse 16.]]Â It stands still,
but I cannot recognize its appearance;
an image is before my eyes,
and I hear a murmuring voice:
[[#Verse 17.]] âIs a mortal man righteous before God?
Or a man pure before his Creator?
[[#Verse 18.]] If God puts no trust in his servants
and attributes folly to his angels,
[[#Verse 19.]]Â how much more to those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth?
[[#Verse 20.]] They are destroyed between morning and evening;
they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
[[#Verse 21.]] Is not their excess wealth taken away from them?
They die, yet without attaining wisdom.â
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Eliphaz is likely the oldest of the friends since he speaks first.
2. Eliphaz begins politely by asking if Job will be annoyed if someone speaks (4:2).
3. The idea that people reap what they sow (4:8) is true as a general principle, but Eliphaz applies it too rigidly to Job.
4. Eliphaz describes a spirit passing before his face that made the hair of his flesh stand up (4:15).
5. Eliphaz's vision raises a question similar to Job's own: whether a human can be righteous before God (4:17; 9:2).
6. People are described as living in houses of clay (4:19), an image of human frailty.
7. Lions are described with five different Hebrew words in 4:10-11.
8. Eliphaz's first speech covers chapters 4 and 5, making it the longest speech in the first cycle.
9. Wisdom in the ancient Near East often treated suffering as proof of sin, a view the book of Job challenges.
10. God later says Eliphaz and his friends did not speak rightly about Him (42:7).
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the One who corrects false conclusions about suffering. Eliphaz assumed the innocent never perish (4:7), but Jesus taught that a man's blindness was not caused by his sin but was an occasion for God's work (John 9:2-3).
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. Eliphaz reminds Job that he once strengthened others (4:3-4). Why can it be harder to receive comfort than to give it?
2. Eliphaz assumes suffering always comes from sin (4:7-8). Why is that idea both appealing and dangerous?
3. Eliphaz describes a mysterious night vision (4:12-17). How should we weigh spiritual experiences against God's Word?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verses 3-5: Eliphaz reminds Job that he once encouraged others, but now trouble has come to him.
- đ verses 7-8: Eliphaz claims the innocent never perish and that people reap the trouble they sow.
- đ verse 17: Eliphaz asks whether a mortal can be righteous before God.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[John 09#Verse 01.|John 9:1-3]] - Jesus says the man's blindness was not because of sin.
- đ [[Luke 13#Verse 01.|Luke 13:1-5]] - Jesus corrects the idea that victims were worse sinners.
- đ [[Galatians 06#Verse 07.|Galatians 6:7-8]] - A person reaps what he sows.
- đ [[Proverbs 17#Verse 17.|Proverbs 17:17]] - A friend loves at all times.
- đ [[Romans 03#Verse 20.|Romans 3:20]] - No one is declared righteous by the works of the law.
## đ Devotional Reflection
đ SOAP: [[Job 04 - SOAP|Struggle Well in Front of Others]]
## đ Internal Notes