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Job 4

KJV · Chapter 4/42

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

3Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

4Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

5But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

6Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

7Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

8Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

9By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

10The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.

12Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.

13In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,

14Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

15Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

16It 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,

17Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

18Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

19How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

20They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.

21Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Eliphaz opens the first cycle of speeches, gently suggesting that Job's suffering must be the result of some sin, since the innocent do not usually perish. He recounts a night vision in which a spirit asked him whether a man can be more righteous than God.

Explanation

Eliphaz represents the retribution theology common in the traditional wisdom of the ancient Near East: the belief that suffering is always proportional to sin, and prosperity to righteousness. Although he begins gently, acknowledging Job's history of helping others, his logic implies that Job must have sinned secretly to deserve such calamity. The mention of a nighttime spiritual vision as a source of authority was a recognized form of revelation in antiquity, though the book of Job as a whole questions whether Eliphaz's experience truly captured the full truth about God. Application for today: not all suffering is a direct consequence of personal sin, and assuming so about someone who is suffering can cause more pain than comfort.

Fun facts

  • Eliphaz is identified as "the Temanite," from Teman, a region of Edom famous in antiquity for its tradition of wisdom, also mentioned in Jeremiah 49:7 and Obadiah 1:8-9.
  • This chapter begins the book's structural pattern: three cycles of speeches between Job and his three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar), in which each friend argues essentially the same thesis of retribution, and Job responds by defending his innocence each round.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Job 4:1Eliphaz is the first friend to speak, usually read as the most polite of the three. He opens by reminding Job of his own track record as a counselor to others — the irony being: now that the pain is his own, can he take his own medicine?
  2. Job 4:2Eliphaz asks permission before speaking, aware he might upset Job, but says he can no longer hold himself back — the polite opening of his first speech.
  3. Job 4:3Eliphaz recalls that Job has instructed many and strengthened weak hands — he is building the argument that it is now Job’s turn to take his own medicine.
  4. Job 4:4Job’s words used to lift up those who stumbled and steady weakening knees — Eliphaz reinforces the reputation Job once had as a wise counselor.
  5. Job 4:5Now that the trouble is his own, Job grows faint — Eliphaz implies it is easy to counsel others and hard to bear one’s own pain.
  6. Job 4:6Eliphaz asks whether Job’s fear of God and his integrity were not his confidence — he begins delicately suggesting that this foundation may now be shaken.
  7. Job 4:7Here is Eliphaz’s central thesis: he has never seen an innocent person destroyed. This is the doctrine of retribution — great suffering could only come from great guilt.
  8. Job 4:8Eliphaz uses the image of sowing and reaping: whoever plants wickedness harvests the same — reinforcing the idea that Job’s suffering must have a proportionate cause.
  9. Job 4:9Eliphaz says it is “by the blast of God” that the wicked perish — he links divine wrath directly to the destruction of the guilty.
  10. Job 4:10The lion’s roar and the broken teeth of the young lions picture the powerful falling — according to Eliphaz, not even the fiercest escapes ruin.
  11. Job 4:11The old lion dying for lack of prey and the whelps scattered abroad close out the metaphor: strength and ferocity guarantee no survival.
  12. Job 4:12Eliphaz describes a chilling night vision — a spirit with no clear face passes before him, and a voice speaks in the silence. This is the basis of the authority he claims for the rest of his speech: not opinion, he says, but revelation.
  13. Job 4:13Eliphaz begins recounting the vision he had at night, amid disturbing thoughts while men lay in deep sleep — the basis of the authority he claims.
  14. Job 4:14Fear and trembling seized Eliphaz, every bone shaking — a physical description of dread before the apparition arrives.
  15. Job 4:15A spirit passed before Eliphaz’s face and made his hair stand on end — the scene takes on the tone of a ghost or supernatural apparition.
  16. Job 4:16The figure stood still, but Eliphaz could not make out its form — only silence, and then a voice. It is the climax of the vision before its central message.
  17. Job 4:17The question of the voice in the vision — “Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?” — is the thesis Eliphaz will defend for the rest of the book: no one is pure enough to complain, so Job’s suffering must have some cause.
  18. Job 4:18The voice in the vision says God places no trust even in His own heavenly servants, nor in the angels — if even they are imperfect, how much more so humans.
  19. Job 4:19If not even the angels can be trusted, how much less those “that dwell in houses of clay” — humans, made of dust, crushed like a moth, as fragile as that sounds.
  20. Job 4:20From morning to evening people are broken apart and die without anyone noticing — an image of the insignificance and brevity of human life.
  21. Job 4:21The vision ends by saying men die “even without wisdom” — Eliphaz’s message to Job is that no one has grounds to claim purity before God.

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