New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Job 4
1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied,
2
"Job, suppose someone tries to talk to you. Will that make you uneasy? I can't keep from speaking up.
Reference
5
Now trouble comes to you. And you are unhappy about it. It strikes you down. And you are afraid.
Reference
Parallel theme
Job 19:21
6
Shouldn't you worship God and trust in him? Shouldn't your honest life give you hope?
Reference
Hope
Job 17:15
1 Peter 1:13
Parallel theme
Proverbs 3:26
Proverbs 14:26
Job 1:1
Job 16:17
2 Kings 20:3
Job 13:15
1 Peter 1:17
7
"Here's something to think about. Have blameless people ever been wiped out? Have honest people ever been completely destroyed?
Reference
8
Here's what I've observed. People gather a crop from what they plant. If they plant evil and trouble, that's what they will harvest.
Reference
11
Lions die because they don't have any food. Then their cubs are scattered.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 34:10
14
Fear and trembling grabbed hold of me. That made every bone in my body shake.
Reference
Parallel theme
Revelation 1:17
16
Then the spirit stopped. But I couldn't tell what it was. Something stood there in front of me. I heard a soft voice.
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Kings 19:12
17
It said, 'Can a human being be more right than God? Can a mere man be more pure than the One who made him?
Reference
References God
Romans 11:33
Revelation 4:8
Job 35:10
Righteousness
Job 9:2
Job 25:4
Ecclesiastes 7:20
Psalm 143:2
Psalm 145:17
Job 35:2
Job 15:14
19
So he'll certainly find fault with human beings. After all, they are made out of dust. They can be crushed more easily than a moth.
Reference
Summary of Job 4
Job Chapter 4 begins the first response from Job's friends, with Eliphaz the Temanite speaking to him. After Job's emotional lament in chapter 3, Eliphaz attempts to make sense of Job's suffering. His response begins respectfully, but as his speech develops, it becomes clear that he believes suffering must have a moral cause.
Eliphaz first reminds Job of the kind of man he used to be. Job had previously strengthened weak people, encouraged those who were discouraged, and helped people who were struggling. Eliphaz points out that Job is now experiencing the very kind of trouble he once helped others endure. His implication is that Job should now apply his own teaching to himself.
Eliphaz then introduces his central argument: people generally reap what they sow. He says that he has observed that those who cultivate evil eventually experience disaster. He uses agricultural imagery, saying that people who "plow trouble" and "sow evil" eventually harvest suffering.
This becomes the foundation of Eliphaz's understanding of Job's situation.
Although he does not openly say, "Job, you are a wicked man," the implication is becoming increasingly clear. Eliphaz believes that severe suffering does not happen without a reason. Since Job is experiencing extraordinary suffering, Eliphaz assumes that there must be some corresponding moral problem.
Eliphaz then describes a mysterious nighttime experience or vision. He says that fear and trembling came over him and that he saw what appeared to be a spiritual figure passing before him. He could not clearly identify the figure, but he heard a voice asking whether a human being can be more righteous than God or more pure than the Creator.
The message Eliphaz believes he received is that God is completely superior to human beings. If even heavenly beings are not considered perfectly pure in comparison with God, then human beings certainly cannot claim absolute righteousness.
Eliphaz continues by emphasizing human weakness and mortality. Human beings live in fragile bodies made from dust. Their lives can be ended quickly, and their earthly achievements can disappear. He compares human existence to a temporary tent that can be taken down.
There is truth in much of what Eliphaz says. Human beings are indeed limited, mortal, and dependent upon God. God is greater than humanity, and no person can claim to be perfectly righteous in the same sense as God.
However, the problem with Eliphaz's argument is how he applies these truths to Job's suffering.
Eliphaz assumes that because God is just and because people sometimes suffer as a result of wrongdoing, Job's extraordinary suffering must indicate that Job has done something wrong. He does not yet know what Job has done, but he begins with the assumption that there must be hidden wrongdoing behind the disaster.
The reader, however, knows something that Eliphaz does not know.
From chapters 1 and 2, the reader knows that Job's suffering was not caused by some secret wickedness. Job was specifically described as blameless and upright before the disasters began. His suffering is part of a test concerning the genuineness of his faith.
This creates a major tension between Job's experience and his friends' theology.
Eliphaz has a simple explanation for suffering: evil produces suffering, while righteousness produces blessing. This explanation may appear reasonable when looking at ordinary life, but Job's experience does not fit it.
Job has been righteous, yet he is suffering terribly.
The chapter therefore introduces one of the central problems of the entire book: Can suffering always be explained as punishment for wrongdoing?
Eliphaz believes that it can. Job will increasingly argue that it cannot.
Another important theme is human mortality. Eliphaz reminds Job that human beings are fragile and temporary. People can disappear quickly, and their accomplishments do not guarantee permanent security. This observation is especially relevant to Job, who has just lost almost everything he possessed.
The chapter also demonstrates how easily a true statement can become an incomplete or harmful explanation. Eliphaz is correct that God is greater than humanity and that human beings are fragile. But he is wrong to assume that Job's suffering automatically proves that Job has committed serious sin.
The difference between knowing that God is just and understanding why a particular person suffers will become increasingly important throughout the book.
Eliphaz's speech is therefore the beginning of a long debate. He is trying to defend God's justice, but in doing so he risks judging Job unfairly. Job knows his own circumstances and insists that the simple explanation does not fit what has happened to him.
Historically, Job's setting remains difficult to date precisely. The book has an ancient wisdom-literature atmosphere, with references to livestock, servants, tents, agriculture, visions, and ancient concepts of divine justice. The exact historical identity of Eliphaz's homeland, Teman, is also associated with the broader region of Edom and its wisdom traditions.
Job Chapter 4 therefore marks the beginning of the friends' attempt to explain Job's suffering. Eliphaz starts gently, but his argument gradually moves toward the assumption that suffering must be connected to sin. The reader knows that this assumption is incomplete, creating the central tension that will drive the conversations throughout the book.
Eliphaz first reminds Job of the kind of man he used to be. Job had previously strengthened weak people, encouraged those who were discouraged, and helped people who were struggling. Eliphaz points out that Job is now experiencing the very kind of trouble he once helped others endure. His implication is that Job should now apply his own teaching to himself.
Eliphaz then introduces his central argument: people generally reap what they sow. He says that he has observed that those who cultivate evil eventually experience disaster. He uses agricultural imagery, saying that people who "plow trouble" and "sow evil" eventually harvest suffering.
This becomes the foundation of Eliphaz's understanding of Job's situation.
Although he does not openly say, "Job, you are a wicked man," the implication is becoming increasingly clear. Eliphaz believes that severe suffering does not happen without a reason. Since Job is experiencing extraordinary suffering, Eliphaz assumes that there must be some corresponding moral problem.
Eliphaz then describes a mysterious nighttime experience or vision. He says that fear and trembling came over him and that he saw what appeared to be a spiritual figure passing before him. He could not clearly identify the figure, but he heard a voice asking whether a human being can be more righteous than God or more pure than the Creator.
The message Eliphaz believes he received is that God is completely superior to human beings. If even heavenly beings are not considered perfectly pure in comparison with God, then human beings certainly cannot claim absolute righteousness.
Eliphaz continues by emphasizing human weakness and mortality. Human beings live in fragile bodies made from dust. Their lives can be ended quickly, and their earthly achievements can disappear. He compares human existence to a temporary tent that can be taken down.
There is truth in much of what Eliphaz says. Human beings are indeed limited, mortal, and dependent upon God. God is greater than humanity, and no person can claim to be perfectly righteous in the same sense as God.
However, the problem with Eliphaz's argument is how he applies these truths to Job's suffering.
Eliphaz assumes that because God is just and because people sometimes suffer as a result of wrongdoing, Job's extraordinary suffering must indicate that Job has done something wrong. He does not yet know what Job has done, but he begins with the assumption that there must be hidden wrongdoing behind the disaster.
The reader, however, knows something that Eliphaz does not know.
From chapters 1 and 2, the reader knows that Job's suffering was not caused by some secret wickedness. Job was specifically described as blameless and upright before the disasters began. His suffering is part of a test concerning the genuineness of his faith.
This creates a major tension between Job's experience and his friends' theology.
Eliphaz has a simple explanation for suffering: evil produces suffering, while righteousness produces blessing. This explanation may appear reasonable when looking at ordinary life, but Job's experience does not fit it.
Job has been righteous, yet he is suffering terribly.
The chapter therefore introduces one of the central problems of the entire book: Can suffering always be explained as punishment for wrongdoing?
Eliphaz believes that it can. Job will increasingly argue that it cannot.
Another important theme is human mortality. Eliphaz reminds Job that human beings are fragile and temporary. People can disappear quickly, and their accomplishments do not guarantee permanent security. This observation is especially relevant to Job, who has just lost almost everything he possessed.
The chapter also demonstrates how easily a true statement can become an incomplete or harmful explanation. Eliphaz is correct that God is greater than humanity and that human beings are fragile. But he is wrong to assume that Job's suffering automatically proves that Job has committed serious sin.
The difference between knowing that God is just and understanding why a particular person suffers will become increasingly important throughout the book.
Eliphaz's speech is therefore the beginning of a long debate. He is trying to defend God's justice, but in doing so he risks judging Job unfairly. Job knows his own circumstances and insists that the simple explanation does not fit what has happened to him.
Historically, Job's setting remains difficult to date precisely. The book has an ancient wisdom-literature atmosphere, with references to livestock, servants, tents, agriculture, visions, and ancient concepts of divine justice. The exact historical identity of Eliphaz's homeland, Teman, is also associated with the broader region of Edom and its wisdom traditions.
Job Chapter 4 therefore marks the beginning of the friends' attempt to explain Job's suffering. Eliphaz starts gently, but his argument gradually moves toward the assumption that suffering must be connected to sin. The reader knows that this assumption is incomplete, creating the central tension that will drive the conversations throughout the book.