Job 4


Job 4 is the fourth chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of Eliphaz the Temanite, which belongs to the Dialogue section of the book, comprising Job 3:1–31:40.

Text

The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows:
  • The Prologue
  • The Dialogue
  • The Verdicts
  • The Epilogue
Within the structure, chapter 4 is grouped into the Dialogue section with the following outline:
  • Job's Self-Curse and Self-Lament
  • Round One
  • *Eliphaz
  • **Introduction
  • **A Summary Outline of Retribution
  • **Eliphaz's Vision and Its Implications
  • **The Experience of the Fool
  • **Commit your Cause to God, Who Is Active
  • **God Will Reward the Righteous
  • *Job
  • *Bildad
  • *Job
  • *Zophar
  • *Job
  • Round Two
  • Round Three
  • Interlude – A Poem on Wisdom
  • Job's Summing Up
The Dialogue section is composed in the format of poetry with distinctive syntax and grammar. The first speech of Eliphaz in chapters 4 and 5 can be broken down into three main sections:
  • Job 4:1-11: Eliphaz wonders that Job should fall into such despair, despite having comforted so many people in trouble, and having been so pious, so Eliphaz accuses Job of forgetting the great truth that the righteous never perish under affliction—calamity only destroys the wicked.
  • Job 4:12-5:7: Eliphaz tries to warn Job about complaining against God because only the ungodly resent the dealings of God and by their impatience bring down his wrath upon them.
  • Job 5:8-27: Eliphaz appeals to Job to follow a different course, to seek after God, for God only smites to heal or to correct, to draw people to himself and away from evil.

Eliphaz's summary outline of retribution (4:1–11)

This section can be divided into two parts: an introduction followed by an outline of the retribution by Eliphaz. Twice in the beginning of his speech Eliphaz starts off in a respectful way to Job before using "but" to speak what he really wants to say: that Job should apply the advices he himself had given to others and using a godly manner to gain consolation. Eliphaz sets forth the arguments that will be explored in the debate, such as:
  • "You can trust in God to restore you"
  • "Wickedness is punished"
  • "Human beings are naturally culpable"
  • "The prosperity of the sinful will be cut short"
  • "The best course is to seek God"
  • "Suffering is an indication of divine discipline"
Eliphaz appeals to consensus, that he expects Job to 'concur in the common dogma of retribution', as well as appeals to individual experience, to special revelation, to collective experience, and to the obvious insights encapsulated in proverbial sayings. Convinced that a principle of reward and punishment governed the universe, Eliphaz is oblivious to the pain resulting from this dogma.
The poem contains rich vocabulary, such as the use five different words for lion in 4:10–11, which metaphorically might allude to the death of Job's children.

Verse 1

  • "Eliphaz": from, ’Ělīp̄āz, "El is pure gold", is mentioned first among Job's visitors, and the first to respond to Job's words, so he is regarded as the oldest.
  • "Temanite": that is, coming from Teman, an important city of Edom. Based on the place location, Eliphaz is assumed to represent the wisdom of the Edomites, which, according to,, and, was famous in antiquity.

Verse 10–11

  • "Lion": in these verses five occurrences, including the addition of English adjectives, are translated from five different Hebrew words:
  • *אַ֭רְיֵה, ' This is the generic term for “lion.”
  • *שָׁ֑חַל, '
  • *כְפִירִ֣ים, '
  • *לַ֭יִשׁ, ' This word is traditionally rendered "strong lion," occurs only three times in the Hebrew Bible
D. J. A. Clines thinks that it is 'probably impossible to distinguish' the meaning of these words.
The Greek Septuagint renders verse 10 as “the strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.”

Eliphaz's vision (4:12–21)

In this section Eliphaz shares the divine visitation he received while in a deep sleep, when he felt a wind glided past his face, but could not make out the exact appearance of the deity, only could 'grasp the brief word that follows an eerie silence': 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God ?'. Eliphaz then draws the implications of this in 'a series of reflection on human condition', implicitly on 'Job and his situation'.

Verse [|17]

  • "Mortal man": translated from, ʾenosh, which stresses man in all his frailty, in parallel with the word for "man" in the second half of the verse, that is translated from גֶּבֶר, gever, which stresses more of the strength or might of man; put together to state that 'no human being of any kind' can be more righteous or pure than God the Creator.