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In one day the life of Job changed dramatically.

The loss of his children and his

possessions (Job 1:14-19) and the addition of his affliction (Job 2:7) were not easy to bear. After

hearing of all that had befallen Job, his three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar came to

“condole...and comfort him” (Job 2:11). Unfortunately, Job would receive about as much

comforting from them as from his wife, who said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity?

Curse God, and die” (Job 2:9). Having sat silently with his friends for seven days (Job 2:13), Job

broke the silence by “[cursing] the day of his birth” (Job 3:1). After this discourse, the friends

became unsympathetic towards him and began to pelt Job with accusations of sin. By examining

the arguments of Job and his friends we can have a better understanding of why God scolds

Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar at the end of the book.

Eliphaz, the eldest of the friends is the first to respond. In his first discourse, Eliphaz

suggests that only “those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:8). Eliphaz

represents the piety of the time, reflecting that God only punishes those who do evil (Brandes).

This type of thinking is not only limited to those in the Old Testament but is also demonstrated in

the time of Jesus. While travelling with Jesus, his disciples, seeing a blind man from birth, asked

Him, “[W]ho sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1). Eliphaz

continues to assert Job’s guilt by saying, “[A]ffliction does not come from the dust, nor does

trouble sprout from the ground” (Job 5:6). He further states that God is punishing Job in the same

way that the disciples of Jesus thought the blind man was being punished. The implication in

both cases is that God always has a reason to punish.

Job disagrees with Eliphaz, asking him and the other friends to “make me [Job]

understand how I have erred” (Job 6:24). Job believes that he did not provoke this affliction. He

believes himself to be innocent and even asks God, “Why hast Thou made me Thy mark?” (Job

7:20). Job does not understand the reason behind his affliction, and simply wants God to relieve

him of his pain through death (Job 6:9).


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In response to Job’s claim of innocence, Bildad asks Job, “Does God pervert justice? Or

does the Almighty pervert the right?” (Job 8:3). He suggests here that justice is not something of

God but rather something that God oversees. He separates what is right and God’s actions,

implying that right or justice is not the definition of God’s actions but is instead part of a divine

standard that God keeps. Bildad then goes on to echo Eliphaz in his argument that Job is being

punished for his transgressions against God. He supports his accusations of sin in saying, “[I]f

you [Job] are pure and upright, surely He will rouse Himself…and reward you” (Job 8:6). All

Job has to do is “seek God and make supplication to the Almighty” (Job 8:5). “God will not

reject a blameless man”, Bildad says, “nor [will God] take the hand of evil doers” (Job 8:20). By

saying this Bildad affirms that Job is being punished and that he needs to pray for forgiveness

rather than complain of injustice.

Job finds no comfort in Bildad’s regurgitated argument and pleads further with God. He

demands, “[L]et me know why thou dost contend against me” (Job 10:2). “[T]hou knowest that I

am not guilty” (Job 10:7). Job then goes on to wail in his grief saying, “I loathe my life” (Job

10:1), “I am filled with disgrace” (Job 10:15). “Let me alone…before I go…to the land of gloom

and…darkness” (Job 10:20). Still baffled by his situation, Job once again looks to relieve his

suffering through death.

Next in line to respond to Job is Zophar, who arrogantly says, “Know then that God

exacts of you less than your guilt deserves” (Job 11:6). In saying this Zophar affirms that God is

going easy on Job, that Job deserves an even greater punishment in his view. Who is Zophar to

say that God is not judging properly? On what authority can Zophar boldly state that he knows

better than God? Whatever the reason, Zophar abandons the argument and urges Job to “set [his]

heart aright” (Job 11:13) and repent. Zophar thinks, as Eliphaz and Bildad thought, that God is

punishing Job for a reason.


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Job defiantly answers Zophar in saying, “I am not inferior to you” (Job 12:3). He is angry

at his friends’ insensitivity towards his plight and says, “[I] a just and blameless man, am [now] a

laughingstock” (Job 12:4). Job is just as unsatisfied with Zophar’s speech as he is with those of

his other friends. This is mainly because every speech calls him a liar and suggests that he needs

to repent for his sins.

These arguments continue on for another two rounds of speeches between Job and each

of his friends. As each round passes the arguments intensify. Job’s annoyance with his friends

and his friends’ annoyance with his self-righteousness increase with every verse. Job maintains

his innocence throughout each round and argues that God allows the wicked to prosper while he,

a blameless man, suffers (Job 21:7). In response to Job, the friends continue to accuse him of sin.

Eliphaz even goes as far saying, “You have given no water to the weary to drink…you withheld

bread from the hungry” (Job 22:7). This statement directly accuses Job of sin but the validity

behind the accusations is unclear. The friends continue to assert that “the light of the wicked is

put out” (Job 18:5), that God only punishes evil―not righteous―men and that Job needs to

repent. Job remains critical of his friends’ accusations, scolding the “miserable comforters” (Job

16:2) who “whitewash with lies” (Job 13:4) and “speak falsely for God” (Job 13:7). As well, Job

continues in his request to bring his case before God for understanding of his affliction (Job

23:4-5). Job is certain that God, his “witness is in heaven” (Job 16:19), will vouch for his

integrity (Job 16:19) and that he will be acquitted of his suffering (Job 23:7).

The arguments eventually come to a close because the friends see that “[Job is] righteous

in his own eyes” (Job 32:1). Neither Job nor the friends have won the debate. Another man,

Elihu, tries to resolve the conflict by making some similar arguments to those of the friends. At

this point God interrupts and answers Job (Job 38:1). He begins in asking Job a long series of

rhetorical questions (Job 38-42). Of course, Job already knows that he “cannot answer Him” (Job
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9:15), and eventually apologizes to God for “[uttering] what [he] did not understand” (Job 42:3).

Job realises that he was wrong to question God’s actions. He was right in proclaiming his own

innocence but was wrong to demand a reason for his affliction. This is because Job, like his

friends, speaks “words without knowledge” (Job 38:1). God then turns to Eliphaz and says, “My

wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is

right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7). Even though God says this, He does not acknowledge

that everything Job has said is right and that everything the friends have said is wrong. The error

of both parties is simply trying to understand God in a conventional way.

God’s wrath is kindled against the friends because of how they misrepresented Him. They

tried to justify God through Job’s injustice, when in fact God is always justified; there is no way

to make God unjust. The three friends were also wrong to assume that Job’s suffering―or any

suffering for that matter―is only a result of God’s punishment. They were mistaken in believing

that Job was guilty when Job was not actually being punished. As well, the friends were also

wrong to assume that God and justice are separate things. God’s actions don’t simply result in

justice but are justice. No matter what action God takes, it is right. They are ignorant of the fact

that it is impossible for God to do evil. This is not because He follows a standard, but rather

God’s actions are good because He is the good. It is through their lack of knowledge that the

friends misrepresent God. This shortcoming results in God’s wrath against them.

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