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Read Job Chapter 4

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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.

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Explanation

Job 4

In short

Job's friend Eliphaz tries to comfort him by suggesting that suffering comes from sin. Eliphaz describes a frightening vision where a spirit told him that no human can be perfectly right before God, and that trouble naturally follows wrongdoing as surely as sparks fly upward.

What the text says

Eliphaz begins by asking Job's permission to speak, then reminds him that Job himself has once helped others through hard times with encouraging words (verses 2-4). Now that Job faces suffering, Eliphaz questions why Job's own faith has failed (verses 5-6). He states that the innocent never perish and the righteous are never destroyed (verse 7). Those who do wrong harvest what they planted (verse 8), and God destroys them (verses 9-11).

Eliphaz then recounts a private revelation. At night during sleep, fear seized him and a spirit appeared (verses 12-15). The spirit asked if any mortal could be more just or pure than God (verse 17). The spirit stated that God does not trust even his servants or angels, and charges them with folly (verse 18). Humans are fragile, made of dust (verse 19), destroyed between morning and evening, lost forever with no one noticing (verse 20). Their excellence fades and they die without wisdom (verse 21).

Takeaways

  • Eliphaz believes suffering proves hidden sin, not that innocent people suffer.
  • A spiritual vision convinced him that humans are too flawed to be righteous before God.
  • The argument rests on linking trouble to wrongdoing as a fixed rule.

Explanation written with the help of AI. The Bible text above is not changed. Context and interpretation are flagged as such; always come back to the text itself.