It is found in the third section of the biblical canon known as the ketuvim writings. The book of job is not answering a theoretical question about why good people suffer. Like the beginning of the book, the prologue, the epilogue is not in a poetic measure, but in prose. When jobs three friends, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite and zophar the naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. Pdf the arguments of jobs three friends david clines. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it prov. Jobs other two friends each give three speeches, but zophar gives only two. The words of jobs wife jobs three friends the world view. Can we learn something from jobs friends about how to.
The most hurtful comments of jobs friends bible study. Now when jobs three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite. Job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar sermon. For i know that my redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth.
My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant job has. They believed that man must do things to earn gods favor and therefore suffering is a sign. God eventually rebukes the friends and blesses job s life even more than before, never offering an explanation. But they didn t actually comfort him at all, when we see the way they spoke to him later on.
The names of his friends are eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. Eliphaz the temanite, in the old testament book of job chapters 4, 5, 15, 22, one of three friends who sought to console job, who is a biblical archetype of unmerited suffering. When job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar heard of his adversity, they came to visit him, saying they wanted to comfort him job 2. In the book of job, it becomes clear that the first three of jobs friends eliphaz, blidad, and zophar speak wrongly. When the dialogue between job and his three wise friends finally stalemates, and before job s last defense chs. They claim job is being punished for sin, but job maintains his innocence. Job rejects their inadequate explanation and challenges god to respond chaps. The books theme is the eternal problem of unmerited suffering, and it is named after its central. Dialogue of job with his friendsthe solutions of jobs three friends and elihu.
What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they have. Job was a wealthy but righteous and godfearing man. When jobs friends heard about the things that happened to him they went to comfort him. How the book of job makes us better friends and better christians. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. Job wished that either he had not been born, died at birth, or would have died then 3. And many people are helped just by the loving presence of another. These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan. At a recent pastors conference on the book of job, a leader asked the attendees whether the speeches of elihu job 3237 should be trusted, like gods job 3841, or discarded, like those of jobs three friends job 45, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25. What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they. It is unwise to pull an isolated verse from the book of job and use it to.
They met together to go and console and comfort him. At the end of the book, god gives job twice as much wealth as he had before, along with seven sons and three daughters. God rebukes jobs three friends and orders them to make a sacrifice. The speeches of jobs three friends no three job 4 27 andrew davies were in the book of job and this evening i want us to do something rather adventuresome and that is to try to look at these features of jobs three friends as a whole and draw some lessons from them so wed be looking at chapters 4 to 27 not verse by verse. They were false in their logic and wrong in their conclusions. The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is named satan. Two, neither job nor his friends ever saw the conflict going on between. They had not spoken up soon enough, letting job suffer in silence for seven days. Lets see how this main point plays out in the debates. At the end of job 2, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar enter stage left. God allowed satan to take away from job his wealth, his family, and his health. Most of the book tells about job and his friends talking. They had not agreed on what was wrong, rather each took his own opinion. Towards the end of the book, jobs friends start to think that job is not good because a lot of bad things are happening to him.
The word temanite probably indicates that he was an edomite, or member of a palestinian people descended from esau. But i think the lesson we learn from the progress of the book of job is that while those three friendseliphaz, bildad, and zopharwere sitting in dust and ashes, aching with their friend job, he was helped by them. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. Unfortunately, two erroneous interpretations of jobs theses are by far the most popular. Three friends eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite come from afar and express their sympathy by remaining silent and by clothing themselves in sackcloth and sitting in ashes. At one point job, weary of their unhelpful rhetoric, told them, you are miserable comforters, all of you. At the end of chapter 2 job is visited by his three friends. I dont think this nullifies the importance of truth. They are also the three friends that pay job a visit to console him. With his three friends job discussed the problem why a righteous god allows that a righteous man has to suffer innocently. This is seen in the speeches of jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad and zophar beginning from chapter 4 all the way to chapter 31.
Elihu, the forgotten prophet of job the book of job is one of the most important of the entire bible, and is a prerequisite to all discussions of christian theology, particularly theodicy. The book of job mentions more than once that job was a righteous man in the eyes of the lord. The book of job, book of hebrew scripture that is often counted among the masterpieces of world literature. Howard katz continues his series on the book of job, specifically teaching about jobs three friends, on september 22nd, 20. The lessons i learned from job s friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. Now when jobs three friends heard all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place. When three of jobs friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and. I believe these three friends had jobs best interest in mind when they arrived.
Our friends may fail us in the midst of our misery but god never does. If so, this may roughly indicate the date of the book. The reasonings of jobs friends are similar to the reasonings of the world and its systems of works religions. It begins with an introduction to jobs characterhe is described as. Jobs friends insist that his plight can only be a punishment for personal wrongdoing and an invitation from god to repent. Not only do they incur the indignation of job and his other friend elihu, but god himself rebukes them, saying to eliphaz, i am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has. Select the basic errors with which god charged jobs three friends. The speeches of jobs three friends no three job 4 27. What upset god about jobs friends is that they misrepresented him completely.
After job had excepted his suffering and forgiven his three friends what did job restoration involve he gave job twice as much as he had before, was blessed with the company of. A lesson in friendship from the book of job hodgepodge. These three friends that come to comfort job are all female. They had not been correct about gods motives and involvement in jobs suffering.
What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they have right. One little help to grasping the book of job for me was the comment by one of jobs friends to the effect that, the hypocrites hope shall perish. Jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, have historically been known for offering lengthy speeches that resulted in their being condemned by god job 42. Now when jobs three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own.
The most hurtful comments of jobs friends,barry york study from the bible and be encouraged to grow your faith. Three friends show up, supposedly to comfort job, but their visit turns into a long theological debate over what caused jobs suffering. Wisdom, judgement, and knowledge, also represented by the three daughters in the story that are not consumed but rather are the consumers. A fourth visitor, named elihu, suggests that god may be trying to purify job through suffering. He is defeated and dejected but he has not given up on god. For i know that my redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. Well, they definitely give us something to think about. His three friends, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the. Job with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. From chapter 4 to 31 job conversed with his three friends, eliphaz, bildad. Most people have embraced the philosophy that wicked men are punished in the earth for their deeds and good people are rewarded. But the writer of the book of job is not satisfied to live that way. Job, however, goes through a radical transformation.
Job prays for gods forgiveness of them and god accepts his prayer. Jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, have. Following jobs extended defense after bildads third speech, a fourth man, elihu, speaks up job 32. Book of job simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The difference between job and his three friends knowable word. This wisdom holds true as a general rule, not an absolute. Natural man views god as an accountant who collects and pays accordingly to what man deserves. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. They argued with job from the humanist position based on human experience, human tradition, and human merit. Jobs three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar were not able to understand these ways of god.
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