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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, 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
4
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
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.