Job's friend Eliphaz speaks

In the two chapters below, we see how Job's friend Eliphaz provides advice for Job. We can tell from Job 5:8-16 that Eliphaz is a type of person who has high regard for God, he sees God's magnificence and has great trust in the goodness of God. In Job 4:12-21, Eliphaz believes he has seen a vision and perhaps uses to give authority to what he was about to say to Job. 


From Job 4:1-11, 5:1-7, 5:17-27 however, we see the Eliphaz is the type of person who believes disaster comes because we have done something wrong. In 4:7 “ Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?" He believes correctly that all of us are sinners but then he attributes disasters because we have sinned. From 5:17-27, Eliphaz believes in the grace and goodness of God, in God's ability to restore to anyone who repents and gets corrected by God. 


In general, Eliphaz has a very healthy and positive attitude towards God. But his error is in the belief of earthly punishment that follows when we sinned. So he concludes that because great disaster has struck Job, Job must have sinned and must seek forgiveness from God. 

Job 4

Eliphaz: Job Has Sinned

 ¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: ² “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
      But who can withhold himself from speaking?
 ³ Surely you have instructed many,
      And you have strengthened weak hands.
 ⁴ Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
      And you have strengthened the feeble knees;
 ⁵ But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
      It touches you, and you are troubled.
 ⁶ Is not your reverence your confidence?
      And the integrity of your ways your hope?
 ⁷ “ Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
      Or where were the upright ever cut off?
 ⁸ Even as I have seen,
      Those who plow iniquity
      And sow trouble reap the same.
 ⁹ By the blast of God they perish,
      And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.
 ¹⁰ The roaring of the lion,
      The voice of the fierce lion,
      And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
 ¹¹ The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
      And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
 ¹² “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
      And my ear received a whisper of it.
 ¹³ In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
      When deep sleep falls on men,
 ¹⁴ Fear came upon me, and trembling,
      Which made all my bones shake.
 ¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before my face;
      The hair on my body stood up.
 ¹⁶ It stood still,
      But I could not discern its appearance.
      A form was before my eyes;
      There was silence;
      Then I heard a voice saying:
 ¹⁷ ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
      Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
 ¹⁸ If He puts no trust in His servants,
      If He charges His angels with error,
 ¹⁹ How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
      Whose foundation is in the dust,
      Who are crushed before a moth?
 ²⁰ They are broken in pieces from morning till evening;
      They perish forever, with no one regarding.
 ²¹ Does not their own excellence go away?
      They die, even without wisdom.’

Job 5

Eliphaz: Job Is Chastened by God

 ¹ “Call out now;
      Is there anyone who will answer you?
      And to which of the holy ones will you turn? ² For wrath kills a foolish man,
      And envy slays a simple one.
 ³ I have seen the foolish taking root,
      But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.
 ⁴ His sons are far from safety,
      They are crushed in the gate,
      And there is no deliverer.
 ⁵ Because the hungry eat up his harvest,
      Taking it even from the thorns,^[a]
      And a snare snatches their substance.^[b]
 6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
      Nor does trouble spring from the ground;
 ⁷ Yet man is born to trouble,
      As the sparks fly upward.
 ⁸ “But as for me, I would seek God,
      And to God I would commit my cause—
 ⁹ Who does great things, and unsearchable,
      Marvelous things without number.
 ¹⁰ He gives rain on the earth,
      And sends waters on the fields.
 ¹¹ He sets on high those who are lowly,
      And those who mourn are lifted to safety.
 ¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
      So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
 ¹³ He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
      And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.
 ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,
      And grope at noontime as in the night.
 ¹⁵ But He saves the needy from the sword,
      From the mouth of the mighty,
      And from their hand.
 ¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
      And injustice shuts her mouth.
 ¹⁷ “ Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
      Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
 ¹⁸ For He bruises, but He binds up;
      He wounds, but His hands make whole.
 ¹⁹ He shall deliver you in six troubles,
      Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.
 ²⁰ In famine He shall redeem you from death,
      And in war from the power of the sword.
 ²¹ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
      And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
 ²² You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
      And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
 ²³ For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
      And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
 ²⁴ You shall know that your tent is in peace;
      You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.
 ²⁵ You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
      And your offspring like the grass of the earth.
 ²⁶ You shall come to the grave at a full age,
      As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.
 ²⁷ Behold, this we have searched out;
      It is true.
      Hear it, and know for yourself.”