Advanced Commentary
Texts -- Job 4:1-21 (NET)
Pericope
NET
- Job 4:1-11 -- Eliphaz Begins to Speak
- Job 4:12--5:7 -- Ungodly Complainers Provoke God's Wrath
Bible Dictionary
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SPIRIT
[ebd] (Heb. ruah; Gr. pneuma), properly wind or breath. In 2 Thess. 2:8 it means "breath," and in Eccl. 8:8 the vital principle in man. It also denotes the rational, immortal soul by which man is distinguished (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 5...
[isbe] SPIRIT - spir'-it (ruach; pneuma; Latin, spiritus): 1. Primary and Figurative Senses (1) As Wind, Breath (2) As Anger or Fury (3) As Mental and Moral Qualities in Man 2. Shades of Meaning (1) As Life-Principle (2) As Survivi...
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Lintel
[ebd] (1.) Heb. mashkoph, a projecting cover (Ex. 12:22, 23; ver. 7, "upper door post," but R.V. "lintel"); the head-piece of a door, which the Israelites were commanded to mark with the blood of the paschal lamb. (2.) Heb. kaphta...
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Job
[nave] JOB 1. A man who dwelt in Uz, Job 1:1. Righteousness of, Job 1:1, 5, 8; 2:3; Ezek. 14:14, 20. Riches of, Job 1:3. Trial of, by affliction of Satan, Job 1:13-19; 2:7-10. Fortitude of, Job 1:20-22; 2:10; Jas. 5:11. Visite...
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JOB, BOOK OF
[isbe] JOB, BOOK OF - || I. INTRODUCTORY 1. Place in the Canon 2. Rank and Readers II. THE LITERARY FRAMEWORK 1. Setting of Time, Place and Scene 2. Characters and Personality 3. Form and Style III. THE COURSE OF THE STORY A) To Jo...
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Heathen
[nave] HEATHEN Under this head are grouped all who are not embraced under the Abrahamic covenant. Cast out of Canaan, Lev. 18:24, 25; Psa. 44:2; and their land given to Israel, Psa. 78:55; 105:44; 135:12; 136:21, 22; Isa. 54:1-3. ...
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GRIEF; GRIEVE
[isbe] GRIEF; GRIEVE - gref, grev: There are some 20 Hebrew words translated in the King James Version by "grief," "grieve," "to be grieved," etc. Among the chief are chalah, choli, yaghon, ka`ac, atsabh. They differ, partly, in th...
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FORM
[isbe] FORM - form (yatsar, to'ar; morphe): (1) To form is "to fashion," "create," "produce." In the Old Testament it is for the most part the translation of yatsar, "to form," "to fashion" (Gen 2:7, etc., "Yahweh God formed man of...
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FOOL; FOLLY
[isbe] FOOL; FOLLY - fool nabhal, 'ewil, kecil, cakhal and forms; aphron, aphrosune, moros): I. In the Old Testament. 1. General: Taking the words generally, apart from the Wisdom literature, we find nabhal frequently translated "f...
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FEEBLE KNEES
[isbe] FEEBLE KNEES - fe'-b'-l nez: The expression. is found in three places (one being a free quotation of another): Job 4:4, "Thou hast made firm the feeble (kara`, "bending," "bowing") knees," and Heb 12:12, "Wherefore lift up t...
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FEAR
[isbe] FEAR - fer (yir'ah, yare'; phobos, phobeo): Terms, etc.: "Fear" is the translation of many words in the Old Testament; the chief are: yir'ah, "fear," "terror," "reverence," "awe," most often "the fear of God," "fear of Yahwe...
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Eliphaz
[smith] (God is his strength). The son of Esau and Adah, and the father of Teman. (Genesis 36:4; 1 Chronicles 1:35,36) The chief of the "three friends" of Job. He is called "the Temanite;" hence it is naturally inferred that he w...
[nave] ELIPHAZ 1. Son of Esau, Gen. 36:4, 10-16; 1 Chr. 1:35. 2. Friend of Job, Job 2:11; 4; 5; 22; 42:7-9.
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EXCELLENCY
[isbe] EXCELLENCY - ek'-se-len-si (ga-on, ga'awah; huperbole): "Excellency" in the Old Testament is chiefly the translation of ga'on, "mounting," "swelling" (Ex 15:7; Job 37:4 the King James Version; Ps 47:4 the King James Version;...
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ELIPHAZ (2)
[isbe] ELIPHAZ (2) - The first and most prominent of the three friends of Job (Job 2:11), who come from distant places to condole with and comfort him, when they hear of his affliction. That he is to be regarded as their leader and...
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DUST
[isbe] DUST - dust (`aphar; koniortos, chous): Small particles of earth. The word has several figurative and symbolic meanings: (1) Dust being the material out of which God is said to have formed man (Gen 2:7), it became a symbol o...
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Cord
[ebd] frequently used in its proper sense, for fastening a tent (Ex. 35:18; 39:40), yoking animals to a cart (Isa. 5:18), binding prisoners (Judg. 15:13; Ps. 2:3; 129:4), and measuring ground (2 Sam. 8;2; Ps. 78:55). Figuratively,...
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CONFIDENCE
[isbe] CONFIDENCE - kon'-fi-dens (baTach, and forms, kecel; parrhesia; peitho, pepoithesis, hupostasis): The chief Hebrew word translated "confidence" (baTach, and its forms) means, perhaps, radically, "to be open," showing thus wh...
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BREATH; BREATHE; BREATHING
[isbe] BREATH; BREATHE; BREATHING - breth, breth, breath'-ing: In the English Versions of the Bible of the Old Testament "breath" is the rendering of neshamah, and of ruach. These words differ but slightly in meaning, both signifyi...
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BONE; BONES
[isbe] BONE; BONES - bon (`etsem, `otsem; Aramaic gerem, by extension used for "bony frame," "body," "strength," Ps 35:10; "the whole man"; Lk 24:39, "flesh and bones = the solid and tangible framework of the body; figuratively the...
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BLAST
[isbe] BLAST - (neshamah, ruach): (1) The blowing of the breath of Yahweh, expressive of the manifestation of God's power in Nature and Providence. "With the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up" (Ex 15:8), referring to t...
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ASSAY
[isbe] ASSAY - a-sa' (ya'al; nacah; peirdzein; peirasthai; peiran lambanein): The Hebrew and Greek words which are rendered in the King James Version "assay" are so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American), and the us...
Arts
Questions
- The suffering I have experienced does not compare to what you have described. The problem of pain is one that requires much more than a glib response. Indeed, the answer is probably the content of a book -- one...
Resources/Books
Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)
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What this book is all about has been the subject of considerable debate. Many people think God gave it to us to provide His answer to the age-old problem of suffering. In particular, many believe it is in the Bible to help us...
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I. Prologue chs. 1-2A. Job's character 1:1-5B. Job's calamities 1:6-2:101. The first test 1:6-222. The second test 2:1-10C. Job's comforters 2:11-13II. The dialogue concerning the basis of the divine-human relationship 3:1-42...
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The writer composed the prologue and epilogue of this book in prose narrative and the main body (3:1-42:6) in poetry. The prologue and epilogue form a frame around the main emphasis of the revelation, the poetic section, and ...
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The two soliloquies of Job (chs. 3 and 29-31) enclose three cycles of dialogue between Job and his three friends. Each cycle consists of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in that order interspersed with Job's reply to e...
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Eliphaz's first speech has a symmetrical introverted (chiastic) structure that emphasizes the central section."AOpening remark (4:2)BExhortation (4:3-6)CGod's dealings with men (4:7-11)DThe revelation of truth (4:12-21)C'God'...
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Eliphaz began courteously but moved quickly to criticism. He commended Job for having encouraged others in the past but rebuked him for not encouraging himself in the present. He did not offer encouragement to his distressed ...
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This is one of the clearest expressions of Eliphaz's view of why people suffer and his view of the basis for the divine human relationship (v. 7). He believed good people always win and the bad always lose. He was asserting t...
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Eliphaz's authority was a vision (v. 12). It seems that his vision was not a revelation from God for the following reasons. He did not say that it was from the Lord. God normally identified revelations from Himself as such to...
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Bildad agreed with Eliphaz that God was paying Job back for some sin he had committed, and he believed God would show Job mercy if he confessed that sin. However, Bildad built his conclusions on a slightly different foundatio...
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Job began his response to Bildad by acknowledging that much of what his friends had said was true (v. 2). Many of Job's speeches began with sarcasm or irony. He then turned to a question that Eliphaz had raised earlier (4:17)...
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Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
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Job said his visitors had said nothing new to help him (v. 1). He picked up Eliphaz's word (translated "mischief"in 15:35) and used it to describe him and his companions as "sorry"comforters (v. 2). Eliphaz's words had not br...
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The brevity of this speech reflects the fact that Job's companions were running out of arguments. Job's responses were at least silencing them if not convincing them.Bildad seems to have abandoned the earlier theme of the wic...
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Elihu began by voicing his respect for Job's three friends (vv. 6-10). They were older than he, and for this reason he said he had refrained from speaking until now. However he had become convinced that advancing age does not...
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The bulk of this section is a psalm of lamentation and thanksgiving that Hezekiah composed after his recovery (vv. 10-20). This psalm is also chiastic in structure. It begins with reference to the gates of Sheol and sorrow at...
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"Obadiah's discussion nicely interweaves the themes of divine intervention and human instrumentality."21v. 8 The repetition of "declares the Lord"(cf. v. 4) reemphasizes Yahweh's initiative in this judgment. "That day"points ...
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13:1 Luke linked this incident chronologically with the preceding one. Apparently messengers from Jerusalem had just arrived with news about Pilate's act. This is the usual force of the Greek verb apaggello, translated "repor...
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The writer now focused on the issue of sacrifice."The argument moves a stage further as the author turns specifically to what Christ has done. The sacrifices of the old covenant were ineffectual. But in strong contrast Christ...
