First cycle of speeches 414 objectives in studying this section 1 to examine the counsel of job s friends, what their observations were, and upon what they based their conclusions regarding job s suffering 2 to consider job s response to his friends, how he took their advice, and how he continued to. The text of job does not establish for certain whether eliphaz, bildad, and zophar were privy to gods dramatic selfrevelation that is recorded in the books closing chapters 3841, whereby job is brought to silent contrition for his unfettered complaints against the almighty and ultimately to a humble acceptance of gods good sovereignty in the face of all that has befallen him 42. At the end of job 2, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar enter stage left. In job 32 elihu focuses his response on rebuking job s three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. The first opinion, which maimonides identifies as being that of epicurus, is that. The second of the three friends of job who, coming from distant regions, make an appointment together to condole with and comfort him in his affliction. Job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar sermon. Bildad, also spelled baldad, in the old testament, one of the three principal comforters of job. Instead of giving comfort, jobs three companions added to his distress with unkind, false accusations.
In job 2 the satan afflicts job with severe boils in order to test his piety. Jun 20, 2016 this free audio bible name pronunciation guide is a valuable tool in your study of gods word. The identity of leviathan and the meaning of the book of job. His comments can be found in job chapter 11 and 20. When bildad first arrives, he cannot believe the horrific nature of job s condition. Implied that jobs sons had sinned and deserved the calamity that struck them and suggested that job himself was godless. Jobs three friends, eliphaz, bildad and zophar used similar arguments in attempting to answer job.
Like the other two comforters, bildad and eliphaz, zophar emphasizes an old hebrew conceptsuffering is the inevitable lot of the evil m. Eliphaz, bildad, and zophar article about eliphaz, bildad. Eliphaz the temanite was one of job s three friends who showed up to comfort job but ended up adding to his misery by asserting that job s suffering was a punishment for secret sin. As the speeches progress, jobs friends increasingly berate him for refusing to confess his sins, although they themselves are at a loss as to which sin he has committed. Instead of giving comfort, jobs three companions added to his distress with unkind, false. When three of jobs friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. But they didnt actually comfort him at all, when we see the way they spoke to him later on. And in their great sorrow, they tore their clothes, then sprinkled dust on their heads and cried bitterly.
Better things wey dey inside bible talk wetin go make people strong for mind, mek dem fit do more mek we dey live like christian new way to take start to dey preach april 11 17 show more. Jobs three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar sermon index. Their names were eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite. Describe eliphaz and tell what he thought about job. Job s buddies eliphaz, zophar, and bildad come to visit and chill with him while he rolls around in ash and sackcloth. Eliphaz job had sinned in demanding that the creator of everything condescend to answer him. Unlike friends bildad and eliphaz, zophar only speaks twice to job. Job s friends were not giving him the support he needed in this hard time. The force of jobs protest is all the greater because it is set against the conventional pieties of his comforters, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, who respond to each of his laments with blind insistence that, if god punishes job, job must deserve it somehow. Three of jobs friends were eliphaz, from the city of teman, bildad, from the land of shuah, and. Job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar by zac poonen 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.
Bildad, what a great help you are to this tired, weary man. After eliphaz and bildad, zophar spoke third in offering advice to job. 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. Two factors characterizing the style and content of the book of job include its limited source of knowledge and a. Eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. Job engages in a passionate and persistent complaint, expressed both to god directly and also to his three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. They thought god was punishing job for any sins and could not see that god uses suffering also to refine and to teach believers. Like the others, bildad and zophar, eliphaz assumes that all suffering is punishment for wrong doing. When three of job s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. In job 3237 elihu offers a response to job that lifts up the lord, condemns job s three friends, and rightly confronts job.
For more information about bildad, check out the easton bible dictionary entry as well. 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. Interpretations of elihu in job biblical hermeneutics. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. The difference between job and his three friends knowable word. Two factors characterizing the style and content of the book of job include its limited source of knowledge and a timid hebrew. There is limited information in the book of job about its geographical and historical background. Three of jobs friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, come to visit him, sitting with job in silence for seven days out of respect for his mourning. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has. Aug 20, 2018 when job was going through his hour of great crisis, loss and sickness, jobs friends came to counsel him eliphaz, bildad, zophar a fourth person, elihu appears later in the book. In the very first book of the bible, we see the beginning of the modern health. The book of job wednesday evening at calvary chapel spring valley, las vegas, nevada with pastor derek neider. In his first reply to job s complaints, he argues that those who are truly good are never entirely forsaken by providence, but that punishment may justly be inflicted for secret sins. Eliphaz bases on human experience in all three speeches chap.
Eliphaz, bildad and zophar 1 ancient pagan religions prescribed three treatments for those in jobs condition. Eliphaz, bildad, and zopharpeople wey blame job bible book. Naked i came from my mothers womb, and naked i will depart. My servant job will pray for you, and i will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. There is also a phonetic guide to use to see the proper pronunciation of bildad. Now when jobs three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place. For a whole week after arriving they said nothing, but sat silently with him, because they saw how great his suffering was. I encourage you to marinate in the poetry and discover the main ideas for yourself.
Since job s response to each friend is always longer than the corresponding speech, the short speech by bildad chap. Elihu was also angry at eliphaz, bildad, and zophar because they had failed to solve the controversy they had found no answer, while at the same time they were in elihus opinion too harsh against job and yet had condemned job. The book of job attempts to help us understand the deficiencies of a worldview simply based upon the merit, or value, of good conduct, and the demerit, or negative value, of bad conduct. Jobs friends came to counsel him eliphaz, bildad, zophar a fourth person, elihu appears later in the book they said a lot to job about his suffering, explaining their points of view, and reasons for their assertions about jobs situation and god. But job said the lord gives, and the lord takes away, blessed be the name of the lord now when job s 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. Speeches of eliphaz, bildad, and zophar jobs friends do not waver from their belief that job must have sinned to incite gods punishment. He is the most impetuous and dogmatic of the three. He suggests that job s suffering could be divine punishment, and goes into great detail about the consequences of living a life of sin. Job begins with this same worldview, and eliphaz begins the cycle by gently reminding him of what he already knows job 4. Job was observing that in this life god often chooses not to prevent evil. The ghosts and their neighbors in the underworld shake with fear.
Jan 02, 2020 after eliphaz and bildad, zophar spoke third in offering advice to job. The book of job is a great encouragement to us because he faced what we face today. Why was god angry about what eliphaz, bildad, and zophar said to. Famed as the antiheroes of the book of job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite and zophar the naamathite deliver some of the longest uninterrupted. The amplified bible now when job s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came each one from his own place, eliphaz the temanite and bildad the shuhite and zophar the naamathite, for they had made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him. At the end of the chapter job s three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar come to visit him in his suffering. When he comes later to the book of job, he will identify job, eliphaz, bildad and zophar with one or another of these five opinions, each with a different one. Job, on the other hand, recognizes that the system is more randomized and thus more scary, hence 6.
Remember at the end of the book, god himself discredits the words of the men who spoke against job, including eliphaz. However, it can be helpful to understand general information about the geography and history of the area to give you a context for reading and studying the book of job. Bildad the shuhite is the symbol of human tradition or philosophy. Bildad, along with eliphaz and zophar, visit job after they heard of the calamity that had befallen him. Be careful of the folly of eliphaz, bildad, zophar jobs friends. Nov 27, 2016 what was the sin of bildad, zophar, eliphaz and elihu, and why does it matter. Each time i read through the drama of the book of job. When bildad first arrives, he cannot believe the horrific nature of job. Job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar sermon index. When jobs three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar heard of his adversity. Jobs friends do not waver from their belief that job must have sinned to incite gods punishment. Jobs friends came to counsel him eliphaz, bildad, zophar a fourth person, elihu appears later in the book. Eliphaz the temanite was one of jobs three friends who showed up to comfort job but ended up adding to his misery by asserting that jobs suffering was a punishment for secret sin.
Job is suffering, therefore job is being punished for wrong doing. In verse 6, he states, know then that god exacts of you less than your guilt deserves esv. The most hurtful comments of jobs friends bible study. Jobs three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar by zac poonen when jobs three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar heard of his adversity, they came to visit him, saying they wanted to comfort him job 2. Elihu is identified only as the son of barakel the buzite, of the family of ram job 32. Giving the strongest of the three initial speeches, zophar declares that job deserved even worse than what he got. Eliphaz, job, bildad, job the third cycle gets cut short, and zophar never gets his third moment of fame. Better things wey dey inside bible job no let imself think about things wey no be true. Three of jobs friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, hear about his misfortune and came from afar to visit. You have given such wonderful advice to this foolish man. In the book of job, it becomes clear that the first three of job s friends eliphaz, blidad, and zophar speak wrongly. God, job, bildad, elihu, satan, eliphaz, and zophar. What good things that the lord worked together in job s sufferings will he do for every believer. If so, this may roughly indicate the date of the book.
Conventional wisdom told eliphaz that god should immediately punish the wicked as that would be the just thing to do. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused. Job s three friends eliphaz, bildad and zophar were not able to understand these ways of god. Eliphaz the temanite is the symbol of human experience or history. The author of the book of job was a hebrew poet who had an extensive vocabulary. Job was suffering for some secret sin and was arrogant and foolish to plead his innocence. But the writer of the book of job is not satisfied to live that way. Eliphaz the temanite, and bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite. Click the play button below to hear how to pronounce bildad. When he sees how massive jobs punishment is, he compares that to his handy dandy chart of sintopunishment ratios, and concludes that job must have done something awful 22.
He is called the shuhite, probably as belonging to shuah, a district in arabia, in which shuah, the sixth son of abraham by keturah, settled genesis 25. Job had 3 friends that showed up for him in his time of need. Book of job characters analyzed by stanford, harvard, and berkeley ph. On the seventh day, job speaks, beginning a conversation in which each of the four men shares his thoughts on jobs afflictions in long, poetic statements. Now when job s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place. It is unwise to pull an isolated verse from the book of job and use it to. These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan.
Despite minor differences, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar have one view of the problem of jobs afflictions. He is from shuah, an unknown place somewhere in the countries east and southeast of palestine or the designation shuhite may be intended to refer to his ancestor shuah, one of abrahams sons by. At this point, we hope that you have read the whole book 23 times. Describe zophar and tell what he thought about job 6. Be careful of the folly of eliphaz, bildad, zophar jobs. With that in mind, eliphaz interprets jobs musings as whining. The most hurtful comments of job s friends,barry york study from the bible and be encouraged to grow your faith. Bildad s arguments with job reveal him to be a sage who looks to the authority of tradition.
It takes about 75 minutes to read it through aloud. The three friends of job represent three ways of solving the mysterious problems of divine government in the affairs of men. Contextual overview 11 eliphaz from teman, bildad from shuah, and zophar from naamah were three of job s friends, and they heard about his troubles. Elihu refuted the claims of compensation theology by eliphaz, bildad, and zophar that presumed that a relationship between god and man was a fixed business contract defining predictable and precise responses from god in reply to a persons conformity or nonconformity to the stipulations of that contract p. His three speeches were shorter and more hurtful than those of eliphaz. He appears in the book of job in the hebrew bible eliphaz appears mild and modest. In the land of uz there lived a man whose name was job. How to pronounce say bildad by bible speak pronunciation.
So eliphaz, bildad, and zophar were not able to sustain their theory in the face. It was a custom, at that time, that the afflicted or grieving person should be allowed to speak first. Likely the oldest and most influential of the comforters, eliphaz was the first to speak. But they didn t actually comfort him at all, when we see the way they spoke to him later on. 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. He gave three speeches and spoke longer than the other two men. Eliphaz, bildad, and zopharfalse accusers book of job. Next bildad and zophar argue to the same effect, and each time job maintains his innocence, justifying himself, however, rather than jehovah god.
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