5

This is the second half of Eliphaz’s response to Job. Eliphaz makes observations that the evil suffer and the good prosper, but there are inconsistencies to his argument. He admits that the evil ‘take root’ although he insists that they quickly come to ruin. He declares that God restores the fortunes of the good which of course carries the implication that bad things happen to good people in the first place. He wants to make sense of Job’s situation and give him advice. In his muddled speech he exhorts Job to seek God (v8). Of course this is good advice. Eliphaz manages to say some quite true and worthwhile things in his speech other than this. But Job didn’t need to be told to seek God. After all his calamities Job responded by worshipping God. When his wife told him to curse God and die he rebuked his wife and told her she was speaking like a foolish woman. We know that God himself praises Job in the council in heaven. Ultimately Eliphaz’s view of the world is inconsistent with reality so his comfort and his advice don’t help but rather irritate.