Job 4:1

“Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said.] When Job was done cursing his day, and had finished his doleful ditty on that subject, then Eliphaz took the opportunity of speaking, not being able to bear any longer with Job and his behaviour under his afflictions; Eliphaz was one of Job’s three friends that came to visit him, (<180211>Job 2:11); very probably he might be the senior man, or a man of the greatest authority and power; a most respectable person, had in great esteem and reverence among men, and by these his friends, and therefore takes upon him to speak first; or it may be it was agreed among themselves that he should begin the dispute with Job; and we find, that in the close of…”

“FIRST SPEECH OF ELIPHAZ. (Job 4:1-21) Eliphaz--the mildest of Job's three accusers. The greatness of Job's calamities, his complaints against God, and the opinion that calamities are proofs of guilt, led the three to doubt Job's integrity.”

“Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered - See the notes at Job 2:11. return to 'Top of Page'”

“4:1–14:22 This section begins three rounds of speeches by each of Job’s three comforters, each with a response from Job (4:1–27:23). In this first round, Job’s friends exhort him to seek God so that he can again enjoy prosperity. 4:1-2 Eliphaz the Temanite (see study note on 2:11) was the most prominent and probably the oldest of Job’s friends; his speeches are longer and more ornate than the others. • who could keep from speaking out? Eliphaz mimicked the urgency of a prophetic revelation (4:12-16; see Jer 20:9; Amos 3:8).”

“Eliphaz: Job 2:11, Job 15:1, Job 22:1, Job 42:9 answered: Job 3:1, Job 3:2, Job 6:1, Job 8:1 Job 4:2”

“In reply to Sommer, who in his excellent biblische Abhandlungen, 1846, considers the octastich as the extreme limit of the compass of the strophe, it is sufficient to refer to the Syriac strophe-system. It is, however, certainly an impossibility that, as Ewald (Jahrb. ix. 37) remarks with reference to the first speech of Jehovah, Job 38-39, the strophes can sometimes extend to a length of 12 lines = Masoretic verses, consequently consist of 24 στίχοι and more. Then Eliphaz the Temanite began, and said: Job 4:2”