SUMMARY
In his final speech, Eliphaz accuses Job of committing terrible sins.
ANALYSIS
Eliphaz began the dialogue by speaking gently to Job, advising him to be patient in his suffering and not to “despise the discipline of the Almighty” (5:17). As Job has continued to hold on to his integrity and protest his innocence, however, Eliphaz (along with Bildad and Zophar) has grown more and more impatient. Job’s situation threatens their worldview, which is based on the idea of retributive justice: the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. Because Job is so obviously being punished, Eliphaz thinks, he must have done something wrong to deserve it. So, in this last speech, Eliphaz accuses Job of hidden sins: Job has “stripped the naked of their clothing;” he has “given no water to the weary” and he has “withheld bread from the hungry;” he has persecuted widows and orphans (22:6-9).
We as readers, of course, know that Job has done none of these things and that his suffering is not punishment for sin. But we are given even more clues not to agree with Eliphaz. Namely, he begins his speech by saying, “Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteousA righteous person is one who is ethical and faithful to God's covenant. Righteousness in the Old Testament is an attitude of God; in the New Testament it is a gift of God through grace. In the New Testament righteousness is a relationship with God... More, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?” (22:3). We know that in fact God does delight in Job’s righteousness, as God has already noted it twice: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil” (1:8; 2:3).
Eliphaz begins his speeches with compassion, but he ends up blaming the victim, which is never a helpful response to suffering. He and his two friends will be chastised for it in the end (42:7-8).
