SUMMARY
God chastises Job’s friends and Job prays for them.
ANALYSIS
Job’s three friends come back into the picture after Job’s second and final response to the whirlwind speeches. Whether they were privy to those speeches is not clear. But in this passage, God speaks to them directly. “My wrath is kindled against you [Eliphaz] and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (42:7). God instructs them to offer a sacrificeSacrifice is commonly understood as the practice of offering or giving up something as a sign of worship, commitment, or obedience. In the Old Testament grain, wine, or animals are used as sacrifice. In some New Testament writings Jesus' death on the cross as the... More and to have Job pray for them.
There is a contradiction here. In what way has Job spoken of God what is right? God had said earlier to Job, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (38:2), and Job himself has admitted as much: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (42:3). How is it that just a few verses later, God commends what Job had said of God?
Some biblical scholars solve this contradiction by arguing that the prologue and epilogue are from a different story than the one we have now; that is, they are from a story of the “patient” Job who remains pious and obedient throughout his ordeals and is commended for it in the end.
But there is another solution. The Hebrew text actually says, “you have not spoken to me rightly, as my servant Job has.” For all of their theologizing about God, the three friends have never spoken directly to God. They have never interceded for their suffering friend. Instead, they have tried to defend the divine reputation by speaking falsely about Job, and they are chastised for it by God, as Job said they would be (13:7-10). Job, on the other hand, has lamented; he has spoken honestly and directly to God throughout his speeches, and for that, God commends him in the end.
