The Bible Says
Job 4:1-6 Meaning

In Job 4:1-6, the first of Job’s friends begins to speak, as Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, (v.1) introducing a dialogue between Job, Eliphaz, his two friends, and Elihu (Job 32:1) that will continue through Chapter 37.

Eliphaz is identified as a Temanite, linking him to Teman—an ancient region associated with Edom (Genesis 36:11, 34). Edom lay southeast of the Dead Sea, stretching into the rugged highlands that slope down toward the Arabah. These lands were known for caravan routes, dry wadis (valleys), and hard-won survival in a harsh landscape. In the Bible, Teman is connected with Edom (Jeremiah 49:7).

Eliphaz speaks like a man confident he understands how life works—how God governs the world, and why people hurt. However, as we will see, Eliphaz lacks a true perspective. Toward the end, in Job 42:7, it is decisively stated that neither Eliphaz, Bildad, nor Zophar speak truly about God, while Job does. The trio led by Eliphaz will portray God as mighty, and much of what they say about Him will be accurate. But their perspective of God will be that He is transactional, and ultimately controlled by human actions, which is the same basic accusation Satan made in Job 1:10-11.

The three will persist in asserting that Job deserves his lot because God is just and gives to people as they deserve. This is true, but it is not all that is true. God’s timing is not their timing and His justice does not fit into any human’s box.

Their view of God’s justice is far too limited. As we will see, in their mind, justice needs to look a certain way. It has to fit within their “box” of understanding. And ultimately, in their view, God’s justice is controlled by human actions. This is untrue, and angers God. And to demonstrate how untrue is their perspective, although God is angry, He will completely let them off the hook and forgive them their transgression through Job’s intercession (Job 42:8).

Eliphaz begins carefully, but his approach quickly reveals a subtle danger: he will speak true-sounding things in a way that misses God’s deeper purpose. The Book of Job steadily teaches that wise counsel can still be wrong if it reduces the Lord to a system in which human actions control His decisions. Job has finished his opening statement (Job 3) and Eliphaz now speaks: Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered (v.1)

Job gave his lament in Job 3, expressing how grieved he is that he should exist at all, in pain, for no clear reason. Eliphaz now answers him, attempting to explain Job’s crisis and offer a solution that is within Job’s control. A seven-day silence has ended, a quest to seek understanding now begins. We will note how critical Eliphaz’s trio will be of Job. They will chastise him for arrogance in maintaining innocence and urge him to repent of whatever it was that caused his dire circumstances, which they will assert must be God’s judgment upon him.

Eliphaz and his friends will express great confidence that Job did something wrong. They also believe strongly that Job’s repentance will be a cause and God’s restoration of Job will be the effect from his repentance. Were this true it would of course mean that God is indeed transactional, like a vending machine.

We can also note that God will express anger that the trio spoke untruly about Job and will require them to humble themselves before Job. God will instruct them to ask Job to offer sacrifices on their behalf in order for them to be forgiven and avoid His judgment.

We will also see that although Job will speak truly about God, his perspective is too small. He will ask for a hearing with God, confident that if God heard his perspective, then He would change His mind and restore Job (Job 23:6-7). God deals with this in Job 38-41, where He leads Job to understand His intimate involvement in every detail of Job’s life. Job will come to know God in a new and deeper way, which is to his great benefit (Job 42:5-6).

This infers that God is intimately involved with all humans, which is validated in passages such as:

• Matthew 10:29-31, that says God is even intimately involved with the sparrow, one of the the smallest and most insignificant of His creatures.
• Luke 12:7 which says God is so intimately involved with humans that He knows how many hairs we have on our heads.

This infers that God’s allowance of human suffering is part of a greater plan for a greater good. It is important to remember that Job is likely the first part of scripture to be committed to writing. Before that they had only oral tradition. Although characters like Noah, Job, and Melchizedek tell us that there was sufficient knowledge of God to follow Him in truth prior to a written scripture, Job shows us that there was much He had not revealed. That means that New Testament believers have a greater accountability, as we have been given greater revelation; and to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).

When humans encounter things they do not understand, it creates a vacuum that demands to be filled. This vacuum can be filled with faith-based explanations or human-based ones. And human-based explanations tend to be human-centered. We know Eliphaz is truly Job’s friend. He came to mourn with him and sat for seven whole days waiting for Job to speak (Job 2:11-13).

In that sense, his speaking begins within a historical relationship. He likely believes his advice is sound and intends it for Job’s good. That could be a substantial reason God forgives Eliphaz and his friends when they ask Job to intercede on their behalf.

Eliphaz now embarks on his diagnosis and prescription. He frames the initial concern he will address as a question: If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient? (v.2). He is essentially saying, “If you will listen to all I have to tell you I will explain this and you can fix it.” We know from Job 42:7 that his advice is not accurate, so we should keep that in mind as we work through Eliphaz’s words.

But Eliphaz seems to reveal something about ourselves. We are prone to seek an explanation that results in a solution we control. However, our control is often an illusion. When Eliphaz says But who can refrain from speaking? (v.2) he shows a compulsion to interpret Job’s suffering and provide the solution.

Scripture celebrates timely words (Proverbs 25:11), but it also honors restraint (Proverbs 17:27). Eliphaz has shown great restraint by waiting seven days for Job to speak. Now he attempts to provide timely words, which will be misguided.

Eliphaz first appeals to Job’s track record as a counselor to others: Behold you have admonished many (v.3). Job has been a man who served others. His advice was sought. The word admonished points to correction, guidance, and moral clarity. This implies Job possessed discernment, patience, and a reputation for helping others endure hardship with integrity.

Job was likely one of the leaders of his community of Uz, perhaps the primary leader, as we see in Job 29:7. There, Job recalls a time when he went to “the gate of the city” and took his “seat” there. The city gate was the place of judgment. It was where legal transactions were conducted, as we see in Ruth 4:1, where the transaction of Boaz redeeming Naomi’s land was concluded in the gate.

Eliphaz’s statement also sets up an expectation: if Job has been strong for others, shouldn’t he be strong now? This is similar to what God will say in Job 38:3, when He tells Job to “gird up [his] loins like a man” to hear God’s words and be straightened out. In this respect, Eliphaz adopts an attitude of speaking as God speaks.

Eliphaz continues: And you have strengthened weak hands. (v.3). Weak hands is a picture of discouragement—hands that hang down, unable to work, unable to fight, unable to hold onto hope. Job had apparently done good deeds and given advice that restored capacity to people who felt like they could not go on. This means that Job called out reality as it was. He diagnosed what was and gave people actions to take in order to address it. The implication is, “You have dealt out strong medicine to others, now you need to get ready to take some from me to benefit yourself.”

Eliphaz adds another commendation: Your words have helped the tottering to stand, (v.4). Job’s counsel stabilized people who were wobbling—those on the edge of collapse, unsure if they could keep their footing. Tottering evokes someone stumbling on uneven ground. In the spiritual life, uneven ground can be fear, loss, guilt, uncertainty, or exhaustion. Job had a gift for helping others find balance again—by reminding them of what is true, and helping them place their weight on something sturdier than their feelings. The implication is that Job is now tottering and Eliphaz’s words will help him stand.

Eliphaz repeats the same theme in a new image: And you have strengthened feeble knees (v.4). Knees give way when strength runs out. Feeble knees picture the moment a person cannot bear the weight of what they are carrying. Eliphaz asserts that he will now help Job like he has helped others.

When knees are feeble, it can mean not only physical weakness, but spiritual fatigue—difficulty remaining steady before God, difficulty continuing in reverence and trust. We see an admonition in Hebrews 12:12 to “strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.” The context is fatherly discipline—receiving correction. This is likely Eliphaz’s point, Job’s advice has helped people get back on their feet, now he needs Eliphaz’s advice to get back on his.

Eliphaz pivots from praise to accusation: But now it has come to you, and you are impatient (v.5). The it is suffering—calamity, loss, ruin. Eliphaz claims Job is responding poorly to the very kind of hardship he once helped others face. This likely refers to Job’s lament in the prior chapter.

The group assembled to comfort Job has sat seven days, waiting for Job to speak first. Job spoke in Chapter 3, wishing he had either not been born or that he die and enter a state of rest as a way of escaping his current misery. As we will see, what his three friends wanted to hear was Job admit he deserved all that came upon him, repent, and admonish God to restore. What they heard instead was Job asserting that he did nothing to deserve such calamity. As observers in this grand drama, we have the benefit of knowing that Job’s assertion is true (Job 1:22).

The Hebrew word translated impatient is translated into the Greek version of the Old Testament with a word that means “hurried.” Eliphaz’s accusation is that Job’s desire for death is premature. He needs to stay in the game and seek life. It might be that this advice was quite helpful to Job and served a good purpose. Job’s initial despair in Chapter 3 turns to a feisty defense and desire to stand before God by the time this dialogue gets to Chapter 23.

We might view that while Eliphaz will improperly accuse Job, he plays a key role in preparing Job to hear what God has to say to Job that will result in his restoration. The Psalms are filled with righteous sufferers who pour out grief without being condemned for it (Psalm 13, 42). But Eliphaz’s point that Job should not give up hope appears to hit home and provide him benefit.

Eliphaz adds: It touches you, and you are dismayed (v.5). The word dismayed carries the sense of being thrown into confusion, startled. The disorientation puts one in a state of not knowing what to do. Now Eliphaz will steer directly into wrong thinking. He will next say that Job should not be dismayed or confused because the issue is clear: Job did something wrong or none of this would have happened. Eliphaz’s assertion will be, “Bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people because God is just.”

Eliphaz sets up his argument that Job is suffering due to his own guilt by asking, Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? (v.6). This is a rhetorical question that presumes an answer of “Yes.” Job was well known for being righteous on earth as much as in heaven (Job 1:8). Job will assert his integrity later in this dialogue, saying, “till I die I will not put away my integrity from me” (Job 27:5). And we know Job feared God by his response to the calamities that came upon him (Job 1:20-22).

Job knows he did nothing wrong, and is not willing to say he did either to appease his friends or to attempt to manipulate God. We know Job had hope in the integrity of his ways because later he will wish he could have an interview with God and give Him his perspective. He has confidence, hope, that if he could have such an interview he would be delivered from his misery (Job 23:6-7).

The New Testament says of believers who are born again through faith in Jesus that they are “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). We can learn from Job to maintain our integrity and continue through dark valleys.

But New Testament believers also have additional revelation (and therefore more accountability) that points us to a great hope of rewards from our Savior for living a life of integrity (Revelation 3:21). We know from scripture, including Job’s story, that the righteous can suffer, and suffering can become the arena where faith becomes more precious than gold (James 1:2-3, 12, 1 Peter 1:6-7).