Глава 4

First half of Eliphaz's speech. 1–2. Introduction to speech. 3–6. Encouragement to speak. 7–21. Eliphaz's main idea: only sinners are punished on earth. Job 4:1. And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: Job 4:2. If we try to say a word to you, won’t it be hard for you? However, who can deny the word! Eliphaz’s speech, he is convinced, will not only not console Job, but will upset him even more. But no matter how unpleasant the truth is, it must be expressed. And Eliphaz, apologizing for the grief he caused Job, cannot refrain from speaking. Job 4:3. Behold, you have guided many and supported those who had given up their hands, Job 4:4. Your words raised up the fallen, and you strengthened the weak knees. Job 4:5. And now it has come to you, and you are exhausted; touched you and you lost heart. The first drop of bitterness in Eliphaz’s speech is the reproach to Job for his cowardice. It is all the more unusual for him because before he consoled and with words of consolation encouraged and supported people with “sagging hands” and “bending knees” and completely “falling”, that is, weak in spirit (2 Samuel 4:1; Isaiah 13:7, 35:3-4). He who encourages others cannot encourage himself (v. 5), Eliphaz remarks ironically (cf. Mt 27.42). Job 4:6. Should not your fear of God be your hope, and integrity of your ways your hope? Decrying Job’s cowardice, Eliphaz sees in him a sufficient reason and motivation to address the sufferer with the speech “Is not your hope in your piety? Is not your trust in the integrity of your ways? he asks him. According to Eliphaz, Job's grumbling and complaints stem from his confidence in his piety. He grumbles and complains because he considers himself, a pious and blameless man, to be unjustly punished. This false thought of Job, in the opinion of Eliphaz, forcing him to address his friend, predetermines his main position. In contrast to Job, Eliphaz argues that misfortune befalls only sinners; Consequently, Job, since he was subjected to disasters, cannot consider himself pious, innocently punished. Job 4:7. Remember, did anyone innocent perish, and where were the righteous exterminated? Job 4:8. As I have seen, those who scream wickedness and sow evil reap it; Job 4:9. they perish by the breath of God and disappear by the spirit of His wrath. To confirm the validity of his view, Eliphaz refers, firstly, to the experience and knowledge of Job himself, who allegedly did not see any cases of the death of a righteous person during his life (v. 7); and secondly - on personal experience. The latter guarantees that only those who prepared the ground for evil (“who screamed wickedness”) and did it (“those who sowed evil”; cf. Hos 10.13) are punished. The likening of villains in their actions to farmers evokes a corresponding image to express the thought of punishing them with divine wrath. The plants of evildoers perish, like the labors of farmers, from the hot wind (v. 9; cf. Jer. 4.11; Ezek. 17:10, 19:12; Hos. 13.15). Job 4:10. The roar of the lion and the voice of the roaring one is silent, and the teeth of the skimn are crushed; Job 4:11. the mighty lion dies without prey, and the lioness's children are scattered. The death of an entire family of lions is, according to exegetes, an allusion to the fate of Job's family. Job 4:12–21. To give his view greater persuasiveness and authority, Eliphaz refers to the revelation that was to him, describing first the form in which it was communicated (v. 12), then the time of receipt (v. 13), the state experienced at the same time (vv. 14–16) and, finally, the content itself (vv. 17–21). Job 4:12. And behold, a word came to me secretly, and my ear received something from it. Job 4:13. Among the thoughts about night visions, when sleep falls on people, Communicated in the form of a whisper (Hebrew “seed”, conveyed in the synodal reading by the expression “something”, Symmachus translates “ψιθυρισμός”, Vulgate - “sussurus” - “rustle”, “whisper”) and penetrated into the soul of Eliphaz without his consciousness and will (“the word was secretly brought”, in the literal translation: “to a word sneaked into me"), the revelation was received by him "amid reflections on night visions." The Hebrew “bishifim”, which corresponds to the synodal “among reflections”, actually means “branches”, “ramifications”, in relation to mental activity “confused thoughts”, “confusion of thoughts” (Dilman). The revelation fell at a time when Eliphaz woke up with a soul confused by restless thoughts. Job 4:14. horror and trembling seized me and shook all my bones. Job 4:15. And the spirit passed over me; my hair stood on end. Job 4:16. He became, but I did not recognize his appearance, only his appearance was before my eyes; a quiet breeze, and I hear a voice: The immediate harbingers of the revelation - the "spirit" passing over Eliphaz, the wind ("quiet breath" v. 16, cf. 1 Kings 19.11; Acts 2.2) and the appearance in him of a mysterious creature, the type of which could not be recognized - caused the usual feelings of horror and fear during visions (Gen. 15.12, 28:17; Dan. 7:15, 8:18, 10:7). Job 4:17. Is man more righteous than God? and is a husband purer than his Creator? Job 4:18. Behold, He does not trust His servants and sees shortcomings in His Angels: Job 4:19. even more so in those who live in churches made of clay, the foundation of which is dust, which are destroyed more quickly than moths. Job 4:20. Between morning and evening they disintegrate; you won’t see them disappear completely. Job 4:21. Do not their virtues perish with them? They die without achieving wisdom. To the question proposed by those who appeared: “Is man more righteous than God?” (“mezloach” - “before God” - see Numbers 32.22) they themselves give a negative answer. In the eyes of God, even angels are unclean and imperfect, much less man. He is a sinner. A sign of his sinfulness is, firstly, the short duration of existence (“between morning and evening... they fall apart”, cf. Ps 89.6; “they are destroyed more quickly than moths”, cf. Job 13.28; Isaiah 50.9), secondly, death in a state of unreason: “they die without achieving wisdom”, i.e. the fear of God (Job 28.28). This and the other trait - the transience of life and death to the unwise - is learned primarily, even exclusively, by sinners (Job 15.32; Ps 89.6-9; cf. Ps 90.1, 16, 91.13-15; Proverbs 5.13). You might be interested in: