Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; unregarded, they perish forever. Is their tent-cord not pulled out within them? They die, yet without wisdom. Job 4:20-21 NASB Without wisdom – Eliphaz is right about one thing. We die without wisdom. Not all the questions are answered. Perhaps not even a few. If ḥokmâ is the measure…
He puts no trust even in His servants; and He accuses His angels of error. How much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth! Job 4:18-19 NASB No trust – Eliphaz is pretty stark. According to him, God doesn’t “trust” men and He accuses…
Then all the people of war who were with him went up and approached, and arrived in front of the city; and they camped on the north side of Ai. And there was a valley between him and Ai. Joshua 8:11 NASB Between – There an important lesson buried in this text, in a tiny little “nothing” of a…
“Can mankind be righteous [h]before God? Can a man be pure [i]before his Maker?” Job 4:17 NASB Mankind/ man – As we learned yesterday, the Hebrew verse encompasses three important parallels. We have isolated two of them for investigation. We discovered that ʾĕnôš and geber, both translated “mankind,” actually reveal ethical and ontological distinctions that bolster Eliphaz’ argument. But…
“Can mankind be righteous [h]before God? Can a man be pure [i]before his Maker?” Job 4:17 NASB Mankind/ man – The translators have given us a double-barreled version of a single question. The Hebrew text wraps it all up in one line: הַֽאֱנוֹשׁ מֵֽאֱל֣וֹהַּ יִצְדָּ֑ק אִ֥ם מֵֽ֜עֹשֵׂ֗הוּ יִטְהַר־גָּֽבֶר Looking at this verse in Hebrew requires careful deliberation. First, we…
Now a word was brought to me secretly, and my ear received a whisper of it. Amid disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people, Dread came upon me, and trembling, and made [f]all my bones shake. Then a [g]spirit passed by my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. Job 4:12-15 NASB Dread…
I’m flying from Kobe, Japan tonight. Need to sleep. Back in Italy in the morning. Sweet dreams.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the [e]blast of His anger they come to an end. Job 4:9 NASB They come to an end – Does God destroy the wicked? The Hebrew term, kālâ, used in this context means “to consume, finish, end.” Eliphaz’ conclusion is that God will not, and does not, tolerate the…
Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who [d]plow wrongdoing and those who sow trouble harvest it. Job 4:7-8 NASB Harvest it – Eliphaz is a man who believes in perfect justice. In his world, the righteous prosper and the wicked perish. No one innocent is ever…
