BibleInTonguesWEB
Job 4
Eliphaz the Temanite speaks first, and gently. He reminds Job that he once strengthened others with his words; now that trouble has reached him, he faints. His opening principle is the engine of the whole debate: the innocent are never cut off, while those who plow iniquity reap it. The second half turns eerie. Eliphaz recounts a night vision, a spirit gliding past his face, hair standing up, and a voice asking whether mortal man can be more just than God.
- 1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
- 2
“If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
- 3
Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.
- 4
Your words have supported him who was falling, you have made the feeble knees firm.
- 5
But now it has come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.
- 6
Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope?
- 7
“Remember, now, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
- 8
According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same.
- 9
By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.
- 10
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
- 11
The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
- 12
“Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.
- 13
In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
- 14
fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
- 15
Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up.
- 16
It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
- 17
‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
- 18
Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.
- 19
How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
- 20
Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.
- 21
Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’
- 1
Y RESPONDIÓ Eliphaz el Temanita, y dijo:
- 2
Si probáremos á hablarte, serte ha molesto; mas ¿quién podrá detener las palabras?
- 3
He aquí, tú enseñabas á muchos, y las manos flacas corroborabas;
- 4
Al que vacilaba, enderezaban tus palabras, y esforzabas las rodillas que decaían.
- 5
Mas ahora que el mal sobre ti ha venido, te es duro; y cuando ha llegado hasta ti, te turbas.
- 6
¿Es este tu temor, tu confianza, tu esperanza, y la perfección de tus caminos?
- 7
Recapacita ahora, ¿quién que fuera inocente se perdiera? y ¿en dónde los rectos fueron cortados?
- 8
Como yo he visto, los que aran iniquidad y siembran injuria, la siegan.
- 9
Perecen por el aliento de Dios, y por el espíritu de su furor son consumidos.
- 10
El bramido del león, y la voz del león, y los dientes de los leoncillos son quebrantados.
- 11
El león viejo perece por falta de presa, y los hijos del león son esparcidos.
- 12
El negocio también me era á mí oculto; mas mi oído ha percibido algo de ello.
- 13
En imaginaciones de visiones nocturnas, cuando el sueño cae sobre los hombres,
- 14
Sobrevínome un espanto y un temblor, que estremeció todos mis huesos:
- 15
Y un espíritu pasó por delante de mí, que hizo se erizara el pelo de mi carne.
- 16
Paróse un fantasma delante de mis ojos, cuyo rostro yo no conocí, y quedo, oí que decía:
- 17
¿Si será el hombre más justo que Dios? ¿si será el varón más limpio que el que lo hizo?
- 18
He aquí que en sus siervos no confía, y notó necedad en sus ángeles;
- 19
¡Cuánto más en los que habitan en casas de lodo, cuyo fundamento está en el polvo, y que serán quebrantados de la polilla!
- 20
De la mañana á la tarde son quebrantados, y se pierden para siempre, sin haber quien lo considere.
- 21
¿Su hermosura, no se pierde con ellos mismos? Mueren, y sin sabiduría.
A doctrine and a ghost
Eliphaz argues from two authorities: his own observation ("According to what I have seen") and a dread revelation in the dark. Both point one way, no human is pure before his Maker, so suffering implies guilt.
The logic is tidy and, applied to Job, wrong, as the book's ending will declare. The reader already knows from chapters 1 and 2 that Job's collapse came "without cause," which makes Eliphaz's confident diagnosis the first crack in the friends' wisdom.
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
- HopeWhat biblical hope means, how it differs from optimism, and which passages show its shape most clearly.
- WisdomWhat wisdom means in the Bible, how it differs from cleverness, and where to begin reading it well.
- Fear of the LordWhat the fear of the Lord means in the Bible, how it relates to wisdom, reverence, obedience, and trust.
- Lamentations 3:21-24Key passage connected to Hope.
- Romans 5:3-5Key passage connected to Hope.
- 1 Peter 1:3-5Key passage connected to Hope.
- Proverbs 1:7Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
- James 1:5Key passage connected to Wisdom.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13Key passage connected to Wisdom.
- Psalms 111:10Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
- Luke 12:4-7Key passage connected to Fear of the Lord.
Share a small range via:
/en/web/job/4/16-18
Or use the Passage link builder.