Job 4-14 First Cycle of Speeches

Brief Outline of Job 4-14

First Cycle of Speeches (4:1-14:22)
Job’s lament launches the first cycle of speeches, in which each friend speaks in turn and in turn hears Job’s response. Note that Eliphaz’s speech is the longest of the three, while Job’s speeches increase in length as Bildad’s and Zophar’s get shorter.
● Chapters 4-5 – Eliphaz begins the dialogue with an eloquent recital of the basic theology of “the wise.” Not yet accusatory (see 4:1-6), this speech prepares the way for the rest. Divine retribution is certain (4:7-11), since no one is innocent before God (4:12-21). Job should therefore appeal to God for help (5:1-16); he is further urged to recognize his calamity as correction and to seek God for his benefits (5:17-26) – thus siding with Satan! Note Eliphaz’s supreme confidence in his own wisdom (5:27).
● Chapters 6-7 – Job responds by defending his opening lament (6:1-13), accusing his friends of being no comfort to him (vv. 14-23), protesting his innocence (vs. 24-30), and finally appealing directly to God for the comfort lacking in his friends (7:1-21), concluding again with “whys.”
● Chapter 8 – Bildad takes up Eliphaz’s position, arguing that God is just, and thus calamity is punishment for wrongdoing (vv. 1-7), basing it on traditional teaching (vv.8-10) and the laws of nature (vv. 11-22). Note how verse 20 states his basic position: Good and evil are clearly defined by what happens to people.
● Chapters 9-10 – Job’s friends are no help, so Job agonizes over bringing his case before God, because he is unsure of its outcome (ch. 9); thus he bursts into lament (ch. 10). Note in passing that much of 9:1-10) anticipates chapters 38-39.
● Chapter 11 – The truth that Zophar finally speaks about forgiveness (vv. 13-20) unfortunately follows from his assumption that Job’s calamity must be the result of Job’s sin (vv. 1-12). How harsh the “righteous” can sometimes be!
● Chapters 12-14 – Job has been stung (12:1-3); to follow their advice (which continuously sides with Satan) means to cash in his own integrity. So after defending his skill in wisdom equal to theirs (12:4-13:12), he mulls over bringing a legal case before God, which is his only hope (13:13-14:22), but again it is an agonizing alternative.

Discussion Questions for this week:

1. Which of Job's friend's in this cycle of speeches do you most relate with in your view how you would counsel a friend who was dealing with serious suffering? Do not give the "right" answer, I want to know what the angle is that you truly feel you take with people. How do you see these things in your life and others? Here is a quick overview the positions that Job's friends took.

Eliphaz: Had supreme confidence in his own wisdom which was reflected in his speech.

Bildad: Viewed that God is just and that suffering is punishment for wrongdoing.

Zophar: Emphasises legalism. He presumes to know what God will do in any given case, why He will do it, and what His thoughts about it are.

2. In Job 9:33, the NIV reads, "If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,"
The footnote in my bible says, "someone to arbitrate" connotes a mediator
and is so translated in the Septuagint by the same word Paul uses in I Ti. 2:5. Job longs for someone who understands both God and man and who will draw them together. Ultimately, this is what Christ did. But Job desires some man in his own time who has "eyes of flesh" and who can sympathaze with his human weakness. This longing increases as the book progresses.
Do you ever long for someone to "arbitrate" between you and God? It is easy to forget that this is what Christ did for us. But do you ever wonder if Christ went through the exact same things you have gone through, or possibly someone else you know is going through? Please Explain.

Sources of use in this discussion:
Bret Wells Speech Discussion Notes , NIV footnotes, Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible