The following extract is taken from Robert Sutherland’s new book “Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job” (Trafford, Victoria, 2004) It is reproduced with his permission and he retains the copyright. Mr.Sutherland is a Christian Canadian criminal defense lawyer instrumental in changing the Canadian law on aggravated assault and solicitor-client privilege. He is a Senior Fellow at the Mortimer J. Adler Centre for the Study of the Great Ideas. And he is a member of St.Stephen’s Anglican, Thunder Bay. The book has received high praise from Job scholars: David Clines, Norman Habel and Gerald Janzen. Several chapters and order information are online at http://www.bookofjob.org

“God’s Judgment on Job and his Friends

Now God passes judgment on Job and his three friends. Elihu has fled the scene, hoping to escape God’s judgment. [i] Ironically, Elihu only escapes the opportunity for forgiveness.

“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.” (Job 42:7-8 Italics added for emphasis.)

Job is declared by God to be the only one who has spoken “rightly” about God. The Hebrew word behind “right” is “kuwn”. “Kuwn” means “to establish as right or true”. [ii] “The root meaning is to bring something into being with the consequence that its existence is a certainty.” [iii] It does not carry with it any nuance of “sincerity” such that God might be understood to be excusing Job for speaking “sincerely”, but “incorrectly”. God is saying Job spoke “correctly”. [iv] Through his Oath of Innocence, Job has established with certainty two points. First, God is the author of evil in the world and that evil is undeserved. Second, man has a right and need to know what why God has sent evil into the world. That is the judgment of God.

Job’s three friends are declared by God to have spoken “folly”. The Hebrew word behind “folly” is “nebalah”. “Nebalah” means “a senseless, impious, disgraceful disregard for moral and spiritual claims” [v] The moral and spiritual claim which they have senselessly and disgracefully dismissed is Job’s claim, his demand that God give an answer to the question of why there is evil in the world. That is the judgment of God.

God’s condemnation of Job’s three friends has an impact reminiscent of the prophet Nathan’s condemnation of King David. King David had an affair with Bathsheba, got her pregnant and had her husband murdered to cover up the sin. (2 Samuel 12:1-15) The prophet Nathan found about of it, composed a parable about it and confronted King David with it. The gist of the parable was this. A poor man had nothing, but a little lamb whom he loved with all his heart. A rich man had everything. He took the lamb from the poor man, killed it and served it as a meal to a stranger. (2 Samuel 12:1-4) The poor man was Bathsheba’s husband. The rich man was King David. Now, literature has a way of deeply engaging its reader. King David was so moved by the story that he condemned the rich man in it, saying “as the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die.because he had no pity.” (2 Samuel 12:5-6) Nathan’s response: “You are the man.” (2 Samuel 12:7)

Job’s three friends, and perhaps the inattentive reader, were all looking for Job to be condemned, either for his extreme words or for his Oath of Innocence or both. The author further tempted them to that premature judgment with Job’s use of the ambiguous word “repent”. A condemnation issues, but it is God’s condemnation of Job’s three friends and the inattentive listener. “You are that man.” “You are the one deserving condemnation.” “You deserve to die because you had no pity on Job.” “You have senselessly and disgracefully dismissed the important moral question Job rightly raised.” That is the judgment of God.

So Job prays for his friends.

“So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him.” (Job 42:9-11 Italics added for emphasis.)

Once again, the author reaffirms that fact that it is God and no other that has brought “evil” into the world. The Hebrew word for “evil” here is “ra-a”, the same word used to describe Job’s turning from evil (Job 1:1,8) and Job’s comment “shall we not receive good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad”. (Job 2:10) The word for evil carries “a dual meaning of being wrong in regard to God’s original and ongoing intention and detrimental in terms of its effects on man.” [vi] It is the author’s profound commentary on God’s two contradictory intentions in the creation of the world and the creation of evil. The only harmonization will come on the day of the Final Judgment when God answers Job a third time.

The appropriate response to those who suffer is sympathy and comfort.”

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[i] My wife thinks God feeds Elihu to Leviathan as he is talking to Job. Some of Elihu’s comments read like a self-imprecation: “I’ll be damned if God appears to answer you.” In light of the Egyptian background to an Oath of Innocence, damnation is feeding the sinner to the chaos monster Ammit.

[ii] Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 1 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) pp. 433-434.

Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament: Volume 2, Edit. E. Jenni and C. Westermann; Trans. M.E. Biddle (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1997) pp. 602-606.;

New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis: Volume 2, Edit. W.A. Van Gemeren (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1997) pp. 615-617.;

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Volume 7, Edit. G.J.Botterweck, H.Ringgren; Trans. J.T.Willis (Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1974) pp. 89-101.

[iii] Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 1 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) pp. 433.

[iv] Pope, M., The Anchor Bible: Job (Doubleday, New York, 1973) p. 350.

[v] Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 2 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) pp. 547.;

Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament: Volume 2, Edit. E. Jenni and C. Westermann; Trans. M.E. Biddle (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1997) pp. 710-714.;

New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis: Volume 3, Edit. W.A. Van Gemeren (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1997) pp. 11-14.;

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Volume 9, Edit. G.J.Botterweck, H.Ringgren; Trans. J.T.Willis (Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1974) pp. 157-172.

[vi] Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 2 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) p. 854-856.