“Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?”
"Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?" Eliphaz suggests that Job's speeches are not merely wrong but useless—they accomplish nothing constructive. The friends have now moved from treating Job as a patient to treating him as an obstructor who must be silenced. This verse reflects growing frustration with Job's refusal to accept their interpretations.
Church Fathers on Job 15:3
Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Should a wise man answer as if speaking into the wind, and fill his belly with burning? We have already said frequently that blessed Job bears a type of the Holy Church universal, and that his friends bear the likeness of heretics, who as it were on the plea of defence of the Lord find occasion of foolish talking, and let loose insulting words against good men; to whom all is displeasing that is thought by the faithful, as though…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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