“Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,”
Eliphaz the Temanite breaks the silence with his first speech, beginning with a rhetorical question that gently probes Job's capacity to listen to counsel even in his affliction. Eliphaz's approach is initially gentle and deferential, establishing him as the most sympathetic of the three friends and the one least prone to harshness. His opening question frames the dialogue that will follow: will Job remain open to the wisdom that his friends believe they possess?
Church Fathers on Job 4:1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? It has been a1ready declared above, what there is set forth in the interpretation of these names. Therefore, because we are in haste to reach the unexamined parts, we forbear to unfold again what has been already delivered. According1y this is to be heedfully observed, that they, that bear the semblance of heretics, begin to speak softly, saying, If we assay to commune with…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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