“Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
The narrative continues: 'And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said unto Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.' This verse shifts from Job's response to God's evaluation of the friends. God declares anger at Eliphaz and the other two friends because they have not spoken what is right about God, whereas Job, despite his complaint, has. The verse is remarkable: Job, who questioned and complained against God, is vindicated as having spoken rightly about God, while the friends, who defended God's justice through argument, are condemned as having spoken wrongly. The verse establishes that Job's perception of reality, rooted in his experience of suffering, was more accurate than the friends' abstract theodicies. The vindication of Job suggests that maintaining integrity in the face of suffering is preferable to defending God through arguments that deny the sufferer's experience. The verse implies that theodicy itself may be fundamentally flawed as a response to suffering.
Church Fathers on Job 42:6
Wherefore I reproach myself. For the less a person sees himself, the less is he displeased with himself; and the more he discerns the light of greater grace, the more blameworthy does he acknowledge himself to be. For when he is elevated within, by all that he is, he endeavours to agree with that standard which he beholds above him. And because human weakness still impedes him, he perceives that he differs therefrom in no slight degree, and every thing within him is…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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