Eliphaz (4:1–5:27)

The lion perishes (4:11). Eliphaz describes the fate of the wicked: “Those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it” (4:8). One of his examples is the lion who perishes. The Babylonian Theodicy has: “For the atrocity that lion committed, the pit yawns for him.”78 In the ancient Near East lions were a symbol of self-assertion, as is known from Akkadian texts,79 but now they are destroyed.

Dreams in the night (4:13). Terrifying dreams also occur in 7:14 and 33:15–16. In the Babylonian Ludlul bel Nemeqi (see the introduction), the righteous sufferer also has terrifying dreams.80 Epiphanies or divine revelations in dreams are well known from the Old Testament and the ancient Near East;81 they formed part of divination. There are dream visions in the Mari letters and a dream omen may come from Ugarit.82 In the Deir ʿAlla texts, “the gods came to him at night, and he beheld a vision.”83 Akkadian texts refer to a similar “hair-raising” experience when someone in a night vision sees various deities in the underworld in hybrid form.84 Gilgamesh is wakened in the night with a feeling of terror and dreams a terrible dream. His friend Enkidu dreams of his death.85 In the Ludlul one reads: “When I lay down at night, my dream was terrifying.”86

Angels with error (4:18). “Angels” are in Hebrew “messengers” of God, as in Genesis 18 and Zechariah 1–2. The verse does not refer to “fallen angels” as in later literature, but they are merely servants of God, divine messengers who cannot be trusted (cf. 1 Kings 22:19–23, where Ahab is lured into taking the wrong decision). In Job 33:23 they act as mediators. The sufferer of the Ludlul complains that his benevolent angel has been cut off, his protecting spirit frightened off.87

Angels and MessengersA-14

The word “angel” in Job 4:18 (in the NIV) is “messenger” in Hebrew (ml ʾk, from the Semitic verb l ʾk, “to send”). It is to be distinguished from the “angels” (Heb. “sons of God”) of 1:16 and 2:1, who were members of the divine council. The “angels” in Job 4:18 and 33:23 should also not be confused with the later idea of the angel of the lord and other supernatural (mostly winged) beings.

This word occurs two hundred times in the Old Testament, sometimes referring to supernatural beings. They are mighty but have to praise God and obey him (Ps. 103:20). They warned Lot of the coming destruction (Gen. 19) and ascended and descended a ladder seen by Jacob (Gen. 28:12). Zechariah describes angels in his visions. The phrase “angel of the LORD” never occurs in Job. Messengers were important in the ancient Near East (Akkadian mar shipri), both human and divine. One such deity was Namtar, vizier and messenger of the underworld goddess Ereshkigal of Mesopotamian mythology, who traveled between heaven and hell.A-15

Houses of clay (4:19). Clay and dust refer to mortal humans (cf. sidebar on “Death and Sheol” at 7:9; see also 7:21; 17:16).

Clay houses were placed on tombs and even marked the tombs as a place for the souls (ka) to be housed.

Kim Walton, courtesy of the Field Museum

Holy ones (5:1). The Hebrew q^edōšîm88 (also “saints”) occur thirteen times in the Old Testament referring to God, divine beings, and people, but here they are heavenly beings (see also Deut. 33:3; Ps. 89:5, 7; Dan. 8:13; Zech. 14:5), who are part of the heavenly council (Job 1–2). Like the messenger “angels” of 4:18 and 33:23, they function as mediators between God and humans. Some commentators have taken this as the rejection of the Mesopotamian concept of the “personal god,” but Eliphaz is merely emphasizing the difference between God and the other divine beings as in 15:15, where God places no trust in them, as with the heavens, which are used as a parallel.

Crushed in court (5:4). The NIV “court” is in Hebrew the “city gate,”89 where legal cases were tried, contracts concluded, public meetings conducted, business deals made, social interaction made, and even religion practiced (as in Job 29:7; 31:21; cf. also Deut. 25:7; Ruth 4:1–12; Prov. 22:22; Isa. 29:21; Amos 5:10).

Sparks fly (5:7). This is a difficult verse in Hebrew; it literally reads “sons of Resheph fly high.” This may refer to the troubles humans suffer from in the form of sickness and war, which was believed to be the sphere of the Syro-Palestinian god Resheph, who brought pestilence (as in Deut. 32:24; Hab. 3:5). See comment on Resheph at Job 6:4.