Job 4:6
Bill Long 5/7/05
Ambiguous Speaking; Clear Principle
Most scholars who look at Eliphaz see him as a senior spokesman for the wisdom tradition, who upholds its values even as he gently upbraids Job for his seemingly over-the-top speech in ch.3. While I want to affirm aspects of Eliphaz's "clear principle" in the next essay, I would like to begin here by noting some ambiguities in his early words, ambiguities that either are generally ignored or passed over with brief mention but no comment by modern scholars.
Three Early Words
Three times in his first five verses Eliphaz uses words that are capable of contrasting renderings. I will first provide the NRSV translation, and then look at the word in question.
"If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?" (4:2).
"See, you have instructed many; you have strengthened the weak hands" (4:3).
"Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?" (4:6).
For each of the words "ventures," "instructed" and "confidence," the NRSV makes a translation decision that is quite defensible but which obscures some of the rich linguistic field of each word. By focusing on this diversity briefly, we can get a fuller appreciation of the nature of Eliphaz's first response to Job.
"Venturing" a Word
The Hebrew word behind "ventures," nasah, appears about 40 times in the OT, with this being its only appearance in Job. Yet this is the only occasion I have found where translators suggest it be rendered "ventures." The most frequent translation is "test" or "try" or "tempt," as can be seen by its uses in Ex.17 (2X) and Ps.78 (3X). In the former passage, the people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness with no water. The people quarreled with Moses, who asked them, "Why do you test (nasah) the Lord?" (17:2; cf.17:7). Then, in Ps.78, that long and wonderful Psalm celebrating the history of the people, the author says three times that the people "tested" God (nasah--vv.18,41,56). In all of these occasions, the word is not only translated as "test," but it signifies something that is a sign of disobedience and quarrelsomeness. Thus, even though I have read Eliphaz's opening words positively, as if he is trying to establish a sympathetic connection with Job, you could also read his first verb as indicative of someone who wants to pick a fight.
"Instructed" Many; Fear as Confidence
I mentioned in an earlier essay that the word "instructed," Hebrew yasar, has a dual meaning. It can signify the "discipline" of the Lord, a punishing wrath, or the "instruction" of the heart, which gently teaches one the truth of God. The word rendered "confidence" in v.6 is likewise subject to divergent readings. While this verse presents Eliphaz's basic theological principle, we must pause on the Hebrew word kasal. Well, this is the basic root (k-s-l), but it appears in many different words in the Bible. There is kesil, translated "stupid" or "fools," which is the basic word used by the wisdom theology (more than 70 times) to serve as the contrasting foil to the wise (e.g., Prov.14:7,8,24,33). Kesilot is used once in Proverbs to mean "stupidity" (9:13) and the verb k-s-l appears in Jer.10:18 to mean "to be stupid." Then, it appears as kesel or kislah eight times, thrice in the Psalms and five times in the wisdom literature, to mean either stupidity or confidence. Job 4:6 is one of the six passages where kesel or kislah is translated "confidence."
And, indeed, it can be so translated. Another instance where kislah can mean "confidence" is in Prov.3:26:
"for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught."
My point, however, is not that it can be so translated but what Job is likely to have heard when it was spoken. The first thing a person steeped in the wisdom tradition thinks when he hears the word k-s-l is "fool" or "stupid." If it was translated this way in 4:6, Eliphaz would be saying, "Isn't your fear your stupidity?" An interesting twist, to be sure, though probably not what Eliphaz was intending.
Conclusion
In each of these instances you can take Eliphaz two ways, at least for a split second. In each instance he quickly rushes back to "safe" ground by finishing his thought either with friendly comments or with acceptable theological statements. After wanting to "venture a word/test" Job, he muses on how he can't hold back from speaking. After mentioning that Job "judgmentally disciplined/instructed" many, Eliphaz won't hesitate to say that Job did so by caring for the weak. After saying that Job's "fear" was his "stupidity/confidence," he quickly rushes in to state the principle that the integrity of Job's ways brings hope. The next essay will reflect briefly on what this might mean about Eliphaz's approach to Job, and then look at the principle in 4:6.
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