פירוש על איוב 4:1

Eliphaz’s Address
Eliphaz He was Esau’s son, and because he was nurtured in Isaac’s bosom, he merited that the Shechinah rest upon him.

the Temanite From the land of Tema, Esau’s country. (Not found in some editions.)

Eliphaz held the Torah view,¹That expressed in the Torah passage:
Today I offer you the choice of life and good, or death and evil...Choose life and then you and your descendants will live (Deuteronomy 30:15). namely, that man has freedom of choice and the stars have no influence over all those things that are subject to this choice. For man has authority and power over his deeds; to execute them or to desist from doing so, for good or for bad, whilst the stars go their own way in their celestial orbits, flying past without any effect on the world below. As he says:
For man is born to labor
whilst on high the flaming comets fly past (Ch.5:7).
The courses taken by individuals are not determined by astrology. On the contrary, man is free to do good or evil to himself, as he decides, by the exercise of his own will. For we have seen how anger and lust kill stupid persons who choose so to behave (Ch.5:2).
Man was born to strive; initiative is of the essence and effort is both effective and necessary for success (Ch.5:7).

And if a person suddenly become prosperous, without having invested any effort or labor, it appearing as though he has achieved his life's ambition without going through any of the intermediate stages, know that this is a bogus prosperity and will not last, neither in his hands nor in those of his children. However, the prosperity of one who enjoys the results of his labors is different, for it will make its seeds spring forth (Isaiah 61:11) and will produce fruit (Ch.5:3-7).

Furthermore, Job had been mistaken about the premonition he had always felt. As he had said:
I had a terrible premonition, and it has befallen me (Job 3:25).
He had attributed this to an intuition that had entered his soul from the decree of the stars. But, in fact, this fear was on account of his sins, for it is by reason of them that one rises or falls (Psalms 107:26). As Eliphaz says: Was not your immunity the purpose for your piety, ? and your expectations the motive for your integrity. And, as will be explained, Eliphaz also meant by this that Job should have been unsettled by his immunity. His integrity alone should have been his assurance.

In this speech Eliphaz also expounds one of the principles mentioned in the Sefer Ha-Ikkarim (Part 4. Chapter 5), namely, that human actions cannot all be absolutely prescribed as the astrologers believe.
...because this opinion does away with the category of the contingent, and upsets all the principles of the Torah...Also that all human acts are absolutely free, and that effort is of value in all cases,...as is the opinion of the Philosopher,²The translator Husik notes: 'I am not aware that Aristotle held this view.' is also impossible. For we see with our senses that many actions in which a person endeavors to attain something, making all the possible preparations for the attainment of the end, and yet he not merely fails to attain his end, but the very preparations which he has made produce the opposite effect. Take, for example, what had happened with Joseph's brothers. Their intention when they sold him into slavery was to prevent him ruling over them. But it was that very act that ultimately led to his rule. There are also instances where good happens to a person without him trying, as when Saul became king without making any effort whatsoever.
Evidently, human actions are of a number of types:

1. There are the contingent acts which are absolutely freely chosen. These are the ones affected by initiative and intent; in these the property of contingency is conserved. It is on account of these that a person is praised or criticized. And it is to these that both warnings and commands, and reward and punishment, apply.

2. There are those actions that are absolutely prescribed, such as those things which are decreed by God and will happen no matter what. For example, Joseph's rise to rule etc.

3. Those actions which are a mixture, involving both choice and prescription, such as the sowing of seeds and the subsequent growth of the crop; or digging for and finding treasure. For the crop will not grow without both the effort of sowing the seed and the intervention of Providence making it rain at the right time.

But even those actions that are prescribed, either totally or partially, are not determined by astrology but by Providence and the Will of God (Ch.5:8).

Eliphaz brings evidence for the existence of Providential acts from the occurrence of rainfall (Ch.5:9-12), and from the way it saves the needy from the clutches of those stronger than them. By the nature of things, tyrants should always oppress the weak and bring about their extinction from upon the face of the earth.³In Nature small fish are eaten by bigger fish who, in turn, are eaten by still bigger ones. That this is not always the case where man is concerned is the result of Providential intercession. (Ch.5:12-17).
He also explains that Providence may sometimes make something bad happen to a person in order to save him from a still greater harm that was about to befall him. For instance, when someone who planned to travel by a certain route is prevented from taking it because he twists his ankle on a stone, and the route he had intended to take is raided by bandits. Or, when a person who was planning to board a ship and at the last moment is taken ill and could not sail, and the ship he had intended to take sinks. Thus, by the lesser evil, God saves him from a greater one that was awaiting him (Ch.5:17-23).⁴vide Gersonides, The Wars of the Lord. Part 4 Chapter 5 and Albo, Ikkarim Part 4 Chapter 5.
This Providential shield stretches over the righteous and over every detail of their activities (Ch.5:8), protecting them from all types of misfortune (Ch.5:23). According to Eliphaz, neither a man's children, nor the length of his life nor his income depend on luck; they are all determined by merit and Providence alone (Ch.5:24-27).⁵vide TB Moed Katan 28a

• On the global scale, the evidence for the existence of this Providence is found in the nature of rainfall and of the river-based irrigation in countries where no rain falls, such as Egypt (Ch.5:9-10).

• On the individual scale, the evidence comes from the way it upsets the schemes of the cunning, or how the schemes they have contrived for achieving their goals often become the cause of just the opposite happening (Ch.5:12,17).

Thus, the reasoned reply that Eliphaz makes to Job's complaint and to his argument that the fact that righteous people suffer the deserts of the wicked is an absolute proof of the non-existence of Providence, is that at times it is for their own good (Ch.5:17,23).

However, he does not consider this reply to be completely satisfactory, for he had only derived it from his intellect. Consequently, he does not have complete confidence in it, as he says:
This is what we present, having examined it and found it valid. Consider it and form your own opinion (Job 5:27).
Eliphaz presents his main thesis on the issue of the suffering of the righteous in Chapter 4, where he relates that he had had a prophetic revelation concerning this; visions of the night, (Job 20:8 ) in which he was informed that bad befalls the righteous because of some sin that they have committed. As our Rabbis said:
There is no suffering without sin (TB Shabbat 55a).
And even though, at first sight, no sin could be found in Job, no person can boast and say:
I have cleansed my soul and I have become purified of my sins (Psalms 55:4).
Whichever way it is considered, whether by reference to the greatness of the Creator and the extent of His beneficence towards man, by virtue of which worship beyond measure is due to Him; or by reference to the lowliness of man compared to Him, no person, born of woman, (Job 15:14) can be vindicated against the Most High God or can claim that he has discharged his worship of God, his Maker, in perfect totality. Therefore, God afflicts him, not for his detriment but for his benefit; a penitence for his sin. To cure the sickness of his soul before his measure becomes full (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1) and he becomes deserving of yet greater punishment, still more severe and enduring, namely, the perdition of his soul or the condemnation of his body to die before its time (Ch.4:12,21).

These afflictions are but mild medicines if they succeed in safeguarding (Nehemiah 4:1) him against perishing for all eternity.
Now since according to Eliphaz's thesis, it is conceivable that a righteous suffer but not that he perish (Ch.4:7-11); and since, even according to Job, all that can be concluded from his afflictions is that a righteous person may suffer but not that he perishes; the foundation upon which Job had built his hypothesis that the world has been handed over to astrology, namely, his contention that he had been made to suffer even though he not in his judgment sinned, is destroyed. These afflictions had befallen him because of a sin he had committed, namely, not perfecting his worship [of God] to a degree that befits the worship of the Lord; a worship that has no limit or design. The afflictions had not been intended to wipe him out; he will yet be rebuilt…and restored (Proverbs 24:3) (Ch.4:20, 4:27).

As further evidence that Job had not been completely perfect in his worship, Eliphaz cites the fact that he had begun to complain against God and to deny principles of faith the moment the suffering started. This showed that his fear of God had not been genuine and had only been motivated by love of reward and fear of punishment. For someone who genuinely fears the Lord, his steps do not falter (Psalms 37:31) when He rebukes him; unlike Job who preaches nonsense, (Job 35:16) turning everything upside down (Ch.4:2, 4:7).