I continue my reflections on Job.
Miserable comforters
Job again rejects what Eliphaz the Temanite said.
“I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters, all of you!
Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?" - Job 16: 2-3
Job maintains that God has targeted him.
"God has turned me over to the ungodly
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground." - Job 16: 11-13
Job still says he is innocent
"My face is red with weeping,
dark shadows ring my eyes;
yet my hands have been free of violence
and my prayer is pure.
Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry never be laid to rest!" - Job 16: 16-18
Job's reputation has been tarnished
Job reveals that his misfortune was known in the land, and that people lost their respect for him.
“God has made me a byword to everyone,
a man in whose face people spit.
My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.
The upright are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused against the ungodly." - Job 17: 6-8
Job then says he is simply waiting for death.
“But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.
My days have passed, my plans are shattered.
Yet the desires of my heart
turn night into day;
in the face of the darkness light is near.
If the only home I hope for is the grave,
if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness," - Job 17: 10-13
Impressions
As Job rightly pointed out, none of whatever his friends said addressed the issue. What did Job do wrong to be a target of God's wrath?
Despite this poignant rebuttal, tales of Job's misfortune had spread and a majority of people assumed that Job must have sinned.
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