Welcome to NachDaily with Iyov, perek 4.

This and the following chapters are Eliphaz’s first response to Iyov’s monologue about human suffering and denial of God’s providence in this world. There are 3 basic parts to this chapter. One, Eliphaz maintains that Iyov’s suffering is fair. Two, he explains that only the wicked are lost, and three, his prophecy addresses why people suffer.

Some quick background on Eliphaz Hateimoni:

Most Meforshim learn that he was none other than Eliphaz, the son of Eisav. The Medrash Tanchuma adds that Eliphaz became a tzaddik because he grew up in his grandfather Yitzchak’s house. He even attained nevuah, prophecy, as we’ll see in the perek.

The Teiman mentioned is not the Yemen located in the Arabian Peninsula, but is somewhere near the Har Seir territory next to southeast Eretz Yisrael.

Eliphaz proceeds to rebuke Iyov, reminding him that he himself previously tried to encourage grieving people who’d fallen in their faith. Now that you are suffering, will you abandon your faith? Did you serve God for fear of punishment? Do you no longer have a reason to have emunah in God’s ways because you’ve been punished?

Eliphaz’s essential argument was that man has free will, with the ability to choose his actions. Mazalos, astrology and constellations, have no influence or bearing on a person’s life. Eliphaz insists on hashgacha pratis – Divine providence and the goodness of God.

Chazal point out that despite the fact that Eliphaz was correct in his understanding of emunah, he was wrong in speaking to Iyov so harshly. They use Eliphaz as a paradigm of what not to do. The Gemarah in Bava Metzia 58b brings that you shouldn’t verbally oppress a suffering friend in the way that Iyov’s friends spoke to him.

In the second part of the perek, Eliphaz asks Iyov if his belief is congruent with his life experience.

In verse 7, Eliphaz says, “Z’char nah, mi who naki avad? V’eipho y’sharim nich’chadu? – Remember, please, who was an innocent person who perished? And can you show me straight and honest people who were obliterated?” And you, Iyov, are neither naki, innocent, or yashar, straight. God is sending you suffering because of your aveiros! There is complete hashgacha pratis, Divine providence.

In this passuk we also get a further understanding on why people suffer. Eliphaz said who is an innocent man who perished? Meaning, even if a person suffers here in this world, he ultimately doesn’t lose. Hashem sends people suffering in this world so they don’t get it in the next world. This is why you can’t name an innocent man who perished. Eliphaz’s position was you suffer in order not to perish in the next world.

Eliphaz just destroyed Iyov’s claim that he had no aveiros. Therefore, the suffering he was experiencing must have been dictated by the mazalos and not God.

For the last part of the perek, Eliphaz shares his prophetic vision about why the righteous suffer. The pessukim describe this experience, which happened at night.

The Yalkut Shemoni points out that Hashem only reveals himself to the Gentile prophets at night. (This is according to the opinions that Eliphaz wasn’t a Jew.) The Chachamim say that this is compared to a king who has a wife and a mistress. During the day, in public, the king is with his wife. At night, when no one is looking, the king secretly goes to his mistress. So too, Hashem gives prophecy to Am Yisrael during the day, but only reveals himself to the nations of the world under the cover of night.

In a similar vein, the Malbim goes into a lengthy explanation about Moshe being the only prophet who experienced nevuah through an aspaklaria meira, a clear looking glass, which was directly imprinted on the prophet’s mind with great clarity. All other prophets experienced nevuah through an aspaklaria she’aino meira, an unclear or indirect looking glass. The interpretation and clarity of the nevuah was diminished, leaving the prophet wiggle- room for interpretation.

Ultimately, therefore, the question of why the righteous suffer is a mystery incomprehensible to the human mind. This is alluded to in the fact that Eliphaz describes his nevuah as a faded, nighttime one. Moshe, who experienced the highest level of nevuah, also wanted to know why the righteous suffer, but Hashem told him it was inconceivable to understand.

In verse 17 Eliphaz says “Ha’enosh me’Eloha yitzdak? -Can man be more righteous than God?” The Malbim explains that Eliphaz was asking two questions. One, due to God’s sheer greatness, can a person ever really say they’ve repaid their debt to Him? Two, can we ever really repay God for all the good He’s given us?

As we said earlier, Eliphaz essentially maintains that Hashem is good. There are reasons for human suffering. It is due to God’s goodness that He sends a person yessurim, suffering. If we really knew how valuable every iota of pain we have is, we would actually rejoice in our suffering.

The Gemarah in Shabbos 55a actually says that there is no suffering without sin. Without sin we wouldn’t suffer. Our suffering advances our positions in the next world. There is purpose and meaning to our suffering. It is not random, but we just don’t see it.

I always think of professional athletes who are paid millions of dollars a season to play. Sure, they need to show up early, watch what they eat, and take part in intense workout regimens. But do they complain? They know that it’s worth it to push themselves harder because they’re making millions. In this way they can actually enjoy the pain they endure in training!

It’s as if every time that we experience suffering we’ll be paid millions of dollars in the next world, advancing our souls’ positions for all of eternity. If we understood that, our sadness would be transformed into joy.

Eliphaz maintained that everything is under hashgacha pratis and the soul ultimately benefits in the next world. There is purpose and reason behind human suffering.

If you’re curious to know what else Eliphaz has to say about why we suffer, stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day