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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
Job 4:1 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
  • BSB Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
  • NKJV Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
  • NASB Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
  • NLT Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job:

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Eliphaz the Temanite begins the first cycle of speeches. The friends now move from silence to argument.

Overview

With Eliphaz's reply, the long dialogues over Job's suffering commence. As the apparent eldest, he speaks first, offering what seems gentle wisdom. His speech will introduce the friends' central but flawed assumption that suffering is always punishment for sin, a view the book will ultimately correct.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Job 6:1But Job answered and said,
  • Job 15:1Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
  • Job 22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
  • Job 3:1–2After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
  • Job 8:1Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
  • Job 42:9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
  • Job 2:11Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 4:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 4:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.