Job 15:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Job expressed, “And I have a heart like yours” (Job 12:3), and he also stated, “As much as ye know, I also know: not lower am I than ye” (Job 13:2). In response to these statements, Eliphaz criticizes him. “Look,” he declares, “this is how a so-called wise man, claiming to possess all knowledge, responds! He is burdened with his own afflictions,” meaning that he has uttered these words merely for his own comfort, while being steeped in anguish. He reproaches Job for two reasons: primarily, that true wisdom does not parade itself, and also for Job's rebuke of them, which comes from a place of genuine suffering and torment within his mind. The phrase “filled with sickness the womb” signifies this inner turmoil, yet he speaks out of vanity, without purpose or necessity.

You have been justified by words that are unworthy of you, and you claim that you should not, as stated in Job 15:3.29. They believe that true reverence for the Lord exists only in those whom they can lead into the folly of their declarations. Thus, it is added: Indeed, you have cast aside reverence, and have chosen to offer prayers before God, as found in Job 15:4. The term ‘take’ here signifies “take away,” implying that by asserting your own righteousness, you have chosen not to invoke the grace of your Creator. When heretics are unable to identify genuine evil to challenge good, they fabricate falsehoods so that they might be reproached by them, allowing themselves to seem righteous. Frequently, this leads them to express words that are deeply offensive. Thus, everything continues to accumulate further.

In his second address, Eliphaz challenges Job's justifications with renewed fervor, deeming his statements unfounded and even opposing to divine truth, implying that Job views prayer as superfluous (15:1-4). He seeks to admonish Job using his own words, highlighting hypocrisy and arrogance, as Job claims the wisdom and insights of the elders for himself (5-12), overlooking the reality that no one can stand blameless before the Lord, thus considering himself just (13-16). Eliphaz juxtaposes Job's testimony with the age-old wisdom of the forefathers, who possessed both wisdom and longevity, and who taught that the life of the wicked is fraught with apprehension and that their end is bleak, particularly due to their self-exaltation before God (17-35).