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Job 15:1-6
Eliphaz opens by dismissing Job’s words as empty and harmful, then claims Job’s own speech exposes his wrongdoing.
Meaning in context
Eliphaz the Temanite resumes speaking, signaling a new round of argument.
He asks whether a wise person should answer with “vain” knowledge, likening it to being filled with an east wind, and whether such talk can profit anyone.
Eliphaz claims Job’s speech erodes reverence and restrains devotional concern before God.
He argues that wrongdoing “teaches” Job’s mouth, and concludes that Job’s own words condemn him—Eliphaz presents himself as merely pointing out what Job has already revealed.
Section 1 of 7
Eliphaz attacks Job's speech
Eliphaz opens by dismissing Job’s words as empty and harmful, then claims Job’s own speech exposes his wrongdoing.
Movement
Suffering before the living God
Artifact
Wisdom debate and divine answer
Biblical Timeline
Patriarchs
Job context: 2000 BC - 1500 BC
Biblical Timeline
Patriarchs
Job context
Patriarchs / 2000 BC - 1500 BC
Job context is set in the patriarchs, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the covenant family.
Scripture Text
Thesis
Eliphaz opens by dismissing Job’s words as empty and harmful, then claims Job’s own speech exposes his wrongdoing.
Plain Meaning
Eliphaz the Temanite resumes speaking, signaling a new round of argument.
He asks whether a wise person should answer with “vain” knowledge, likening it to being filled with an east wind, and whether such talk can profit anyone.
Eliphaz claims Job’s speech erodes reverence and restrains devotional concern before God.
He argues that wrongdoing “teaches” Job’s mouth, and concludes that Job’s own words condemn him—Eliphaz presents himself as merely pointing out what Job has already revealed.
Literary Context
This unit opens Eliphaz’s second speech within Job’s debate cycle. Instead of engaging Job’s claims in detail, Eliphaz targets Job’s manner of speaking, moving from rhetorical dismissal (vv. 2–3), to alleged social-religious damage (v. 4), to a charge that Job’s words are self-incriminating (vv. 5–6).
Historical Context
The scene reflects an ancient Near Eastern honor-shame environment in which speech was treated as a moral and social act. Formal disputation used sharp questions and claims that an opponent’s own words “testify” against them. Regional climate imagery (like the east wind) provided common metaphors for harshness and emptiness in public rhetoric.
Theological Significance
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knowledge (ḏa·‘aṯ-)