the three friends were not mostly right? Here, in these three men, we have the quintessence of the wisdom of man.

They were evidently God-fearing men. They do not minimize sin, they stand solidly for personal righteousness,

they defend the honour of God at every turn. Eliphaz, on the whole represents wisdom drawn from experience.

Bildad reasoned from tradition. Zophar based his argument upon human merit. Eliphaz said to Job, `Remember, I

pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? ... Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness,

reap the same' (Job 4:7,8).

Here is the appeal to experience. `Remember', `I have seen'. The conclusion is inevitable. Job must have

secretly sinned, and his apparent piety is but a hypocrite's cloak. Eliphaz had insinuated as much in the preceding

verse, which can be rendered:

`Is not thy "fear of God", thy confidence and the perfectness of thy ways thy hope?' (Job 4:6).

Eliphaz brings his opening words to Job to a conclusion with a characteristic appeal to human experience:

`Lo this, we have searched it, so it is ...' (Job 5:27).

Bildad, appeals to tradition:

`Enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers ... shall not they teach

thee? ... Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man ...' (Job 8:8,10,20).

Zophar rests his argument upon human merit:

`Thou hast said, My doctrine is pure ... Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth ...

If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away ... Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be

stedfast, and shalt not fear' (Job 11:4,6,14,15).

Eliphaz returns to the attack, with a further appeal to experience:

`I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare' (Job 15:17).

Bildad again makes appeal to accepted teaching, concluding with a summing up `Surely such are the dwellings

of the wicked' (Job 18:1-21). Zophar too repeats with emphasis the idea that Job was receiving only that which he

had merited. `The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment', `This is the

portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God' (Job 20:5 and 29). For the third

time Eliphaz presses upon Job the necessity to judge by past experience:

`Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?' (Job 22:15).

For the third time Bildad returns to the attack. `In his former replies, he argued from God's usual proceedings

with men (Job 8 and 18): he now takes the attributes of Deity, and argues more metaphysically, but just as

unsuitably on the real question at issue' (Dr. Samuel Lee).

According to the A.V., Zophar fails to reply for the third time, but there are many, including The Companion

Bible, who see in Job 27:11 to 28:28, Zophar's third attempt to convince Job, commencing his third discourse with

the selfsame words with which he had concluded the second. Compare Job 27:13 with 20:29.

Job takes up the opinions of each speaker in turn, and shows how far they fail to meet his case. To attempt any

sort of analysis of these mighty chapters is a formidable task. It has been done with a fair amount of discernment by

Carey. We will give just an extract or two to indicate the trend of Job's replies:

Job's First Discourse, chapters 6 and 7:

`He wishes that, whilst his friend was judging of his experiences, he had been fair enough to throw his sufferings

also into the scale; for nothing in nature cries out if it feels no hurt, and stomach naturally revolts against what is

nauseous. He does wish for death, and he has the testimony of his conscience that it would be a happy release