1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
<html><b>Eliphaz’s Answer</b><br><b>Shall a wise man raise his voice with opinions of wind</b> It is puzzling. Should one who is wise answer and raise his voice with an opinion of wind and futility?</html>
<html><b>To debate over a matter from which he derives no benefit</b> Heb. יסכון. To debate over a matter from which he will derive no benefit, like (I Kings 1:2), “and she shall be to him a warmer (סכנת),” and like (Ecc. 10:9), “is warmed (יסכן) by it,” i.e., he will derive benefit from it.</html>
<html><b>Surely you</b> Surely you, who are very wise, will do away with fear by the multitude of your words. <b>and increase speech</b> Heb. ותגרע, like (below 36:27) “He will increase (יגרע) the drops of water,” and like (ibid. 15:8), “and [did] you increase (ותגרע) wisdom to yourself.”</html>
<html><b>For your iniquity teaches</b> Your evil inclination [teaches] your mouth to speak such words, but you should have chosen the tongue of the crafty.</html>
<html><b>Let your own mouth condemn you and not I</b> That is to say: Give me an answer to my question; the result will be that your own mouth will condemn you, for it better for me that your mouth should condemn you and not I. Now this is my question:</html>
<html><b>Were you born before Adam</b> Heb. הראישון. Were you born before Adam? This “hey” serves as the interrogative expression. Therefore, it is vowelized with a “hattaf pattah” and its meaning is: Were you born the first one, before Adam who was formed from the earth, so that you knew to fulfill all the wisdom of the commandments of the Creator?</html>
<html><b>and increase</b> And bring down much [wisdom] from above to descend upon you?</html>
<html><b>more</b> of more days than you father.</html>
<html><b>Are God’s consolations little for you</b> with which the Rock benefited you until now for many days, and His good thing that He gave you with pleasantness and gentleness, viz. His fatness [i.e., plenty]. <b>He gave…gently</b> Heb. לאט, he gave gently. This is a verb, not a noun. Therefore, it is vowelized half with a “kamatz” and half with a “pattah.”</html>
<html><b>teach you</b> Heb. יקחך, teach you, as in (Deut. 32:2), “so that my teaching (לקחי) may drip like rain.” <b>hint</b> Heb. ירזמון, like יִרְמְזוּן ; like שַׂלְמָה שִׂמְלָה (Exod. 22:8, 26).</html>
<html><b>What is man that he should be innocent</b> What is his strength, that he can be innocent against the Holy One, blessed be He?</html>
<html><b>and the heavens</b> the host of the heavens. <b>pure</b> Heb. זכו, shine. Every expression of זַךְ is splendor.</html>
<html><b>Surely</b> Heb. אף, how much more. <b>and impure</b> Heb. ונאלח,abominable and mixed. Similarly (Ps. 53: 4), “Are they all dross, altogether filthy (נאלחו)?”</html>
<html><b>That the wise men tell</b> and confess their transgression. <b>and do not hide</b> their iniquity from their fathers. This is what I saw, and behold, I will tell you. Now where did I see it? Judah confessed and was not ashamed in the incident of Tamar. Reuben confessed and was not ashamed in the incident of Bilhah. And what was their reward?</html>
<html><b>To them alone the land was given</b> As a reward for this, Judah merited eternal kingship, and both took their share of the heritage, and they were not driven out of their heritage because of their iniquity, since they confessed. <b>and no stranger passed in their midst</b> when Moses came to bless them, as it is stated (Deut. 33:6f): “Reuben shall live and not die etc. And is this for Judah?” <b>And no stranger passed in their midst</b> in the heritage of the future that is apportioned in the Book of Ezekiel (48). But…</html>
<html><b>All the days of a wicked man</b> who does not repent of his sin and does not confess his transgressions, all his days… <b>he mourns</b> and grieves over his certainty of being requited for his evil that he committed. All the number of years that were laid up for the oppressor, he mourns. The word מתחולל is an expression of mourning, but I did not hear this.</html>
<html><b>The voice of terrors is in his ears</b> saying that the time of his retribution has arrived. <b>in peace</b> And when he lives in peace, then the robber will come upon him.</html>
<html><b>and he is destined to the sword</b> Heb. וצפוי. He is destined to the sword, and his eye to wander for bread—where should he find it?</html>
<html><b>He wanders</b> i.e., he is assured of wandering. <b>He knows</b> in fact. <b>that…is ready</b> and prepared to come to his hand, i.e., to him, and with him is the day of darkness. <b>at his hand</b> Like (Gen. 32: 14), “from what came into his hand.”</html>
<html><b>it overpowers him</b> The anguish is stronger than him and it will prevail over him. <b>like a king destined for the inferno</b> Heb. לכידור. I have not found anything similar to it, but it may be interpreted by means of the interchangeable letters, “resh” with “dalet,” like (Gen. 10:3), “Ashkenaz and Riphath” in the Torah, and in Chronicles (I, 1:6): “Ashkenaz and Diphath;” and similarly (Gen. 10: 4). “Kittim and Dodanim” Here too, לַכִּידוֹר is equivalent to לַכִּידוֹד, to the king who is destined to burn (ליקוד) in the fire of Gehinnom; i.e., Sennacherib, about whom the prophet prophesied (Isa. 30: 33): “For Tophteh has been set up from yesterday, that too has been prepared for the king,” to burn his legions; (Isa. 10:16), “a burning shall burn.” Similar to this (below 41:11), “sparks of (כידודי) fire go forth”; either brands or flames.</html>
<html><b>He runs towards Him</b> He would run toward the Creator with his neck high and upright, in order to provoke Him. <b>the thickness of the body of his shields</b> With the power of his strength. <b>the body of</b> an expression of height, as (Ezek 16:24), “and you built yourself a platform (גב).”</html>
<html><b>collops of fat on his loins</b> He made a mouth on his loins, for his fat and the thickness of his blubber is folded on his loins, and they look like a sort of mouth.</html>
<html><b>And he dwelt in ruined cities</b> So is the custom of haughty people, to build ruins for a name.</html>
<html><b>and his possessions will not remain</b> They will not be preserved for long. <b>neither will…bend</b> Heb. יטה, [like] ינטה, like (I Sam. 8:3), “and they turned (ויטו) after gain.” They themselves turned (וינטו). It means that they did not bend from heaven to earth. <b>the gratification of their desire</b> Heb. מנלם, the granting of their desire and the fulfillment of their plans. It is like two words, מן להם. מן means their preparation, like (Dan. 1:5), “And the king prepared (וימן) for them.” Similar to it is (I Sam. 13:21), “a file (הפצירה פים),” in two words. [The analogy is obscure.] (Isa. 33:7), “Behold I will appear to them (אראלם),” which Jonathan renders: I will appear to them. So it appears to me, and Menachem supports me. Another explanation: מִנְלָם is an expression of (Isa. 33:1), “when you finish (כנלתך) dealing treacherously,” in which the “nun” is a radical that sometimes is omitted, an expression of completion. It will not bend to the ground to be freed from a decree of destruction.</html>
<html><b>and he will turn away</b> from the world. <b>by the breath of His mouth</b> Of the Ruler of the world. This is an ellipsis, Others interpret this to mean: because of the breath of his mouth that was guilty of speaking lies.</html>
<html><b>will not believe</b> He who was misled by futility will not believe that his recompense and his toil shall be futility, like (Ruth 4:7), “and concerning exchange (התמורה).”</html>
<html><b>Before his time</b> his recompense will be complete [and will cease] from growing and prospering anymore, like (Gen. 50:3), “were fulfilled for him,” i.e., they were completed. <b>and his branches</b> His bent-over branches. All branches of a tree resemble a dome.</html>
<html><b>They conceive trouble and bear iniquity</b> They commit evil and are recompensed. The recompense of the birth is in accordance with the conception. <b>prepares</b> makes ready. <b>deceit</b> Their desire shall be converted for them into deceit.</html>