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Commentary on Job 16 verses 1–5
Both Job and his friends took the same way that disputants commonly take, which is to undervalue one another's sense, and wisdom, and management. The longer the saw of contention is drawn the hotter it grows; and the beginning of this sort of strife is as the letting forth of water; therefore leave it off before it be meddled with. Eliphaz had represented Job's discourses as idle, and unprofitable, and nothing to the purpose; and Job here gives his the same character. Those who are free in passing such censures must expect to have them retorted; it is easy, it is endless: but cui bono? - what good does it do? It will stir up men's passions, but will never convince their judgments, nor set truth in a clear light. Job here reproves Eliphaz, 1. For needless repetitions (v. 2): "I have heard many such things. You tell me nothing but what I knew before, nothing but what you yourselves have before said; you offer nothing new; it is the same thing over and over again." This Job thinks as great a trial of his patience as almost any of his troubles. The inculcating of the same things thus by an adversary is indeed provoking and nauseous, but by a teacher it is often necessary, and must not be grievous to the learner, to whom precept must be upon precept, and line upon line. Many things we have heard which it is good for us to hear again, that we may understand and remember them better, and be more affected with them and influenced by them. 2. For unskilful applications. They came with a design to comfort him, but they went about it very awkwardly, and, when they touched Job's case, quite mistook it: "Miserable comforters are you all, who, instead of offering any thing to alleviate the affliction, add affliction to it, and make it yet more grievous." The patient's case is sad indeed when his medicines are poisons and his physicians his worst disease. What Job says here of his friends is true of all creatures, in comparison with God, and, one time or other, we shall be made to see it and own it, that miserable comforters are they all. When we are under convictions of sin, terrors of conscience, and the arrests of death, it is only the blessed Spirit that can comfort effectually; all others, without him, do it miserably, and sing songs to a heavy heart, to no purpose. 3. For endless impertinence. Job wishes that vain words might have an end, Job 16:3. If vain, it were well that they were never begun, and the sooner they are ended the better. Those who are so wise as to speak to the purpose will be so wise as to know when they have said enough of a thing and when it is time to break off. 4. For causeless obstinacy. What emboldeneth thee, that thou answerest? It is a great piece of confidence, and unaccountable, to charge men with those crimes which we cannot prove upon them, to pass a judgment on men's spiritual state upon the view of their outward condition, and to re-advance those objections which have been again and again answered, as Eliphaz did. 5. For the violation of the sacred laws of friendship, doing by his brother as he would not have been done by and as his brother would not have done by him. This is a cutting reproof, and very affecting, Job 16:4, Job 16:5. (1.) He desires his friends, in imagination, for a little while, to change conditions with him, to put their souls in his soul's stead, to suppose themselves in misery like him and him at ease like them. This was no absurd or foreign supposition, but what might quickly become true in fact. So strange, so sudden, frequently, are the vicissitudes of human affairs, and such the turns of the wheel, that the spokes soon change places. Whatever our brethren's sorrows are, we ought by sympathy to make them our own, because we know not how soon they may be so. (2.) He represents the unkindness of their conduct towards him, by showing what he could do to them if they were in his condition: I could speak as you do. It is an easy thing to trample upon those that are down, and to find fault with what those say that are in extremity of pain and affliction: "I could heap up words against you, as you do against me; and how would you like it? how would you bear it?" (3.) He shows them what they should do, by telling them what in that case he would do (Job 16:5): "I would strengthen you, and say all I could to assuage your grief, but nothing to aggravate it." It is natural to sufferers to think what they would do if the tables were turned. But perhaps our hearts may deceive us; we know not what we should do. We find it easier to discern the reasonableness and importance of a command when we have occasion to claim the benefit of it than when we have occasion to do the duty of it. See what is the duty we owe to our brethren in their affliction. [1.] We should say and do all we can to strengthen them, suggesting to them such considerations as are proper to encourage their confidence in God and to support their sinking spirits. Faith and patience are the strength of the afflicted; whatever helps these graces confirms the feeble knees. [2.] To assuage their grief - the causes of their grief, if possible, or at least their resentment of those causes. Good words cost nothing; but they may be of good service to those that are in sorrow, not only as it is some comfort to them to see their friends concerned for them, but as they may be so reminded of that which, through the prevalency of grief, was forgotten. Though hard words (we say) break no bones, yet kind words may help to make broken bones rejoice; and those have the tongue of the learned that know how to speak a word in season to the weary.
Since Eliphaz speaks so, as if the matter were of extraordinary importance, and talks as if his speech derived from the wisdom of the ancestors, Job also resumes the argument he had used at the beginning. Is what you say not evident, he says? Therefore, since you speak superficially and utter what comes to your mind without checking your words, do not be annoyed with me if I express the thoughts of my mind.
You are “comforters” but very wicked ones. No word of yours is for the good, but they are all for the bad. You teach, you give advice, and you propose not how ordeals must be avoided, but how [new] ordeals will be obtained from affliction! [You do not teach] how a storm must be abated but how harmful agitations can be raised from peace.
2. For the Elect often hear the wrong things of others, as if they belonged to themselves, and guilt is charged upon them by those, by whom the charges so fastened on them are done. Now by this reply, blessed Job denotes that season of the Church, when, under oppression from her adversaries, she is looked upon as cast to the ground by their temporal power. Whence it follows; burthensome comforters are ye all. Whether they be heretics, or whether any of the wicked, when they see the good travailing in adversity, herein that they aim to console them, they endeavour to prompt wrong things to their minds. Whence not without reason their consoling is rendered burthensome to the mind of good men, in that amongst words of sweetness, they are bent to proffer the poison of error, and whilst in seeming they lighten their griefs by soothing words, they are in haste to put upon them a load of sin. But Elect persons, even when they are bereft of temporal glory, do not lose the forcibleness of interior judgment. For they are taught both to endure crosses without, and yet unimpaired within to uphold what is right without being daunted.
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SUMMARY
Job 16:2 captures the patriarch Job's profound exasperation and stinging indictment of his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. After enduring unimaginable personal devastation, physical agony, and social ostracization, Job confronts their relentless and repetitive accusations, declaring their attempts at consolation not only futile but actively detrimental. He labels them "miserable comforters," a declaration that marks a pivotal moment where Job's patience with their rigid, unhelpful theology completely breaks, highlighting the deep chasm between his lived experience of suffering and their simplistic, often accusatory, explanations.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 16:2 employs several potent literary devices to convey Job's profound anguish and frustration. The most prominent is Irony, as those who came to "comfort" Job become the source of further misery, turning the very concept of comfort on its head. Their attempts to console are so misguided that they achieve the opposite effect. Hyperbole is also present in Job's declaration, "many such things," emphasizing the overwhelming and repetitive nature of their unhelpful counsel, though it likely reflects his genuine feeling of being inundated. Furthermore, the verse functions as a powerful Lament, a common genre in biblical literature where an individual expresses deep sorrow, complaint, and often a plea to God or a denunciation of others. Job's words are a raw outpouring of his emotional state, combining sorrow with indignation.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 16:2 stands as a profound theological statement on the nature of suffering, human wisdom, and divine justice. It challenges the simplistic, mechanistic view of retribution theology prevalent in Job's time and often echoed in various forms today—the idea that all suffering is a direct, proportional punishment for sin. Job's friends represent this flawed theology, failing to grasp the multifaceted nature of God's ways and the possibility of righteous suffering. The verse implicitly calls for a more compassionate, empathetic, and humble approach to those in distress, recognizing that human understanding of God's purposes is limited and that true comfort often lies in presence and solidarity rather than ready answers or condemnation. It foreshadows the later divine revelation in the book, where God Himself does not explain Job's suffering in terms of sin but rather asserts His own sovereign wisdom and power, putting human wisdom in its proper, limited place.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job's desperate cry in this verse serves as a timeless and poignant lesson for all who seek to minister to the suffering. It compels us to examine our own hearts and approaches when encountering those in pain. Are we quick to offer theological explanations or judgments, or do we prioritize empathetic listening and compassionate presence? True comfort does not always involve providing answers, especially when God's purposes are inscrutable to us. Instead, it often requires the humility to sit with someone in their pain, to lament with them, and to offer unwavering support without imposing our own frameworks or demanding confessions. We are called to be channels of God's comfort, which is characterized by grace, understanding, and unwavering love, rather than adding to another's burden with ill-timed advice or condemnation. This verse reminds us that sometimes, the most profound act of comfort is simply to be present and to bear witness to another's suffering without attempting to "fix" it or explain it away.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does Job mean by "miserable comforters"?
Answer: When Job calls his friends "miserable comforters," he is expressing profound frustration and despair. The Hebrew phrase, ‘āmāl naḥamim, literally means "troublesome consolers" or "comforters of misery." He is not merely saying they are ineffective or unhelpful; he is asserting that their attempts at comfort have actively increased his suffering. Instead of alleviating his distress, their repetitive accusations, rigid theological explanations (insisting his suffering must be due to hidden sin), and lack of empathy have become an additional burden, adding to his misery rather than comforting him. Their "comfort" is burdensome, grievous, and actively harmful, highlighting the tragic irony of their presence.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 16:2, with Job's lament against his "miserable comforters," finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus, the true and perfect Comforter. Unlike Job's friends, who offered condemnation and simplistic explanations, Jesus embodies perfect empathy and understanding of human suffering. He is the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief, who willingly entered into the depths of human pain, experiencing betrayal, abandonment, and physical agony far beyond anything Job endured. His suffering was not for His own sin, but for the sins of the world, demonstrating that righteous suffering can have redemptive purpose, a concept utterly foreign to Job's friends. Furthermore, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, the Helper or Comforter, who does not accuse or condemn but indwells believers, offering true solace, guidance, and strength in affliction. The comfort offered by Christ and His Spirit is not burdensome but liberating, not accusatory but grace-filled, enabling believers to endure suffering with hope and even to comfort others with the comfort they themselves have received from God. Thus, Job's cry for true comfort is ultimately answered in the compassionate presence and redemptive work of Jesus, who truly understands and truly heals.