Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind, and fill his stomach with burning heat?

“But Eliphaz the Temanite, answering, said. Having heard Job's words, Eliphaz does not respond to the depth of his statements but strives to reprove, in a slanderous manner, certain words spoken by Job, considering them according to the surface of the words themselves and not according to the depth of their meaning. And first indeed he reproves that which Job had said at the beginning of his speech, "and I too have a heart, just as you do, nor am I inferior to you," in which he indeed notes two things about him: first, empty glory, because he commends himself, and this is what he says: "will a wise man answer as though he were speaking into the wind?" — for one who composes words in order to catch glory seems to speak into the wind; second, wrath, because he had begun to speak reproachfully when he said "therefore you alone are men," etc., and therefore he adds "and fill his stomach with heat," that is, his mind with wrath? Then he reproves him for having said, "I desire to dispute with God," and again, "only do not do two things to me, and then I shall not be hidden from your face," etc., in which he notes him in many ways: first, of pride, because he contends against one greater than himself, and this is what he says: "you argue against him with words, who is not your equal"; second, of folly, because Eliphaz reckoned such a dispute harmful, whence he adds: "and you speak what is not expedient for you," namely, in disputing with God. And why it is not expedient to dispute with him, he shows by this: that a dispute of this kind seems to exclude two things that are very necessary, of which the first is the fear of God — for he who fears someone does not presume to contend with him, whence also Job had said above, "let not your strength terrify me," and therefore Eliphaz here adds, "as much as is in you, you have emptied fear," because, namely, you have striven to exclude the fear of God from yourself; the second is prayer to God — for it does not belong to the same man both to contend with someone and to entreat him, and therefore he adds, "and you have taken away," that is, removed, "prayers from before the Lord," contrary to what Eliphaz had said above, "wherefore I will entreat the Lord." Now Job had disputed with God not out of pride but out of confidence in the truth, but Eliphaz rashly judged that this proceeded from iniquity, whence he adds: "for your iniquity has taught your mouth"; and this appears from its effect, because you blaspheme, whence there follows: "and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers." For he who blasphemes is one who denies the justice of God, but he who disputes with God about his justice seems to imitate the tongue of a blasphemer: for to dispute about something seems to belong to one who doubts concerning it, and one who doubts is close to one who denies. Therefore Eliphaz, wishing to speak against Job's dispute, first says that Job spoke so manifestly ill that he needs no other reprover, but his own words indicate his malice, and this is what he says: "your own mouth will condemn you, and not I, and your own lips will answer you," as if to say: your words need no other to answer them, but they destroy themselves. He shows, however, in many ways that this dispute was not fitting: first, by a comparison of him to all creatures; for if any creature could contend with God, this would belong especially to the first and most excellent creature — which did not apply to Job, whence he says: "were you born the first man, and formed before all the hills," that is, that on this account it would belong to you, on behalf of the whole human race or of the whole of creation, to dispute with God? Second, by comparison to God: for he can fittingly dispute with someone about his deeds who knows the reason by which the one with whom he disputes operates, which indeed he can know in two ways — one, as learning it from him; the other, as judging the deeds of another by a superior wisdom; but neither applies to Job in the comparison of man to God, and this is what he says: "have you heard the counsel of God," as to the first, "and will his wisdom be inferior to you," as to the second, so that you could thus dispute with God? Third, by comparison to other men, to whom he does not appear more knowing, so that out of confidence in greater knowledge he might presume to dispute with God, whence he says: "what do you know," namely by faith or revelation, "that we do not know? What do you understand," by natural knowledge, "that we are ignorant of?" But because Job might boast of knowledge received from others, he adds: "and there are among us men both old," namely in dignity of knowledge and of life, "and ancient in time, much older than your fathers," that is, than your teachers from whom you received your knowledge, or, according to the letter, than your forebears; and by greater age he wishes greater wisdom to be understood, because through the experience of a long time someone is rendered wiser. Fourth, on the part of Job himself, he shows that his dispute with God was unfitting, and first indeed because it was harmful to him, explaining what he had said above, "you speak what is not expedient for you," whence he says: "is it a great thing that God should console you?" As if to say: it is easy for God to bring you back to a state of prosperity, since he himself wounds and heals, as he had said above, but your wicked words prevent this, by which you provoke the wrath of God against you all the more. Second, he shows that it was vain and proud, as if explaining what he had said above, "will a wise man answer as though he were speaking into the wind?" Whence he adds: "what does your heart lift you up," namely through pride, that you presume so far concerning your wisdom? And he shows the sign of pride, adding: "and, as if thinking great things, do you have astonished eyes?" For when someone considers certain great and wondrous things, he is brought into amazement, and from this it happens that he has astonished eyes. Third, he shows that his dispute was presumptuous and impious, explaining what he had said above, "you argue against him with words, who is not your equal," whence he adds: "why does your spirit swell against God, that you utter from your mouth words of this kind," namely by which you provoke God to a dispute? "What is man, that he should be spotless," etc. After Eliphaz had reproved Job for this, that he had provoked God to a dispute, which seemed to pertain to a presumption of wisdom, now he reproves him for a presumption of righteousness, because he had said, "if I am judged, I know that I shall be found just." This indeed Eliphaz attacks, first from the frailty of the human condition, through which man both with difficulty avoids sin, whence he says: "what is man, that he should be spotless?" And also with difficulty performs good, whence he adds: "and that he who is born of woman should appear just?" For, as it is said in Proverbs, "in abundant righteousness there is the greatest power," which does not seem to belong to one who has his origin from a weak thing. Second, he attacks the same point from a comparison with the higher creatures, whence he adds: "behold, among his holy ones," that is, the angels, "no one is unchangeable," namely by his own nature but only by the gift of divine grace, so that he could not be turned aside into sin; "and the heavens," which hold the highest place of purity among bodies, "are not clean in his sight," that is, in comparison to him, because they are material and corporeal and changeable. Third, he attacks the same point from Job's own condition, arguing as it were from the greater to the lesser: how much more abominable, through sin, and useless, through a defect of righteousness, is man, who drinks iniquity like water, that is, who commits iniquity for nothing and without any restraint; for he who drinks wine drinks with some restraint lest he become drunk, which is not observed in the drinking of water: in this, therefore, he notes of Job himself that he would easily incline to iniquity, just as someone easily and readily has it to drink water. "I will show you, hear me," etc. After Eliphaz had reproved Job for having provoked God to a dispute and for presuming upon his own righteousness, now he reproves him concerning the words that he had spoken in disputing, and especially those: "you think me your enemy"; "you show your power against a leaf that is carried off by the wind"; and "you have put me in the stocks," etc. And first he stirs up attention, saying, "I will show you," namely that which you were seeking from God, "hear me attentively"; but from whence he can show it, he makes clear by adding, "what I have seen," namely finding it out from his own understanding, "I will tell you"; and again he will not be ashamed to say what he has heard from others, bringing them forward as authorities, because "the wise confess and do not hide their fathers," namely those from whom they received wisdom — for it belongs to fools and the proud to ascribe to themselves what they have received from others. And why they are not to be hidden, he shows from their dignity when he adds, "to whom alone the land was given"; and this can indifferently and in the same sense be referred either to the wise or to the fathers of the wise, whom he wishes also to be understood as wise — for the land is said to be given to the wise alone because they are the lords of earthly goods, using them for their own good, whereas fools use them to their own harm, according to that word of Wisdom 14:11: "creatures were made a snare for the feet of the foolish." And again, to show their dignity, he adds, "and no stranger will pass through them," namely because those who are strangers to wisdom cannot be numbered in the company of the wise; or because the wise are not supplied by outsiders — for a stranger is said to pass through those who are conquered and subjected by some outsider. After, then, he had made his hearer attentive, he now strives to answer against the words of Job disputing, from which he understood two things: first, that Job lived in anguish and fear, as though God were persecuting him and laying snares for him, because he had said, "you think me your enemy" and "you have observed all my paths"; second, that he believed him to doubt concerning his own destruction, because he had said, "you write bitter things against me, and want to consume me for the sins of my youth": therefore he speaks first against the first point, and second against the second, at the place "he will dwell in desolate cities." He shows, then, first, from what root this suspicion arises in Job's heart: because from his impiety and will to harm, whence he says: "the wicked man is proud all his days," that is, he is lifted up against God and to the harm of men. Now by "his days" he means not the days of his life but the days of his power or prosperity; but because the will to harm is in man from himself, while the power is from God, he cannot know for how long a time the power to fulfill his impious will is given to him, whence there is added: "and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain." And from this uncertainty follow suspicion and fear, which he consequently describes, saying: "the sound of terror is always in his ears," because, namely, at any rumor whatsoever he fears that something is being prepared against him, trusting in no one, as it were, on account of which he adds: "and when there is peace, he suspects ambushes," that is, when no one is contriving anything against him, he nevertheless dreads everyone on account of his own impious will, by which he would be ready to harm everyone. Now when someone fears certain of his enemies, he can hope for deliverance, even if he succumbs for a time, through the help of friends; but he who trusts in no one but fears everyone cannot hope that he will be relieved after being oppressed, and therefore he adds: "he does not believe that he can return from darkness to light," that is, from a state of adversity to a state of prosperity, "looking about on every side for the sword," that is, seeing enemies threatening him from every direction; and he says this particularly on account of the fact that Job had said, "I am to be consumed like rottenness, and like a garment that is eaten by a moth," by which Eliphaz understood Job to despair of his own deliverance. Now it sometimes happens that some tyrant, even though he fears all outsiders, nevertheless has some intimates and household members with whom he associates in security; but when his malice is overflowing, he fears even his own household members with whom he lives, whence there follows: "when he has moved to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness is ready at hand," that is, the day of death, as if to say: he suspects ambushes not only in outward acts, in which he must necessarily associate with outsiders, but also in domestic acts, in eating and drinking and the like, believing that death is being prepared for him by his own household. And since he thus fears concerning everyone, he does not rest but always contrives something against those he fears, and thus the occasion of his fear grows, whence he adds: "tribulation will terrify him," namely, threatening him from others, "and anguish will surround him," namely, through fear of heart from every side, "as a king who is preparing for battle" — for a king who is preparing for battle is thus straitened by the fear of losing, and yet he still strives to destroy his enemies. By what merit, however, the wicked man and tyrant comes into such misery of fear, he shows, adding: "for he has stretched out his hand against God," by acting against God, "and has strengthened himself against the Almighty," that is, he has used the power given to him against God. And how he has acted against God, he shows, adding: "he ran against him with outstretched neck," that is, by being proud — for it is especially through pride that man resists God, to whom he ought to be subjected through humility, according to that word of Ecclesiasticus 10:14: "the beginning of man's pride is to apostatize from God"; and just as he who loves God is said to run in his way on account of the readiness of his will to serve him, so also the proud man is said to run against God on account of the presumption of his spirit. Now pride is accustomed to arise from an abundance of temporal things, and therefore there follows: "and he is armed with a fat neck," namely, by being proud against God — for fatness is caused by an abundance of humors, whence it signifies an abundance of temporal things. Now just as humility is the beginning of wisdom, so also pride is an impediment to wisdom, whence there follows: "fatness has covered his face" — for by the covering of the face is designated an impediment to knowledge. Nor is the opulence which is the cause of pride found only in him, but it is also derived to those beside him, whence there follows: "and fat hangs down from his sides." By all of which he intends to signify that Job fell from opulence into pride, through which he raised himself up against God and exercised tyranny over men, and therefore came into this suspicion, that he suspected God to be his adversary and one laying snares for him. "He will dwell in desolate cities," etc. After Eliphaz has shown the anguishes of fear which the wicked man suffers even while existing in a state of prosperity, he now speaks of the bitternesses by which, cast down into adversity, he is consumed, on account of the fact that Job had said, "you write bitter things against me, and want to consume me for the sins of my youth." Among the other bitternesses he sets down first that he is made a fugitive; now it is the custom of fugitives to seek hidden and uninhabited places, and therefore he says: "he will dwell in desolate cities and in deserted houses, which have been reduced to heaps" — for places of this kind are accustomed to be the shelters of fugitives. As the second, that he is despoiled of his riches, whence he says: "he will not be enriched," namely so as to acquire riches anew, "nor will his substance persist," so that he could retain riches previously acquired. As the third he sets down the impossibility of recovering, saying: "nor will he put his root into the earth" — for a tree, if it is uprooted and planted again, grows strong again if it puts its root into the earth, but if it cannot put its root into the earth, it cannot grow strong again. And as if explaining this, he adds: "he will not depart from the darkness," that is, from the state of adversity; and he assigns the reason for not returning to the light, adding: "the flame will dry up his branches" — for if a tree is uprooted, while the branches remain green there still remains hope of restoration, because they can be grafted in or planted, but if the branches are burned, no hope of recovery remains any further; now the branches of a man are his sons and other conjoined persons through whom a man sometimes rises again from a state of adversity, but Job's sons had been killed and his household had perished; and he himself was oppressed by infirmity, which he hints at, adding: "and he will be taken away by the breath of his own mouth," that is, by the pride of his own words, so that he could in no way hope for recovery, not even from God, whom he has offended by the pride of his words, whence he adds: "let him not believe, vainly deceived by error, that he is to be redeemed at any price," that is, that he is to be freed from tribulation by any help. As the fourth bitterness he sets down the shortening of life, whence he adds: "before his days are fulfilled he will perish," that is, he will die before the time of his life is completed, "and his hands will wither," that is, his sons and kinsmen will fail. And he adds an example, saying: "his cluster of grapes will be harmed, like a vine, in its first blossom" — which harm is indeed accustomed to happen from cold, whence it signifies external persecution; "and like an olive tree casting off its flower," which is accustomed to happen from some interior cause, whence it signifies the merit of the adversity on the part of the one who suffers it. Whence, concerning this merit, he adds: "for the congregation of the hypocrite is barren," that is, those things which are gathered together by the hypocrite are rendered fruitless, "and fire will devour the tabernacles of those who gladly receive gifts" — for it sometimes happens, by divine judgment, that things which have been ill acquired are easily consumed; and he says this, noting Job for rapacity and hypocrisy, as though adversity had befallen him on account of sins of this kind. And he adds a third sin, namely deceitfulness, whence there follows: "he has conceived sorrow," that is, he devised beforehand in his heart how he might inflict sorrow upon another; and the offspring of this conception indeed is the harm unjustly inflicted, whence there follows: "and has brought forth iniquity." He subsequently adds the manner in which he accomplishes this, saying: "and his womb prepares deceits" — for it belongs to hypocrites to inflict harm on others not openly but deceitfully; and by "womb" is understood the heart, in which spiritual conceptions occur, just as bodily conceptions occur in the womb.”

“Should a wise man utter vain knowledge,.... As Job had been thought to be, or as he himself thought he was, which he might say sarcastically; or as he really was, not worldly wise, nor merely wise in things natural, but in things divine; being one that had the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom itself; believed in Christ, and walked wisely and circumspectly before men; now it is not becoming such a man to utter vain knowledge, or such knowledge as is like the wind, or, as the Targum, windy knowledge; empty, not solid, nor satisfying, but swells and puffs up, and is knowledge falsely so called; but it does not appear that Job did utter such vain and fruitless things as deserved to be compared to the wind: and fill his belly with the east wind; which is noisy and blusterous, rapid and forcible, bearing all before it, and very infectious in hot countries; and such notions Job, according to Eliphaz, satisfied himself with, and endeavoured to insinuate them into others; which were nothing but great swelling words of vanity, and tended to subvert the faith of men, and overthrow all religion, and were very unwholesome, infectious, and ruinous to the minds of men, as suggested.”

“Heat. Hebrew, “east wind,” (Haydock) or give vent to passion. (Haydock) — Eliphaz now rebukes Job without any reserve. (Calmet) — He was perhaps displeased at the comparison used by the latter, chap. xiii. 4. Baldad had also hinted that Job’s discourse was nothing but wind, chap. viii. 2. (Haydock) — Being unable to answer his arguments, he reviles him as an enemy of God. (Worthington)”