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Job 32:11-12
11 Behold, I waited [yachal] for your words [dabar]; I gave ear ['azan] to your reasons [tabuwn], whilst ye searched out [chaqar] what to say [millah].
12 Yea, I attended [biyn] unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced [yakach] Job ['Iyowb], or that answered [`anah] his words ['emer]: KJV-Interlinear
11 'Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, While you pondered what to say. 12 'I even paid close attention to you, Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words. NASB
First a quick review of the backgrounds of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, from our study of Job 2:11.
Eliphaz is the first of the three friends. His name means 'God is fine gold,' or 'God of strength,' with emphasis on the earthly nature of these meanings. Eliphaz is the most prominent of the three friends. His speeches demonstrate greater weight and originality. He is a Temanite, which means southerner. His arguments represent the best wisdom of the world. His wisdom is described as the result of ages of thought and experience, Job 15:17-19, of long and ripened study, 5:27, and he claims the ability of revelation.
Bildad, is the second of the three friends. His name means, 'son of contention,' or 'Bel has loved.' Bel means, 'wisdom of the distant East.' Though the location of his homeland is not known, it apparently is east of Job's home. Bildad's speeches generally echo the words of Eliphaz, but are delivered with more severity and sternness.
The third friend is Zophar. Zophar means 'chirping' or 'to leap.' His home, too, is uncertain as to its location, however Naamah was place to the west of Arabia, near the place of the future Judah. He is the most impulsive and inflexible of the three. He speaks only twice. His words are intense and are somewhat reckless exaggerations. He will be the first to accuse Job of wickedness. Like the rest of the friends, Zophar promises peace and restoration on condition of Job's repentance.
These three friends collectively express the wisdom of human reason, from the point of view of age, from experience, and from observation.
Now Elihu is going to thoroughly trounce their sources of wisdom and their wisdom itself.
He, being younger than they, has a greater patience than the friends, and he seems to have a great deal of concentration with respect to listening to what is being said.
Elihu has been present throughout the entire discussion. He heard everything that was said. He heard every accusation, every implication, every basis of reasoning. Elihu heard all of Jobs responses as well as his every complaint and lecture on divine viewpoint.
Elihu heard no valid response from any of the three friends, and certainly no proof, with which they could validate their comments. And even though this study today will be a short one, it will lay the groundwork for a very important principle of truth which we will get to tomorrow.
Just remember that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, represent wisdom as seen through the eyes of the world.
