Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 2:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 2:11. Job's three friends — The first was Eliphaz the Temanite; or, as the Septuagint has it, Ελιφαζ ὁ Θαιμανων βασιλευς, Eliphaz the king on the Thaimanites. Eliphaz was one of the sons of Esau; and Teman, of Eliphaz, Genesis 36:10-11. Teman was a city of Edom, Jeremiah 49:7-20; Ezekiel 25:13; Amos 1:11-12.

Bildad the Shuhite — Or, as the Septuagint, Βαλδαδ ὁ Συχεων τυραννος, Baldad, tyrant of the Suchites. Shuah was the son of Abraham by Keturah: and his posterity is reckoned among the Easterns. It is supposed he should be placed with his brother Midian, and his brother's sons Sheba and Dedan. See Genesis 25:2-3. Dedan was a city of Edom, see Jeremiah 49:8, and seems to have been situated in its southern boundary, as Teman was in its western. Ezekiel 25:13.

Zophar the Naamathite — Or, according to the Septuagint, Σωφαρ Μιναιων Βασιλευς, Sophar king of the Minaites. He most probably came from that Naamah, which was bordering upon the Edomites to the south and fell by lot to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:21-41. These circumstances, which have already been mentioned in the introduction, prove that Job must have dwelt in the land of Edom, and that all his friends dwelt in Arabia Petraea, or in the countries immediately adjacent. That some of those Eastern people were highly cultivated, we have at least indirect proof in the case of the Temanites, Jeremiah 49:7: Concerning Edom thus saith the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished? They are celebrated also in Baruch 3:22, 23. Speaking of wisdom he says: It hath not been heard of in Chanaan; neither hath it been seen in Theman. The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the expounders of fables, and searchers out of understanding, none of these have known the way of wisdom. It is evident enough from these quotations that the inhabitants of those districts were celebrated for their knowledge; and the sayings of Job's three friends are proofs that their reputation for wisdom stood on a very solid foundation.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Job’s loathsome disease (2:1-13)

Not accepting defeat, Satan still claimed that Job was concerned only for himself. He would sacrifice his possessions, and even his family, provided he himself avoided suffering. He would sacrifice their skin to save his own (2:1-5). God again accepted Satan’s challenge, this time allowing him to attack Job’s body (6). Satan therefore afflicted Job with the most painful and loathsome disease. The faith of Job’s wife failed, but Job’s faith did not, even though he was treated worse than a diseased dog. He was driven from the town and forced to live at the public garbage dump (7-10).
Those who had been Job’s friends in his days of prosperity deserted him. Only three, all of them (like Job) seekers of wisdom, came to comfort him. When they saw his suffering they were so overcome with grief that for several days they could say nothing, only weep (11-13).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JOB'S THREE FRIENDS COME TO COMFORT HIM

"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great."

This paragraph reveals that Job's fame was known throughout the East, that the disastrous reversal of his status in the eyes of men was widely known, that there were true friends who loved him, and who decided to come and comfort him. However, with friends like this, Job did not need any enemies! They considered the calamities which had befallen him as due to his sins; and, in the last analysis, their purpose was to persuade him to confess his wickedness and repent! Nothing could have brought any greater distress to Job than that. His friends were anchored in their false opinions by some very grave theological misconceptions. It was their view that, in this present life, righteous people were happy, healthy and prosperous, and that only the wicked were subjected to the type of disasters that had come to Job. How wrong they were!

"Eliphaz the Temanite" This man is supposed to have been an Edomite, a people praised by many in antiquity for their wisdom. Whatever wisdom he had was purely of a worldly nature; and his false theories were utterly useless in his conversations with Job. "He was the most important of the three friends, their leader and spokesman, as indicated by the fact that the speeches of the other two were largely echoes and reiterations of the speeches of Eliphaz."John Franklin Genung, in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago, Illinois: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), p. 934.

"Bildad the Shuhite" The name Shuhite is supposed to be derived from Shuah, one of the sons of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2). "The Assyrian area of Shuhu was located south of Haran near the middle of the Euphrates valley and might have been the land of Bildad."Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 234. This second friend of Job gave an absolutely horrible picture of a wicked man in his second speech, which he unmercifully applied to his "friend" Job!

"Zophar the Naamathite" "The name Zophar is unknown outside of Job; and neither a tribe nor a land of Naamah is mentioned anywhere else."Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, op. cit., p. 95.

"They lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not" Their being able to see Job at some distance has been received as evidence that Job's place "among the ashes" (Job 2:8) was actually atop the garbage mound usually found adjacent to ancient cities, where rubbish and dried sewerage were burned. What a change had come upon Job. Once the wealthiest man in the East, he sat at the entrance to the city; but now he was an outcast, suffering miserably, despised and rejected by nearly everyone. No wonder his friends knew him not.

"They sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven" The experts at finding contradictions in the Bible think they have one here. "Some find a contradiction between putting dust on their heads and sprinkling it toward heaven."Ibid., footnote. It is easily explained by the understanding that they cast the dust toward heaven, letting it fall upon their heads. How would you sprinkle dust on your head? Any dust cast heavenward would fall, would it not?

"They sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights" This, in all probability, means that Job's disease was not leprosy.

"And none spake a word unto him" Some of the scholars suppose that this means that they sat silently for seven days and seven nights; but it appears more probable that the seven days and seven nights was the time required for the entire speeches and exchanges of the whole Book of Job. Certainly the arrangement of our English text allows such an interpretation. These words therefore could mean that, "They spake not a word unto him," until Job opened the conversation.

Rawlinson wrote that, "The long silence may be accounted for by the fact that among the Jews, and among Orientals generally, it was a point of decorum, and one dictated by a fine and true feeling, not to speak to a person in deep affliction until he gave some intimation of a desire to be comforted."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7d, p. 36.

It is amazing how many "purposes" of the Book of Job are mentioned by commentators; and perhaps another one might also be considered. Job's epic sorrows and sufferings might have been designed by the Lord for the purpose of convincing Satan that hardships and sufferings do not constitute the best means for weakening and destroying faith.

It is the opposite, namely, such things as popularity, wealth, power and worldly glory that are the most likely human conditions that lead to the loss of faith and rejection of God. This minister of God's Word has witnessed many examples of Christians who were faithful as long as they were poor, but who, when they became wealthy, delivered themselves unto evil without reservation.

By this permission which God granted Satan to test Job with every possible mortal sorrow, Satan learned the futility of such methods of destroying faith. Then Satan shifted his evil campaign against the faithful away from the plan that failed against Job.

If this is allowed to be true, it justifies, absolutely, all of the sufferings that Job endured. All mankind have benefited from them ever since.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Now when Job’s three friends heard - It would seem from this that these men were his particular friends.

They came every one from his own place - His residence. This was the result of agreement or appointment thus to meet together.

Eliphaz the Temanite - This was the most prominent of his friends. In the ensuing discussion he regularly takes the lead, advances the most important and impressive considerations, and is followed and sustained by the others. The Septuagint renders this Ελιφὰζ ὁ Θαιμαινῶν βασιλεὺς Elifaz ho Thaimainōn basileus - Eliphaz, the king of the Themanites. The Hebrew does not intimate that he held any office or rank. The word rendered “Temanite” תימני têymânı̂y is a patronymic from תמן têmân, meaning properly “at the right hand,” and then “the South.” The Hebrew geographers are always represented as looking to the East, and not toward the North, as we do; and hence, with them, the right hand denotes the South. Teman or Theman was a son of Eliphaz, and grandson of Esau; see Genesis 36:15, where he is spoken of as “duke” or prince אלוּף 'alûph a head of a family or tribe, a chieftain.

He is supposed to have lived on the east of Idumea. Eusebius places Thaeman in Arabia Petrara, five miles from Petra (see the notes at Isaiah 16:1), and says that there was a Roman garrison there. The Temanites were cclebrated for wisdom. “Is wisdom no more in Teman?” Jeremiah 49:7. The country was distinguished also for producing men of strength: “And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed;” Obadiah 1:9. That this country was a part of Idumea is apparent, not only from the fact that Teman was a descendant of Esau, who settled there, but from several places in the Scriptures. Thus, in Ezekiel 25:13, it is said, “I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and I will make it desolate from Toman, and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.” In Amos 1:12, Teman is mentioned as in the vicinity of Bozrah, at one time the capital of Idumea: “But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah;” see the notes at Isaiah 21:14. The inhabitants of this country were distinguished in early times for wisdom, and particularly for that kind of wisdom which is expressed in close observation of men and manners, and the course of events, and which was expressed in proverbs. Thus, they are mentioned in the book of Baruch, 3:23: “The merchants of Meran and of Theman, the authors of fables, and searchers out of understanding,” οἱ μυθολόγοι καὶ οἱ ἐκζητηταὶ τῆς συνέσεως hoi muthologoi kai hoi ekzētētai tēs suneseōs.

And Bildad the Shuhite - The second speaker uniformly in the following argument. The Septuagint renders this, “Bildad the sovereign of the Saucheans,” Σαυχέων τύραννος Saucheōn turannos. Shuah שׁוּח shûach (meaning a pit) was the name of a son of Abraham, by Keturah, and also of an Arabian tribe, descended from him, Genesis 25:2. “The country of the Shuhites,” says Gesenius, “was not improbably the same with the Σακκαία Sakkaia of Ptolemy, v. 15, eastward of Batanea.” But the exact situation of the Shubites is unknown. It is difficult to determine the geography of the tribes of Arabia, as many of them are migratory and unsettled. It would seem that Bildad did not reside very far from Eliphaz, for they made an “agreement” to go and visit Job.

And Zophar the Naamathite - An inhabitant of Naamah, whose situation is unknown. The Septuagint renders this, “Zophar, king of the Minaians - Μιναίων βασιλεύς Minaiōn basileus. A place by the name of Naamah is mentioned in Joshua 15:41, as in the limits of the tribe of Judah. But this was a considerable distance from the residence of Job, and it is not probable that Zophar was far from that region. Conjecture is useless as to the place where he lived. The Editor of the Pictorial Bible, however, supposes that Zophar was from the town in Judah mentioned in Joshua 15:41. He observes that this town is “mentioned in a list of the uttermost cities of Judah’s lot, ‘toward the coast of Edom southward; ‘ it is further among that portion of those towns that lay ‘in the valley’ Joshua 15:33, wbich valley is the same that contained Joktheel Joshua 15:38, which is supposed to have been Petra. Naamah was probably, therefore, in or near the Ghor or valley which extends from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba. - These considerations,” he adds, “seem to establish the conclusion that the scene of this book is laid in the land of Edom.” In the first part of this verse, a remarkable addition occurs in the Chaldee paraphrase. - It is as follows: “And the three friends of Job heard of all the evil which had come upon him, and when they saw the trees of his gardens (Chaldean, “Paradise” פרדסיהון) that they were dried up, and the bread of his support that it was turned into living flesh (לבסרא אתהפך סעודתחון ולחם חיא), and the wine of his drink turned into blood (אתהפך משתיחון וחמר לדמא).”

Here is evidently the doctrine of “transubstantiation,” the change of bread into flesh, and of wine into blood, and bears the marks of having been interpolated by some friend of the papacy. But when or by whom it was done is unknown. It is a most stupid forgery. The evident intention of it was to sustain the doctrine of transubstantiation, by the plea that it was found far back in the times of Job, and that it could not be regarded, therefore, as an absurdity. To what extent it has ever been used by the advocates of that doctrine, I have no means of ascertaining. Its interpolation here is a pretty sure proof of the conviction of the author of it that the doctrine is not found in any fair interpretation of the Bible.

For they had made an appointment together - They had agreed to go together, and they evidently set out on the journey together. The Chaldee - or someone who has interpolated a passage in the Chaldee - has introduced a circumstance in regard to the design of their coming, which savors also of the Papacy. It is as follows: “They came each one from his place, and for the merit of this they were freed from the place destined to them in Gehenna,” a passage evidently intended to defend the doctrine of “purgatory,” by the authority of the ancient Chaldee Paraphrase.

To come to mourn with him, and to comfort him - To show the appropriate sympathy of friends in a time of special calamity. They did not come with an intention to reproach him, or to charge him with being a hypocrite.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

So back again to the heavenly scene.

Another day and again the sons of God are presenting themselves before Jehovah, and Satan is coming with them to present himself before the LORD ( Job 2:1 ).

I have to say concerning Satan, I do... well, what do you say, admire? This guy has a lot of chutzpah. I mean, to go in and stand before God, to present himself before God takes quite a bit.

And God again said, [Hey,] where have you been? ( Job 2:2 )

As though God doesn't know.

He said, [Oh, I've been messing around down] in the earth going to and fro, walking up and down in it. God said, [Hey,] have you considered my servant Job? Good man. He's upright. He loves good; he hates evil ( Job 2:2-3 ).

Satan, having failed the first philosophy of Job proving to be false, had his second philosophy. Now in the second philosophy, Satan shows his cunning understanding of human nature, because the psychologists tell us that one of man's strongest, most basic instincts is that of self-preservation. It's probably the strongest instinct that you have - self-preservation. And so Satan recognizing this to be true said,

Skin for skin, all that a man has will he give for his life ( Job 2:4 ).

"You put limitations on what I could do to him. You didn't let me touch him. Now you let me get at him and he'll curse You to Your face." So God said, "All right, you may touch him, but spare his life." Again, God placing the restrictions and limitations upon that which Satan can do.

Now I believe that God does place upon Satan the limitations. The Bible says that God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear. You see, God has put the limitations. Satan didn't go so far but God says, "All right, that's as far as you go." Now as far as I'm concerned, God lets him go too far. I would just as soon God bottled the guy up and ship him off into outer space somewhere. But yet, he is acting really under the government of God, because God places the restrictions and the limitations upon what he can do.

Brings up a problem. If God does control Satan, then why doesn't God bottle him up and ship him out of the universe? If God one day is going to cast him and his followers into this place scripturally that is known as Gehenna, into outer darkness, then why doesn't God do it now and save us all the miseries? Why does Satan have the liberties that God has granted to him? The power that God has granted to him. Why did God allow him to come into the Garden of Eden? Why does God allow him the freedom to war against us? It's all involved in why did God create you?

God created you in order that He might have an object to love and from which He might receive love. Now, in order to receive meaningful love it has to be a free will involved. You cannot be a robot. You've got to have a free will, the capacity and power of choice in order that your love for God might truly be a meaningful love. And thus, God gave us the capacity of choice, the free will. But what value is that unless there's something to choose? To have the power of choice and yet nothing to choose would be totally meaningless. So God not only had to create us with the capacity of choice, but He had to allow the opportunity of an alternate choice. And thus, Satan was allowed to rebel against God. And he was allowed to come to man and to offer man an alternate choice in order that if man chose at that point to love God, God would know that the choice was from the heart and it was meaningful and God could then receive praise and glory from the meaningful love that was expressed to Him. Taking a chance man might make the wrong choice. You might be disappointed; you're heartbroken. Such was the case.

But God did know that down through the years there would be those who would make the right choice. And for the treasure of having the love of those who would choose to love Him and serve Him, He allowed the choice knowing that many would make the wrong choice but yet also knowing that there would be those who would choose to love Him and would express their love for Him, and He could come into a meaningful relationship of love and fellowship with those who chose to know Him and to follow Him and to love Him.

So the choice is still there and Satan is still operating in order to encourage you to take the alternate choice. But the fact that you resist the devil and the temptations and the seductions and the allurements and the enticements and those things that he seeks to place in your path to cause you to turn away from God and the Word of God and the law of God, and to follow after your own lust and desires. The fact that you resist those temptations and you still love God, and you gather and you worship God and you sing together of your love and your praise, and you spend your time in meditation in His Word and just in fellowship with Him, that fellowship is extremely meaningful, because God knows you don't have to. But it's coming from your heart. And for that reason, God created man and God has allowed the whole mess to exist in order that there might be at least within it those who would love Him with a sincere love. You don't have to love God. You don't have to serve God. There are very attractive alternate decisions, but man must make his choice and God is honored when man makes the right choice.

Now, Satan then is a tool that God uses. God has placed him under certain restrictions and still there are restrictions. However, Job is now afflicted with boils all over his body, running sores. He takes a piece of broken pottery and scrapes his body. Extremely painful, stinky, loathsome. Covered. He sits in a bed of ashes, because it's impossible to sit down or lie down anywhere without the extreme pain of this staff-type infection that covered his entire body. And his wife coming near to him, smelling the foul odors, seeing the pain and the suffering and the misery of a man who has been reduced to this, said to her husband, "Why don't you get it over with? Why don't you curse God and die?" Now that came from a heart of love. It hurt her to see her husband in such total misery. "Job, I can't stand to see you like this. Why don't you get it over with? Why don't you curse God and die?"

But he said unto her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we receive only good from the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all of this did not Job sin with his lips. Now there were three friends who, when they heard of the misery of Job, decided that they would come and visit with him; Eliphaz [who was from Teman] the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: and they had made an appointment to gather together and to mourn with him, and to comfort him ( Job 2:10-11 ).

When they saw him, they didn't recognize him. They were just so shocked that they just began to weep; they tore their clothes and they just sat down weeping.

And for seven days and for seven nights, they sat there, and no one said a word to him: because their grief was extremely great ( Job 2:13 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

C. Job’s Comforters 2:11-13

Actually, four men came to visit Job, though the writer did not mention Elihu’s presence until chapter 32. Eliphaz seems to have been the eldest for several reasons. His name occurs first (Job 2:11; Job 42:9), he spoke before the others, his speeches are longer and more mature, and God spoke to him as the representative of the others (Job 42:7). Eliphaz is an Edomite name (Genesis 36:4). He was probably either from Teman in Edom (cf. Jeremiah 49:7; Obadiah 1:9) or from Tema in Arabia. Bildad may have been a relative of Shuah, Abraham’s youngest son (Genesis 25:2). Zophar may have come from Naamah, a Judean town (Joshua 15:41), if it existed then.

Evidently the disfigurement that resulted from Job’s disease prevented Job’s acquaintances from recognizing him and led to their extreme grief that they manifested in ways common in their culture. The writer did not explain why they did not speak to him for seven days. This may have been traditional, or they may have spoken to no one out of respect for him. A week was the usual time of mourning for the dead (cf. Genesis 50:10; 1 Samuel 31:13; Sirach 22:12), so they may have been mourning for him as one already dead. Perhaps they discussed his condition among themselves but did not do so with him. Apparently they waited for him to speak first (ch. 3) before they addressed him directly, as was customary and respectful.

"For one of them to speak prior to the sufferer would have been in bad taste." [Note: Elmer B. Smick, "Job," in 1 Kings-Job, vol. 4 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 887.]

In any case their commitment to him, as seen in their patient waiting to address him, shows their genuine friendship. How many friends do you have that would travel a long distance to visit you in an illness and sit with you silently for seven days out of respect for your pain?

"In overwhelming sorrows, true friendship almost invariably demonstrates itself more perfectly by silence than by speech. And even in spite of the fact that Job’s friends caused him sorrow by their words, they are more to be admired because what they thought concerning him they dared to say to him, rather than about him to others." [Note: G. Campbell Morgan, An Exposition of the Whole Bible, p. 202.]

"Don’t try to explain everything; explanations never heal a broken heart. If his friends had listened to him, accepted his feelings, and not argued with him, they would have helped him greatly; but they chose to be prosecuting attorneys instead of witnesses." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 14.]

The prologue (chs. 1-2) sets the stage for what follows by informing us, the readers, that Job’s suffering was not due to his sins. None of the characters in the story knew this fact except God and Satan. We also see the heavenly dimension and the spiritual warfare taking place-that were also unknown to the human characters in this drama.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him,.... Of the loss of his substance, servants, and children, and of his own health; the news of which soon spread in the adjacent countries, Job being a person of great note, and his calamity so very extraordinary and uncommon: who these three friends were is after observed; they living at some distance from him, held a correspondence with him, and he with them, being good men; and now act the friendly part in paying him a visit under such circumstances;

Proverbs 17:17;

they came everyone from his own place; from the country, city, town, or habitations where they lived; whether they walked or rode is not said, their names are as follow:

Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; the first of these, Eliphaz, was either from Teman, a city in Edom, on the borders of Arabia Deserta, as the Targum; or a descendant of Teman, a grandson of Esau; not Eliphaz the son of Esau,

Genesis 36:11 as the Targum on that place says; for he was the father of Teman, from whom this Eliphaz sprang: the second, Bildad, was a descendant from Shuah, a son of Abraham, by Keturah, Genesis 25:2; whose posterity with geographers are called Sauchites, Sauchaeans, Sacceans, and settled in Arabia Deserta, from whence Bildad came: the third, Zophar the Naamathite, who he was, and why so called, is not certain; there is nothing but conjectures concerning him; it is most probable that he lived in Arabia Deserta, or on the borders of it, near to Job's country and that of his other two friends n; there was a Naamath in the land of Uz, which was Job's country according to Fretelius o: the Septuagint version calls Eliphaz the king of the Temanites, and Bildad the tyrannus, or governor, of the Sauchaens, and Zophar king of the Minaeans p:

for they had made an appointment together; upon hearing of Job's trouble, they got together, and fixed upon a time and place to meet together and proceed on in their journey to Job's house:

to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him; the first word signifies to "move to him" q not as Sephorno explains it, to go with him from place to place, that he might not lay hands on himself; but rather, as the Latin interpreter of the Targum, to move their heads at him; as persons, to show their concern for, and sympathy with, the afflicted, shake their heads at them: the meaning is, that they came to condole his misfortunes, and to speak a word of comfort to him under them; and no doubt but they came with a real and sincere intent to do this, though they proved miserable comforters of him; Job 16:2.

n Vid. Spanhem. Hist. Jobi, c. 11. sect. 3. &c. o Apud Adrichom. Theatrum. T. S. p. 21. p So Aristeas, Philo and Polyhistor apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 25. p. 431. q לנוד לו "verbum" נוד "migrare, et sese movere significat", Mercerus, so Ben Melech.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.   12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.   13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

      We have here an account of the kind visit which Job's three friends paid him in his affliction. The news of his extraordinary troubles spread into all parts, he being an eminent man both for greatness and goodness, and the circumstances of his troubles being very uncommon. Some, who were his enemies, triumphed in his calamities, Job 16:10; Job 19:18; Job 30:1, c. Perhaps they made ballads on him. But his friends concerned themselves for him, and endeavoured to comfort him. A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Three of them are here named (Job 2:11; Job 2:11), Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. We shall afterwards meet with a fourth, who it should seem was present at the whole conference, namely, Elihu. Whether he came as a friend of Job or only as an auditor does not appear. These three are said to be his friends, his intimate acquaintance, as David and Solomon had each of them one in their court that was called the king's friend. These three were eminently wise and good men, as appears by their discourses. They were old men, very old, had a great reputation for knowledge, and much deference was paid to their judgment, Job 32:6; Job 32:6. It is probable that they were men of figure in their country-princes, or heads of houses. Now observe,

      I. That Job, in his prosperity, had contracted a friendship with them. If they were his equals, yet he had not that jealousy of them--if his inferiors, yet he had not that disdain of them, which was any hindrance to an intimate converse and correspondence with them. to have such friends added more to his happiness in the day of his prosperity than all the head of cattle he was master of. Much of the comfort of this life lies in acquaintance and friendship with those that are prudent and virtuous; and he that has a few such friends ought to value them highly. Job's three friends are supposed to have been all of them of the posterity of Abraham, which, for some descents, even in the families that were shut out from the covenant of peculiarity, retained some good fruits of that pious education which the father of the faithful gave to those under his charge. Eliphaz descended from Teman, the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:11), Bildad (it is probable) from Shuah, Abraham's son by Keturah, Genesis 25:2. Zophar is thought by some to be the same with Zepho, a descendant from Esau, Genesis 26:11. The preserving of so much wisdom and piety among those that were strangers to the covenants of promise was a happy presage of God's grace to the Gentiles, when the partition-wall should in the latter days be taken down. Esau was rejected; yet many that came from him inherited some of the best blessings.

      II. That they continued their friendship with Job in his adversity, when most of his friends had forsaken him, Job 19:14; Job 19:14. In two ways they showed their friendship:--

      1. By the kind visit they paid him in his affliction, to mourn with him and to comfort him, Job 2:11; Job 2:11. Probably they had been wont to visit him in his prosperity, not to hunt or hawk with him, not to dance or play at cards with him, but to entertain and edify themselves with his learned and pious converse; and now that he was in adversity they come to share with him in his griefs, as formerly they had come to share with him in his comforts. These were wise men, whose heart was in the house of mourning,Ecclesiastes 7:4. Visiting the afflicted, sick or sore, fatherless or childless, in their sorrow, is made a branch of pure religion and undefiled (James 1:27), and, if done from a good principle, will be abundantly recompensed shortly, Matthew 25:36.

      (1.) By visiting the sons and daughters of affliction we may contribute to the improvement, [1.] Of our own graces; for many a good lesson is to be learned from the troubles of others; we may look upon them and receive instruction, and be made wise and serious. [2.] Of their comforts. By putting a respect upon them we encourage them, and some good word may be spoken to them which may help to make them easy. Job's friends came, not to satisfy their curiosity with an account of his troubles and the strangeness of the circumstances of them, much less, as David's false friends, to make invidious remarks upon him (Psalms 41:6-8), but to mourn with him, to mingle their tears with his, and so to comfort him. It is much more pleasant to visit those in affliction to whom comfort belongs than those to whom we must first speak conviction.

      (2.) Concerning these visitants observe, [1.] That they were not sent for, but came of their own accord (Job 6:22; Job 6:22), whence Mr. Caryl observes that it is good manners to be an unbidden guest at the house of mourning, and, in comforting our friends, to anticipate their invitations. [2.] That they made an appointment to come. Note, Good people should make appointments among themselves for doing good, so exciting and binding one another to it, and assisting and encouraging one another in it. For the carrying on of any pious design let hand join in hand. [3.] That they came with a design (and we have reason to think it was a sincere design) to comfort him, and yet proved miserable comforters, through their unskilful management of his case. Many that aim well do, by mistake, come short of their aim.

      2. By their tender sympathy with him and concern for him in his affliction. When they saw him at some distance he was so disfigured and deformed with his sores that they knew him not,Job 2:12; Job 2:12. His face was foul with weeping (Job 16:16; Job 16:16), like Jerusalem's Nazarites, which had been ruddy as the rubies, but were now blacker than a coal,Lamentations 4:7; Lamentations 4:8. What a change will a sore disease, or, without that, oppressing care and grief, make in the countenance, in a little time! Is this Naomi?Ruth 1:19. So, Is this Job? How hast thou fallen! How is thy glory stained and sullied, and all thy honour laid in the dust! God fits us for such changes! Observing him thus miserably altered, they did not leave him, in a fright or loathing, but expressed so much the more tenderness towards him. (1.) Coming to mourn with him, they vented their undissembled grief in all the then usual expressions of that passion. They wept aloud; the sight of them (as is usual) revived Job's grief, and set him a weeping afresh, which fetched floods of tears from their eyes. They rent their clothes, and sprinkled dust upon their heads, as men that would strip themselves, and abase themselves, with their friend that was stripped and abased. (2.) Coming to comfort him, they sat down with him upon the ground, for so he received visits; and they, not in compliment to him, but in true compassion, put themselves into the same humble and uneasy place and posture. They had many a time, it is likely, sat with him on his couches and at his table, in his prosperity, and were therefore willing to share with him in his grief and poverty because they had shared with him in his joy and plenty. It was not a modish short visit that they made him, just to look upon him and be gone; but, as those that could have had no enjoyment of themselves if they had returned to their place while their friend was in so much misery, they resolved to stay with him till they saw him mend or end, and therefore took lodgings near him, though he was not now able to entertain them as he had done, and they must therefore bear their own charges. Every day, for seven days together, at the house in which he admitted company, they came and sat with him, as his companions in tribulation, and exceptions from that rule, Nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes--Those who have lost their wealth are not to expect the visits of their friends. They sat with him, but none spoke a word to him, only they all attended to the particular narratives he gave of his troubles. They were silent, as men astonished and amazed. Curæ leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent--Our lighter griefs have a voice; those which are more oppressive are mute.

      They spoke not a word to him, whatever they said one to another, by way of instruction, for the improvement of the present providence. They said nothing to that purport to which afterwards they said much--nothing to grieve him (Job 4:2; Job 4:2), because they saw his grief was very great already, and they were loth at first to add affliction to the afflicted. There is a time to keep silence, when either the wicked is before us, and by speaking we may harden them (Psalms 39:1), or when by speaking we may offend the generation of God's children,Psalms 73:15. Their not entering upon the following solemn discourses till the seventh day may perhaps intimate that it was the sabbath day, which doubtless was observed in the patriarchal age, and to that day they adjourned the intended conference, because probably then company resorted, as usual, to Job's house, to join with him in his devotions, who might be edified by the discourse. Or, rather, by their silence so long they would intimate that what they afterwards said was well considered and digested and the result of many thoughts. The heart of the wise studies to answer. We should think twice before we speak once, especially in such a case as this, think long, and we shall be the better able to speak short and to the purpose.