Three Friends Silenced

Job 25-28

            Bildad doesn’t have much to say, just repeating that God is great and humans are not and wondering just who Job thinks he is. Job knows exactly how little he knows. He spends most of his speech marveling at the God’s power (26:5-13) and ends by reflecting that that is only a corner of His glory. Job doesn’t disagree that God’s wisdom is broader and deeper than his own; he has never disagreed about that. But he still wants to stand before his God; he wants his day in court; he wants an explanation and vindication. Interestingly, Zophar doesn’t have a third speech; his friends seem to think either that Job simply won’t listen or else they realize that their comfort is hollow.

            In chapter 27, Job makes a final discourse. He begins with an assertion of innocence (vv. 2-6). He likens his three friends to his enemies and adversaries (vv. 7-12). In verse 11, it seems like we might gain an insight into what is wrong with Job’s approach. His friends have been asserting that he must have sinned somehow, and Job has been (and continues to) declare his innocence. We Lutherans recoil at Job’s insistence that he is blameless, and rightly so (Romans 3:23). Job is guilty of “protesting too much,” for sure. But he (and his friends) are guilty of great presumption, revealed when Job says that he will teach them the ways of the Almighty (v. 11).

            Chapter 28 might be a continuation of Job’s speech; there is no indication of a change of speaker. But it may also be the author’s own commentary. This is supported by the fact that Job is listed as the speaker again at the beginning of chapter 29. Whether this is an interlude as the NIV suggests or Job’s own words, Chapter 28 has three points: first, humans dig and labor to find precious stones (vv. 1-11), but, second, wisdom can’t be found like that and it can’t be bought (vv. 12-19). No, the third point, only God knows the ways of wisdom (we’ll have more to say about wisdom when we come to Proverbs) and for humans the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom.