JobChapitre 15

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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

"Should a wise man answer with empty wind, filling his belly with the east wind?

Should he argue with words that accomplish nothing, with speeches that serve no purpose?

But you—you undermine the fear of God and hinder devotion before him.

Your own guilt is teaching your mouth; you choose the tongue of the crafty.

Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you.

Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

Have you listened in on God's council? Do you keep wisdom to yourself alone?

What do you know that we do not know? What insight have you that we lack?

Among us are the gray-haired and the aged, men older than your father.

Are God's consolations too small for you, a word spoken gently to you?

Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash,

that you turn your spirit against God and let such words pour from your mouth?

What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

If God puts no trust in his holy ones, and even the heavens are not clean in his eyes,

how much less man, loathsome and corrupt, who drinks in wickedness like water!

Listen to me and I will explain; what I have seen, I will declare—

what wise men have handed down, hiding nothing they received from their fathers,

who alone possessed the land, with no stranger passing among them.

All his days the wicked man writhes in torment; the years are numbered for the ruthless.

Terrifying sounds fill his ears; in the midst of peace the destroyer comes for him.

He has no hope of escaping the darkness; the sword lies in wait for him.

He wanders in search of bread: "Where is it?" He knows the day of darkness is close at hand.

Distress and anguish terrify him; they overwhelm him like a king poised for the assault.

For he stretched out his hand against God and defied the Almighty,

charging at him with stiff neck, behind the thick bosses of his shield.

His face is padded with fat, his waist swollen with flesh.

He will live in ruined towns, in houses where no one dwells, houses crumbling into rubble.

He will not grow rich; his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land.

He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.

Let him not trust in what is worthless and be deceived, for emptiness will be all he gains.

Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branch will never turn green.

Like a vine he will shake off his unripe grapes, like an olive tree he will cast off his blossoms.

For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of those who take bribes.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit."

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Résumé2

Chapitre 15

Main Theme: Eliphaz's second speech in which he accuses Job of pride and describes the inevitable destruction of the wicked.

Content: Eliphaz criticizes Job for speaking empty words and undermining reverence for God (vv. 2–6). He claims that no one can be pure before God—even the heavens are not pure in His sight (vv. 14–16). The bulk of the speech describes the fate of the wicked: they are tormented by fear, lose their wealth, and their prosperity withers like a grapevine that loses its grapes (vv. 20–35).

Key Words/Images:

East Wind (v. 2): Symbol of empty, destructive speech—Eliphaz accuses Job of filling himself with wind.
The Fear of the Wicked (vv. 20–24): The wicked live in constant anxiety; even in times of peace, they await destruction.
Grapevine and Olive Tree (v. 33): Images of lost fruitfulness—the wicked lose their vitality before their time.
To Conceive Evil (v. 35): He who conceives injustice gives birth to trouble for himself.

Contexte historique

Historical and Cultural Context for Job 15

Characters

Eliphaz the Temanite speaks here in his second speech to Job. As the oldest and most respected of the three friends, he now takes the lead in this second round of dialogues. In this chapter, Eliphaz appeals to traditional wisdom and the authority of the elders (verses 10, 18), reflecting the ancient Near East's deep respect for ancestral teaching. Teman, his homeland, was known as a center of wisdom in antiquity, and Eliphaz's argumentative style—invoking revelations and traditions—is characteristic of this environment.

Key Terms

"The first man" (רִאישׁוֹן אָדָם, verse 7): Eliphaz's rhetorical question about whether Job was born before Adam or created before the hills draws from an ancient Near Eastern notion that those who existed at the beginning of creation had special access to divine wisdom. A similar idea appears in Proverbs 8:25, where wisdom existed before the hills.

"God's council" (סוֹד אֱלוֹהַ, verse 8): The Hebrew word sod means a confidential assembly or secret counsel. In ancient Israel, prophets were considered to have access to God's heavenly council (cf. Jeremiah 23:18). Eliphaz accuses Job of believing he has such privileged access.

"East wind" (קָדִים, verse 2): The east wind from the desert was known for its destructive and drying power in the Middle East. Eliphaz uses this image to describe Job's words as empty and devastating.

Events and Customs

Eliphaz's appeal to the tradition of wise fathers (verses 17–19) reflects the important role oral transmission played in the ancient Near East. The expression that the land was given "to them alone" and that "no foreigner went among them" may point to an idealized past of cultural purity before outside influences entered. This is typical of wisdom traditions that valued unbroken inheritance from ancestors as more reliable than new insight.

The images of the wicked person's fate in verses 20–35—terrible sounds in the ears, destruction in the midst of peace, wandering for bread, darkness waiting—form a catalog of curses that Eliphaz implicitly applies to Job. These images have parallels in ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian wisdom texts. The notion that the wicked "covers his face with fat" (verse 27) describes arrogant wealth, while the dwellings turning into ruin mounds (verse 28) reflect archaeologically known phenomena of abandoned cities in the ancient Middle East.

Personnages1

Eliphaz1

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Mots-clés8

Eliphaz — One of Job's friends who criticizes and gives advice to Job in his trials.
Job — The main character in the book of Job, a righteous man who suffers great losses and afflictions.
Trials — Tests or challenges that people face in life, often to learn or grow.
Righteousness — Acting morally and ethically correct, in accordance with God's will and commandments.
Wisdom — The ability to use knowledge and experience to make good decisions and live a good life.
God's punishment — God's action to correct or punish people for their sins and injustice.
Listening ear — The ability to be attentive and understand others' perspectives and feelings.
Advice — Guidance or recommendations given to others to help them navigate difficult situations.