Job didn’t have time to decide what to do next. A man younger than all of them spoke out when his friends finally hushed. He’d been listening all this time and building an anger inside him. He found fault in all four. The King James version of Job 32:2 describes Elihu blaming Job “Because he justified himself rather than God.”

Letter to the Editor

Job explained how innocent he was of sin, and questioned God’s treatment of him. God was being unfair to Job by sending troubles his way. Job still believed in God, but he could see no justice in God’s dealings with him.

Job 32:3 finds Elihu angry at the friends “because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.”

None of them could answer Job’s question of what sin he had done, yet they never stopped blaming his suffering on a sin he had committed. Job 36:21-22 has Elihu telling Job to “take heed, regard not iniquity; for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction. Behold, God exalteth by His power; who teacheth like Him?” Watch out for Job, because you have chosen evil rather than suffering, but God is powerful and He will teach you.

It seems like he’s saying Job sinned, and God is teaching him through his suffering. This is the same idea the friends had, and Elihu isn’t naming Job’s sin either. This is confusing, but God comes now to unconfuse it. Finally!

Mary C. Albertson

Albany, Kentucky