📖 Job — Chapter 4 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 4:1 Then REliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
Job 4:2 If we assay Tto commune with thee, Rwilt thou be grieved? but who can Twithhold himself from speaking?
Job 4:3 RBehold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
Job 4:4 Thy words have Rupholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
Job 4:5 But now Rit is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
Job 4:6 Is not this Rthy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
Job 4:7 Remember, I pray thee, Rwho ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
Job 4:8 Even as I have seen, Rthey that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
Job 4:9 By Rthe blast of God they perish, and Tby the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
Job 4:10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and Rthe teeth of the young lions, are broken.
Job 4:11 The Rold lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.
Job 4:12 Now Ra thing was Tsecretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
Job 4:13 In Rthoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
Job 4:14 RFear Tcame upon me, and trembling, which made Tall my bones to shake.
Job 4:15 Then Ra spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
Job 4:16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, RTthere was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Job 4:17 RShall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Job 4:18 Behold, Rhe put no trust in his servants; Tand his angels he charged with folly:
Job 4:19 How much less in them that Rdwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
Job 4:20 They are RTdestroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
Job 4:21 Doth not their Rexcellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 4:1–6 — Eliphaz begins his response
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Eliphaz recalls how Job once strengthened others, then questions his response now that trouble touches him. His words introduce the friends' attempt to interpret the suffering. Remembering past encouragement could comfort, but using it to fault someone in fresh anguish can become an additional burden.
Key Truth: Do not use a person's former strength against them in suffering.
Check What You Remember
1. Which friend speaks here? (Job 4:1)
Find it in Job 4:1 (KJV).
2. What weak parts had Job's words strengthened? (Job 4:3)
Find it in Job 4:3 (KJV).
3. Who is now troubled by affliction? (Job 4:5)
Find it in Job 4:5 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 4:7–11 — A claim about innocence and suffering
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Eliphaz asks when the innocent ever perished and says those sowing wickedness reap it. The book's opening has already described Job's integrity and undeserved loss, so this claim cannot simply explain his condition. A general observation about consequences becomes harmful when imposed as a complete diagnosis of another person's pain.
Key Truth: Do not infer guilt simply from calamity.
Check What You Remember
1. Whose perishing does Eliphaz question? (Job 4:7)
Find it in Job 4:7 (KJV).
2. What does he say people reap after sowing wickedness? (Job 4:8)
Find it in Job 4:8 (KJV).
3. Which animal image describes broken strength? (Job 4:10)
Find it in Job 4:10 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 4:12–21 — An appeal to a night experience
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Eliphaz describes fear, a spirit, and a voice about human frailty before the Maker. Humility before God is a real concern, but this experience does not prove that Job's suffering has the cause Eliphaz assumes. The speech remains a character's argument within a debate and must be weighed against the book's wider witness.
Key Truth: Spiritual-sounding claims still require careful discernment.
Check What You Remember
1. When does Eliphaz describe receiving the experience? (Job 4:13)
Find it in Job 4:13 (KJV).
2. What passed before his face? (Job 4:15)
Find it in Job 4:15 (KJV).
3. To what fragile dwelling does the voice compare people? (Job 4:19)
Find it in Job 4:19 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Job 42:7 — God's later rebuke of Eliphaz warns readers against treating every friend's statement as God's own verdict.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you offer humility and support without claiming knowledge you do not have?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What contrast does Eliphaz draw about Job’s earlier words and present distress?
2. What conclusion does Eliphaz support with the sowing-and-reaping image?
3. How does the lion imagery portray strength becoming helpless?
4. How is Eliphaz’s reported experience marked by uncertainty?
5. What comparison does the reported voice make?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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