Elihu

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William Blake: The Wrath of Elihu (1805)

Elihu is that in the name of any person Book of Job in the Old Testament of the Bible the destiny and the bad news hit hard Ijob want comfort (Job) in his suffering. Elihu's speech spans chapters 32 through 37 of the book.

Elihu emphasizes to Job above all God's absolute power and justice and also that God cannot be questioned, and he draws attention to possibilities that lie beyond the strict theory of retribution.

After Elihu's speech, YHWH himself speaks to Job.

Elihu's reasoning

The reasoning Elihu different from the arguments of the three friends of Job, who spoke before him.

Elihu expresses his anger at Job, who believes he is more just than God, and at his friends who do not know the answer and yet condemned Job. Therefore Elihu can no longer remain silent and summarizes Job's declarations of innocence. Believing that God is greater than man, he puts Job's needs aside. It is wrong to think that God is against Job. Because if God is not heard, it is up to people.

The individual eli speeches

1. Eli speech: The speech develops a kind of divine pedagogy of suffering that is supposed to call the sinner to repent, core sentence: Job 33:12: “See, you are not right about this, I have to answer you; because God is more than a man. "

In chapter 33: 13ff, Elihu points to a possible way in which God can speak to people: Thoughts can be put into the mind and "remembered". The vernacular translates this passage as follows: "The Lord gives it to his in his sleep". As a result, people can freely choose to accept or reject these thoughts, which can happen painfully on sleepless nights. Compare this with inspiration and obsession .

2. Eli speech: Elihu speaks of the absolute righteousness of the absolutely mighty God: Job 34:12: "God never does wrong and does not bend the law."

3. Eli speech: man is responsible for his actions, God's silence is the answer to man's silence; so man has to wait patiently.

4. Eli speech: From God's infallible righteousness follows: man should worship and praise God.

exegesis

The historical-critical biblical exegesis mostly recognizes the Eli speeches as later additions to a more original text of the Book of Job. The following reasons are appropriate for this:

  • Elihu appears very suddenly.
  • Just as unexpectedly, he disappears again after his speeches.
  • The Eli speeches have a long introduction.
  • Elihu prefers the divine designation "el".
  • Uses prepositions and particles less often .
  • His vocabulary has peculiarities.
  • He has a rambling and monotonous style.

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