The second cycle of speeches begins with Eliphaz returning, and his tone has hardened considerably since his first speech (chapters 4-5). Gone is the delicate sympathy; Eliphaz now attacks Job directly. He accuses Job of undermining the fear of God with his words, of being crafted by his own mouth's cunning, of claiming wisdom that no human possesses. He asks devastating questions: Were you born before the hills? Did you listen in on God's secret council? What do you know that we do not? He appeals to the tradition of the ancients — the elders who received wisdom from the generation that held the land before any foreigner passed through it. Then Eliphaz launches into an extended portrait of the wicked man's fate: he writhes in torment all his days, terrible sounds fill his ears, he does not believe he will escape the darkness, he shakes his fist at God, he runs against God with a thick shield. His prosperity is temporary; his house will be desolate; fire will consume his tent. The wicked conceives trouble and gives birth to falsehood.
Eliphaz's second speech marks the deterioration of the dialogue. In his first speech (chapter 4), Eliphaz began with pastoral sensitivity and offered comfort alongside correction. Now he begins with insult: 'Should a wise man answer with wind?' The shift reveals the friends' growing frustration — Job's refusal to accept their theology has moved them from sympathy to hostility. The portrait of the wicked man in verses 20-35 is magnificent poetry in service of a flawed argument. Eliphaz describes the inner torment of the guilty conscience — the wicked man hears terrifying sounds in peacetime, expects the sword in prosperity, wanders looking for bread, knows that darkness is prepared for him. The psychological acuity is genuine; the application to Job is wrong. Eliphaz is describing a guilty person's experience, and Job is not guilty.
Eliphaz's appeal to tradition (verses 17-19) raises the question of whether ancestral wisdom is self-validating. He claims authority from a chain of transmission: the wise men taught this, and they received it from the generation that held the land before foreigners arrived. The implication is that older wisdom is purer wisdom, uncorrupted by foreign influence. Job has implicitly challenged this by appealing to his own experience and to creation itself (12:7-9). The dialogue is now a contest between tradition (the friends) and experience (Job), with both sides claiming access to truth. Eliphaz's description of the wicked man as one who 'stretches out his hand against God' and 'runs against him with a thick shield' (verses 25-26) is particularly ironic: Eliphaz intends this as a warning to Job, but the reader recognizes that Job's legal challenge to God (chapter 13) is not defiance but desperate faith — Job confronts God because he still believes God is the only one who can vindicate him.
Eliphaz's question 'Were you the first man born?' (verse 7) may allude to Proverbs 8:22-31, where Wisdom was present before creation. The question implies Job claims primordial wisdom — which he does not. The portrait of the wicked in verses 20-35 parallels Psalm 73 (the prosperity of the wicked) and anticipates Bildad's extended version in chapter 18 and Zophar's in chapter 20. The friends' wicked-man speeches become increasingly elaborate across the second cycle, as if repetition and embellishment could make their theology more convincing. The image of the wicked man running against God with a thick-bossed shield (verse 26) anticipates the warrior imagery that God himself will use in chapters 39-41.
וַ֭יַּעַן אֱלִיפַ֥ז הַתֵּמָנִ֗י וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
KJV Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
הֶֽחָכָ֗ם יַעֲנֶ֥ה דַֽעַת־ר֑וּחַ וִֽימַלֵּ֖א קָדִ֣ים בִּטְנֽוֹ׃
Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind?
KJV Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
הוֹכֵ֣חַ בְּ֭דָבָר לֹ֣א יִסְכּ֑וֹן וּ֝מִלִּ֗ים לֹא־יוֹעִ֥יל בָּֽם׃
Should he argue with useless talk, with words that accomplish nothing?
KJV Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
אַף־אַ֭תָּה תָּפֵ֣ר יִרְאָ֑ה וְתִגְרַ֥ע שִׂ֝יחָ֗ה לִפְנֵי־אֵֽל׃
You are even undermining the fear of God and diminishing devotion before him.
KJV Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
כִּ֤י יְאַלֵּ֣ף עֲוֹנְךָ֣ פִ֑יךָ וְ֝תִבְחַ֗ר לְשׁ֣וֹן עֲרוּמִֽים׃
Your guilt is teaching your mouth what to say; you have chosen the tongue of the crafty.
KJV For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
יַרְשִׁיעֲךָ֣ פִ֣יךָ וְלֹא־אָ֑נִי וּ֝שְׂפָתֶ֗יךָ יַעֲנוּ־בָֽךְ׃
Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you.
KJV Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
הֲרִישׁ֣וֹן אָ֭דָם תִּוָּלֵ֑ד וְלִפְנֵ֖י גְבָע֣וֹת חוֹלָֽלְתָּ׃
Were you the first human ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
KJV Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
הַבְס֣וֹד אֱל֣וֹהַּ תִּשְׁמָ֑ע וְתִגְרַ֖ע אֵלֶ֣יךָ חָכְמָֽה׃
Did you listen in on God's secret council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself alone?
KJV Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
מַה־יָּ֭דַעְתָּ וְלֹ֣א נֵדָ֑ע תָּ֝בִ֗ין וְלֹא־עִמָּ֥נוּ הֽוּא׃
What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is beyond us?
KJV What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
גַּם־שָׂ֣ב גַּם־יָשִׁ֣ישׁ בָּ֑נוּ כַּ֝בִּ֗יר מֵאָבִ֥יךָ יָמִֽים׃
Among us are the gray-haired and the very aged — men older even than your father.
KJV With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
הַמְעַ֣ט מִ֭מְּךָ תַּנְחֻמ֣וֹת אֵ֑ל וְ֝דָבָ֗ר לָאַ֥ט עִמָּֽךְ׃
Are God's consolations too small for you? Is a word spoken gently to you not enough?
KJV Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
מַה־יִּקָּחֲךָ֥ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וּמַה־יִּרְזְמ֥וּן עֵינֶֽיךָ׃
What has carried your heart away? Why do your eyes flash?
KJV Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
כִּֽי־תָשִׁ֣יב אֶל־אֵ֣ל רוּחֶ֑ךָ וְהֹצֵ֖אתָ מִ֝פִּ֗יךָ מִלִּֽין׃
That you turn your spirit against God and let such words pour from your mouth?
KJV That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
מָֽה־אֱנ֥וֹשׁ כִּֽי־יִזְכֶּ֑ה וְכִֽי־יִ֝צְדַּ֗ק יְל֣וּד אִשָּֽׁה׃
What is a mortal, that he could be pure? What is one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
KJV What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
הֵ֣ן בִּ֭קְדֹשָׁיו לֹ֣א יַאֲמִ֑ין וְ֝שָׁמַ֗יִם לֹא־זַכּ֥וּ בְעֵינָֽיו׃
If God puts no trust in his holy ones, and even the heavens are not pure in his sight —
KJV Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:
אַ֭ף כִּֽי־נִתְעָ֣ב וְנֶאֱלָ֑ח אִישׁ שֹׁתֶ֖ה כַמַּ֣יִם עַוְלָֽה׃
how much less a creature loathsome and corrupt — a human being, who drinks injustice like water!
KJV How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
אֲחַוְּךָ֥ שְׁמַֽע־לִ֑י וְזֶ֖ה חָזִ֣יתִי וַאֲסַפֵּֽרָה׃
Let me show you — listen to me. What I have seen, I will declare.
KJV I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
אֲשֶׁר־חֲכָמִ֥ים יַגִּ֑ידוּ וְלֹ֥א כִ֝חֲד֗וּ מֵאֲבוֹתָֽם׃
What the wise have declared — what they did not conceal from their fathers —
KJV Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
לָהֶ֣ם לְ֭בַדָּם נִתְּנָ֣ה הָאָ֑רֶץ וְלֹא־עָ֖בַר זָ֣ר בְּתוֹכָֽם׃
to whom alone the land was given, before any foreigner had passed through it.
KJV Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
כָּל־יְמֵ֣י רָ֭שָׁע ה֣וּא מִתְחוֹלֵ֑ל וּמִסְפַּ֥ר שָׁ֝נִ֗ים נִצְפְּנ֥וּ לֶעָרִֽיץ׃
All the days of the wicked, he writhes in torment. The number of years hidden away for the tyrant —
KJV The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
קוֹל־פְּחָדִ֥ים בְּאָזְנָ֑יו בַּ֝שָּׁל֗וֹם שׁוֹדֵ֥ד יְבוֹאֶֽנּוּ׃
Terrifying sounds fill his ears. In the midst of peace, the destroyer comes upon him.
KJV A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
לֹא־יַאֲמִ֣ין שׁ֭וּב מִנִּי־חֹ֑שֶׁךְ וְצָפ֖וּי ה֣וּא אֱלֵי־חָֽרֶב׃
He does not believe he will return from darkness. He is marked for the sword.
KJV He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
נֹ֘דֵ֤ד ה֣וּא לַלֶּ֣חֶם אַיֵּ֑ה יָ֝דַ֗ע כִּֽי־נָכ֥וֹן בְּיָד֗וֹ י֣וֹם חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃
He wanders looking for bread — where is it? He knows that a day of darkness stands ready at his hand.
KJV He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
יְ֭בַעֲתֻהוּ צַ֣ר וּמְצוּקָ֑ה תִּ֝תְקְפֵ֗הוּ כְּמֶ֣לֶךְ עָתִ֥יד לַכִּידֽוֹר׃
Distress and anguish terrify him; they overpower him like a king ready for battle.
KJV Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
כִּי־נָטָ֣ה אֶל־אֵ֣ל יָד֑וֹ וְאֶל־שַׁ֝דַּ֗י יִתְגַּבָּֽר׃
Because he stretched out his hand against God and set himself as a warrior against the Almighty.
KJV For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
יָר֣וּץ אֵלָ֣יו בְּצַוָּ֑אר בַּעֲבִ֖י גַּבֵּ֣י מָגִנָּֽיו׃
He charges at him with neck outstretched, behind the thick bosses of his shields.
KJV He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
כִּי־כִסָּ֣ה פָנָ֣יו בְּחֶלְבּ֑וֹ וַיַּ֥עַשׂ פִּ֝ימָ֗ה עֲלֵי־כָֽסֶל׃
Because he covered his face with his fat and gathered thick flesh on his loins.
KJV Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
וַיִּשְׁכּ֤וֹן ׀ עָרִ֣ים נִ֭כְחָדוֹת בָּתִּ֣ים לֹא־יֵֽשְׁבוּ֑ לָ֝מ֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הִתְעַתְּד֬וּ לְגַלִּֽים׃
He has settled in destroyed cities, in houses no one should inhabit, which are destined to become rubble.
KJV And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
לֹ֣א יֶ֭עְשַׁר וְלֹא־יָק֣וּם חֵיל֑וֹ וְלֹֽא־יִטֶּ֖ה לָאָ֣רֶץ מִנְלָֽם׃
He will not grow rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not spread across the land.
KJV He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
לֹֽא־יָס֨וּר ׀ מִנִּי־חֹ֗שֶׁךְ יֹֽ֭נַקְתּוֹ תְּיַבֵּ֣שׁ שַׁלְהָ֑בֶת וְ֝יָס֗וּר בְּר֣וּחַ פִּֽיו׃
He will not escape the darkness. Flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of God's mouth he will be swept away.
KJV He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
אַל־יַאֲמֵ֣ן בַּשָּׁ֣וא נִתְעָ֑ה כִּי־שָׁ֝֗וְא תִּהְיֶ֥ה תְמוּרָתֽוֹ׃
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his reward.
KJV Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
בְּלֹא־י֭וֹמוֹ תִּמָּלֵ֑א וְ֝כִפָּת֗וֹ לֹ֣א רַעֲנָנָֽה׃
Before his time, it will be fulfilled. His palm branch will not stay green.
KJV It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
יַחְמֹ֣ס כַּגֶּ֣פֶן בִּסְר֑וֹ וְיַשְׁלֵ֥ךְ כַ֝זַּ֗יִת נִצָּתֽוֹ׃
He will shed his unripe grapes like a vine; he will cast off his blossoms like an olive tree.
KJV He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
כִּֽי־עֲדַ֣ת חָנֵ֣ף גַּלְמ֑וּד וְ֝אֵ֗שׁ אָכְלָ֥ה אָהֳלֵי־שֹֽׁחַד׃
For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
KJV For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
הָרֹ֣ה עָ֭מָל וְיָ֣לֹד אָ֑וֶן וּ֝בִטְנָ֗ם תָּכִ֥ין מִרְמָֽה׃
They conceive trouble and give birth to wickedness; their womb prepares deceit.
KJV They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.