Job 4 7

Job 4:7 kjv

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

Job 4:7 nkjv

"Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?

Job 4:7 niv

"Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?

Job 4:7 esv

"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?

Job 4:7 nlt

"Stop and think! Do the innocent die?
When have the upright been destroyed?

Job 4 verses

Job 4 7 Meaning

Eliphaz, the first of Job's friends, opens his discourse by challenging Job's perceived innocence. In Job 4:7, he puts forth a rhetorical question, asserting a self-evident truth from his perspective: that truly innocent people never perish, and the upright are never "cut off" or annihilated. This statement encapsulates Eliphaz's core belief in the doctrine of strict retributive justice, implying that Job's profound suffering is unequivocal proof of his sin, regardless of Job's own claims of blamelessness. He posits an unbroken causal link between sin and suffering, and between righteousness and prosperity, suggesting Job's present state can only be a result of hidden iniquity.

Job 4 7 Context

Job 4:7 initiates the first speech of Eliphaz the Temanite, who is the eldest and seemingly the most esteemed among Job's three friends. Following Job's lament in Chapter 3, Eliphaz carefully begins to respond, initially appearing sympathetic but quickly shifting to theological assertion. This verse is the cornerstone of his argument: that God’s justice is clear and immediate. In the ancient Near East, a widespread belief was the doctrine of retributive justice—a straightforward cause-and-effect understanding that righteousness brings blessings, and sin brings curses. Eliphaz staunchly upholds this traditional wisdom. He implicitly views Job's extreme suffering as evidence that Job must be secretly wicked, as righteous people (in Eliphaz's experience and theology) simply do not experience such devastation. The dramatic irony lies in the fact that God himself had previously testified to Job's blamelessness (Job 1:8, 2:3). This verse sets the stage for the central theological debate of the book of Job: the problem of innocent suffering and the limitations of human understanding of divine justice.

Job 4 7 Word analysis

• Remember (זְכָר־נָא, zᵉkār-nāʾ):
  • Word: The Hebrew word zāḵar means "to remember," "to call to mind."
  • Significance: It is an imperative, a command or exhortation. The addition of nāʾ ("please" or "now") softens the imperative, making it sound more like a gentle appeal or an earnest request for Job to reflect on known truths, but in effect, it frames Eliphaz's assertion as undeniable. He invites Job to recall any counter-example to his universal observation.
• please:
  • Word: Rendered from the Hebrew particle nāʾ.
  • Significance: This polite particle doesn't lessen the accusatory weight of Eliphaz's questions but rather makes them rhetorical, implying the answer is obvious and supportive of his view.
• who ever perished:
  • Word: מִי אָבַד (mî ʾāḇaḏ). mî means "who." ʾāḇaḏ means "to perish," "to be destroyed," "to be lost," or "to vanish."
  • Significance: This term goes beyond natural death, implying ruin, cessation, or being wiped out. Eliphaz challenges Job to recall any instance of ultimate destruction befalling an innocent person.
• being innocent:
  • Word: נָקִי (nāqî).
  • Significance: This Hebrew adjective denotes someone "innocent," "blameless," "clean," "free from guilt or punishment," or "acquitted." It suggests purity not just from specific wrongdoing, but from ethical taint. Eliphaz believes Job cannot truly be nāqî because he is suffering.
• Or where:
  • Word: וְאֵי־פֹה (wəʾê-fōh). wə is "and/or," ʾê-pōh is "where."
  • Significance: Continues the rhetorical challenge, broadening it from a person (mî, "who") to a location or context (ʾê-pōh, "where"), implying that such a phenomenon is nowhere to be found.
• were the upright:
  • Word: יְשָׁרִים (yəšārîm).
  • Significance: The plural of yāšār, meaning "straight," "upright," "just," "righteous," "honest." It signifies integrity, moral rectitude, and adherence to what is right in God's eyes. Eliphaz draws a distinction between the blameless (nāqî) and those whose life reflects a steadfast path of integrity (yəšārîm), both categories which he believes are immune from disaster.
• cut off:
  • Word: נִכְחָדוּ (niḵḥāḏū). This is the Niphal perfect form of kāḥaḏ, meaning "to be annihilated," "to be destroyed," "to be cut off," "to be exterminated."
  • Significance: This term often implies a more severe and complete eradication, often referring to a family line or total removal from existence/community. It is a strong term for divine judgment leading to extinction. Eliphaz claims that truly righteous lines are preserved and flourish, not annihilated.

Words-group by words-group analysis data

• "Remember, please, who ever perished being innocent?": Eliphaz sets up a rhetorical trap for Job, forcing him to confront a "self-evident truth" (as perceived by Eliphaz). The phrasing suggests that the concept of an innocent person perishing is so contradictory to divine justice that no one could possibly recall such an event. This appeals to common experience and traditional wisdom to buttress Eliphaz's belief system.
• "Or where were the upright cut off?": This second rhetorical question reinforces the first, solidifying Eliphaz's premise. By using "upright" and "cut off," he broadens the scope to include not just personal demise but also the annihilation of a righteous lineage or a person's removal from society or divine favor. Together, these questions create an unwavering assertion of a rigidly deterministic world governed by an immediate, observable retributive justice system. The irony lies in the fact that Job is precisely an example that refutes both of these claims, a truth Eliphaz's limited wisdom cannot grasp.

Job 4 7 Bonus section

The seemingly polite "please" (nāʾ) in Eliphaz's address to Job, while making his question appear consultative, actually highlights the rigidity of his theological conviction. It implies, "Just admit it, Job, you know I'm right. Show me one instance that disproves what everyone knows to be true." The very existence of Job's predicament, a truly blameless and upright man undergoing unspeakable affliction, directly refutes Eliphaz's universal claim, exposing the limits and flaws of human wisdom when presuming to fully grasp divine governance. Eliphaz speaks with conviction derived from a partial truth, yet a truth so rigidly applied that it becomes a falsehood when faced with complex reality.

Job 4 7 Commentary

Job 4:7 serves as the opening theological gambit in the extensive dialogue between Job and his friends. Eliphaz, speaking from the accumulated wisdom of his age and the accepted doctrine of divine retribution, presents his argument as an unassailable truth based on observation. His core premise is that suffering is always a direct consequence of sin, and inversely, righteousness guarantees protection and prosperity. By challenging Job to "remember" or find a case where an innocent person perished or an upright person was cut off, Eliphaz subtly but pointedly implicates Job, implying that his immense suffering must stem from some unconfessed iniquity. This statement establishes the primary conflict in the book: the friends' unwavering belief in this simplistic formula versus Job's lived experience of innocent suffering. The entire book of Job functions as God's answer to this flawed human theological construct, demonstrating that divine justice operates on principles far more profound and complex than human wisdom can comprehend, allowing for suffering not always tied to direct sin but serving higher, often mysterious, purposes.