Evaluating Elihu's Contribution

If you’re at the end of a long flight, and your plane is in its final descent, and you can almost touch the runway, then one of the more disheartening things you can experience is an aborted landing, or go-around. You were almost at the finish line, almost able to dislodge yourself from that seat, but now you’ve got a few more minutes of flying ahead of you. Such might be your experience when you flip from Job 31 to Job 32. After all, in chapter 31, Job has made his final defense, and it seems quite natural for either the book to end there without a neat and tidy resolution to anything (a la the ending of Mark’s gospel) or God to respond to Job out of the whirlwind. What might not seem so natural is the introduction, so late in the game, of another conversation partner. Another “friend”?! Where did this guy come from? What could he possibly add after so many chapters of dialogue that doesn’t seem to have gotten anywhere?

Readers of Job have debated just that question. Does Elihu actually add anything to the debate? Or, is he just another version of the same argument that Job’s friends have been presenting? It is difficult to decide if Job 32-37 add to the debate, and this reflection is focused on summarizing the pros and cons of Elihu’s contribution. Beginning with some general context, while Elihu appears out of nowhere from a literary point of view, we are told (32:4) that this man has been listening to the dysfunctional dialogue between Job and his friends for long enough to recognize that it wasn’t going anywhere. So it is that Elihu opens his mouth to make a contribution.

Now, it is certainly the case that a speaker’s tone is more difficult to discern in written versus spoken words. And yet, Elihu’s opening does not seem to leave much to the imagination regarding how he feels about either Job or Job’s friends. He begins with a subtle put down of Job’s friends: “But it is the spirit of man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right” (Job 32:8-9 ESV). Again he says to Job’s friends, “I gave you my attention, and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job or who answered his words” (32:12 ESV). So much for Job’s friends and their wisdom. But when Elihu turns to Job, he rebukes him and says, “If you have any words, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom” (33:32-33 ESV). In this way, Elihu appears to be rather pompous, which doesn’t seem to jive with true wisdom. Moreover, Elihu’s speech, taken as a whole, appears to reflect both the starting point and resolution to Job’s problem as Job’s friends have articulated it in the prior chapters.[1] What, then, could he actually contribute?

Positively, Elihu may contribute to the debate in his approach. While Zophar has been credited as the most original theologian of Job’s friends because he focuses on the mysterious nature of God, Elihu appears to develop a similar idea with respect to the mysterious nature of God’s works. In an important way, this subtle shift prepares the way for what we encounter in Job 38-41, for God himself will emphasize his power and sovereignty in creation and providence.[2] Moreover, and from a literary perspective, “Elihu provides space between Job’s assertions of innocence that call his accuser to present his case (Job 29-31) and God’s response.”[3]

In the end, a go-around serves a purpose, usually in relation to flight safety, and Elihu’s speeches also serve a purpose. These chapters are preparatory for God’s response to Job. They clear the way and focus the conversation in the right direction. Whether Elihu adds anything with respect to the content of his speeches will probably always be a matter of debate, but these chapters certainly help us prepare to receive God’s response. In fact, they prime us to be not so shocked when God’s response does not directly address Job’s complaint. So, in that regard, Elihu does contribute to the debate.

[1] Richard P. Belcher, Finding Favour in the Sight of God: A Theology of Wisdom Literature, NSBT 46 (IVP Academic, 2018), 118–19.

[2] Belcher, Finding Favour, 117.

[3] Belcher, Finding Favour, 117.