What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
The words belong to Eliphaz's second speech, which renews his accusations against Job. In them Eliphaz is speaking for the three friends from their own wisdom and observation. The question accuses Job of claiming knowledge and understanding beyond what his friends possess, charging him with self-conceit.
It reflects the friends' confidence that they understand Job's situation; because they had never known a thoroughly good man to be so afflicted, they treated his suffering as proof that he had sinned, failing to recognize that affliction is not proof of guilt. Job himself judged to some extent from the same standpoint, yet knowing his own integrity he could not understand God's dealings with him, though he did not charge God foolishly. God saw the end from the beginning and was working out what would glorify Himself forever after, give comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones, and prove a blessing to Job. Statements in Eliphaz's speeches about Job and God are not reliable merely because they appear in the book but must be tested against inspired declarations elsewhere in Scripture.
The words belong to Eliphaz's second speech, which renews his accusations against Job. In them Eliphaz is speaking for the three friends from their own wisdom and observation. The question accuses Job of claiming knowledge and understanding beyond what his friends possess, charging him with self-conceit.
It reflects the friends' confidence that they understand Job's situation; because they had never known a thoroughly good man to be so afflicted, they treated his suffering as proof that he had sinned, failing to recognize that affliction is not proof of guilt. Job himself judged to some extent from the same standpoint, yet knowing his own integrity he could not understand God's dealings with him, though he did not charge God foolishly. God saw the end from the beginning and was working out what would glorify Himself forever after, give comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones, and prove a blessing to Job. Statements in Eliphaz's speeches about Job and God are not reliable merely because they appear in the book but must be tested against inspired declarations elsewhere in Scripture.