^15:1 But Eliphaz the Temanite, answering, said:
^15:2 Will a wise man answer as though speaking into the wind, and will he fill his stomach with heat?
^15:3 You rebuke him with words who is not your equal, and you speak what is not expedient for you.
^15:4 As much as is in you, you have emptied out fear and have taken away prayers before the Lord.
^15:5 For your iniquity has taught your mouth, and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers.
^15:6 Your mouth will condemn you, and not I, and your lips will answer you.
^15:7 Were you born the first man and formed before the hills?
^15:8 Have you heard the counsel of God, and will his wisdom be inferior to you?
^15:9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not know?
^15:10 Both the aged and the ancients are among us, much older than your fathers.
^15:11 Is it a great thing that God should console you? But your depraved words prevent this.
^15:12 Why does your heart lift you up, and why, as though thinking great things, do you have astonished eyes?
^15:13 Why does your spirit swell against God, so that you bring forth from your mouth speeches of this kind?

249. But Eliphaz the Temanite, answering, said, etc. Having heard the words of Job, Eliphaz does not respond to the depth of his judgments, but strives to reprehend calumniously certain words brought forth by Job, considering them according to the surface of the words themselves and not according to the depth of their meaning. And first indeed he reprehends what Job had said at the beginning of his speech: I too have a heart just as you do, nor am I inferior to you,

in which indeed he marks him for two things:

first indeed, for vainglory, because he commends himself, and this is what he says: Will a wise man answer as though speaking into the wind? For one seems to speak into the wind who composes words in order to capture glory;

second, for anger, because he had begun to speak by reproaching them when he said: Are you, then, the only men? etc.; and therefore he adds: and will he fill his stomach with heat?, that is, his soul with anger?

250. Then he reprehends him for what he had said: I desire to dispute with God, and again: Only two things do not do to me, and then I will not hide myself from your face, etc.,

in which indeed he marks him in many ways:

first indeed, for pride, because he contends against one greater than himself, and this is what he says: You rebuke him with words who is not your equal;

second, for foolishness, because Eliphaz regarded such a disputation as harmful, whence he adds: and you speak what is not expedient for you, namely, by disputing with God.

And why it is not expedient to dispute with him, he shows from the fact that a disputation of this kind seems to exclude two very necessary things,

the first of which is the fear of God: for one who fears someone does not presume to contend with him, whence Job also had said above: let not your strength terrify me, and therefore Eliphaz here adds: As much as is in you, you have emptied out fear, because, namely, you have tried to exclude the fear of God from yourself;

the second is prayer to God: for it does not belong to the same person to contend with someone and to ask him for something, and therefore he adds: and you have taken away, that is, removed, prayers before the Lord, against what Eliphaz had said above: for which reason I will beseech the Lord. But Job had disputed with God not from pride but from confidence in the truth; yet Eliphaz rashly judged that this proceeded from iniquity, whence he adds: For your iniquity has taught your mouth; and this appears from the effect, because you blaspheme, whence there follows: and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers. For one who blasphemes is one who denies God’s justice, but one who disputes with God about his justice seems to imitate the tongue of one who blasphemes: for to dispute about something seems to belong to one who doubts about it, and one who doubts is close to one who denies.

251. Therefore, wishing to speak against Job’s disputation, Eliphaz first says that Job has spoken so manifestly badly that he does not need another rebuker, but his very words indicate his malice, and this is what he says: Your mouth will condemn you, and not I, and your lips will answer you, as if to say: your words do not need another to answer them, but they destroy themselves.

Nevertheless, he shows in many ways that the aforesaid disputation was not fitting:

first indeed by comparison with all creatures; for if some creature could contend with God, this would especially belong to the first and most excellent creature. But this did not belong to Job, whence he says: Were you born the first man and formed before all the hills?, namely, so that from this it would belong to you to dispute with God on behalf of the whole human race or on behalf of every creature?

Second, by comparison with God: for one can fittingly dispute with someone about his deeds who knows the reason by which the one with whom he disputes acts,

and this reason he can know in two ways:

in one way, as learning it from him,

in another way, as judging another’s deeds by a higher wisdom;

but neither belongs to Job in comparison of man to God, and this is what he says: Have you heard the counsel of God?, with regard to the first, and will his wisdom be inferior to you?, with regard to the second, so that you could dispute with God?

Third, by comparison with other men, than whom he does not appear more knowing, so that he might presume to dispute with God from confidence in greater knowledge; hence he says: What do you know, namely, through faith or revelation, that we do not know? What do you understand, by natural knowledge, that we do not know? But because Job could boast of knowledge received from others, he adds: Both the aged, namely, in the dignity of knowledge and life, and the ancients in time are among us, much older than your fathers, that is, than your teachers from whom you received knowledge, or, according to the letter, than your ancestors. But by greater age he wishes greater wisdom to be understood, because through the experience of a long time someone is made wiser.

Fourth, on the part of Job himself, he shows that his disputation with God was unfitting,

and first indeed because it was harmful to him, explaining what he had said above: You speak what is not expedient for you; whence he says: Is it a great thing that God should console you? As if to say: it is easy for God to lead you back to a state of prosperity, because he wounds and heals, as he had said above, but your depraved words prevent this, by which you provoke God’s anger more against you.

Second, he shows that it was vain and proud, as though explaining what he had said above: Will a wise man answer as though speaking into the wind? Whence he adds: Why does your heart lift you up, namely, through pride, so that you presume so much concerning your wisdom? And he shows the sign of pride, adding: and why, as though thinking great things, do you have astonished eyes? For when someone considers great and marvelous things, he is brought into stupor, and from this it happens that he has astonished eyes.

Third, he shows that his disputation was presumptuous and impious, explaining what he had said above: You rebuke him with words who is not your equal; whence he adds: Why does your spirit swell against God, so that you bring forth from your mouth speeches of this kind?, namely, by which you provoke God to disputation?