Introduction: What Is Eliphaz's Approach to Suffering?
After Eliphaz explained his approach to Iyov - that some of man's actions are subject to his own free will while others are governed by Divine Providence - he now turns to "our case," to that which pertains directly to Iyov himself. Eliphaz says to him: What do I deduce from all this? Just as man's actions are sometimes chosen through free will and sometimes providential, so too with suffering. There is suffering brought about by free choice - which man brings upon himself - and there is providential suffering - which the Holy One, Blessed be He, brings upon him.
Self-Inflicted Suffering: Brought on by Man Himself
This is the Rambam's view: that nearly all the suffering a person experiences is the result of free choice. What does this mean? That he brings it upon himself. A person sits in the blazing sun, suffers heatstroke, and then complains: Master of the Universe, why did You give me heatstroke? Did I bring anything upon you? Sit in an air-conditioned room and you will not get heatstroke! This is a very simplistic example, but there are far more complex ones.
Consider someone who does not work on his character traits, and for instance, harbors anger. The trait of anger is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. And this does not refer only to someone who loses his temper and shouts. Anger means a person who is constantly unsettled: over everything - why is this so? Why did he do this to me? He is perpetually eating himself up from within. Someone once quipped regarding healthy eating: It is less important what you eat than what is eating you. People who are consumed from within are quite literally shortening their lives. This is proven today by scientific studies, and even without them, we have explicit verses demonstrating that when a person is angry, he shortens his days.
The question, of course, is one of dosage. A person who gets angry once every two weeks for a few minutes and then calms down - Baruch Hashem. But someone who becomes angry every few minutes is fundamentally unsettled. And when a person is not at peace, physiological reactions occur: substances are released into the body and brain that cause direct harm.
The Psychophysical Connection
In a presentation by Dr. Avraham Levi, an observant and God-fearing physician who cited numerous studies on the subject, he explained that scientists have found that cancer cells are created in every person each day, and the body simply overcomes them. What is a cancer cell? A cell that was not built according to the proper DNA; its structure is flawed. Because it is malformed and harmful to the system, the body is designed to eradicate it, and indeed, the immune system naturally does so every day.
Conversely, when a person is emotionally shattered, the first thing compromised is his immune system. This is seen in many cases: someone goes through a crisis and takes to bed, falling ill and remaining bedridden for two weeks. People sometimes assume it is merely depression, but the depression brings on actual illness - the emotional toll weakened the immune system, and consequently every minor airborne virus infects him and knocks him off his feet, whereas under normal conditions the immune system would have overcome it.
This is borne out by research: one cannot say all, but a very significant proportion of people who contracted incurable diseases, may Hashem protect us, are individuals who endured a major life crisis - a financial collapse, a bitter divorce, or some other ordeal. By contrast, people whose family lives and domestic relationships are stable, who do not live in continuous crisis, generally enjoy better health. But when a person harbors anger, one suddenly sees him suffering from an ulcer, his blood sugar spiking, or anxiety and panic setting in - a person of forty is already a broken vessel. There is an intrinsic link between mental and physical effects, known as the psychophysical connection: "psycho" refers to the mind, and "physical" to the body.
Incidentally, this influence also works in reverse. What does a psychiatrist do? He influences a person's emotional state through the body: he prescribes medication, and the patient feels better. How? A brain in a state of depression secretes a certain substance, and the medication neutralizes its effect, allowing the person to feel well. Similarly, brain researchers today can stimulate feelings using electrodes: they stimulate one point and the subject experiences a high and pleasure; they stimulate another and he feels fear. Today, significant portions of the brain have been mapped, and based on this, a person can be influenced pharmacologically.
It is like a car: one can start it with the ignition switch to set the engine in motion, or one can move the engine directly and thereby exert an effect. There are two avenues of influence: through one's thoughts, one can positively affect the body, and through the body, via medication, one can influence one's thought process, the brain, and everything that emanates from it. Today there are also devices such as "mind machines" that influence the brain visually - glasses with flashing lights that generate sensations a person cannot easily produce on his own during daily life. Again, this is an external means of stimulating brain activity.
"For Anger Kills the Fool"
כִּי לֶאֱוִיל יַהֲרָג כָּעַשׂ וּפֹתֶה תָּמִית קִנְאָה׃ (ה, ב) - "For anger kills the fool, and envy slays the simpleton" (5:2).
This is what he meant: anger kills the fool. Because he is constantly angry, it literally kills him. Iyov and his companions already knew these scientific findings long before laboratories existed to conduct studies. And so it is said, "For anger rests in the bosom of fools" - it rests there, but it also kills them; ultimately, the fool himself will rest beneath ten tefachim in the ground, because of his anger.
There are therefore many actions a person takes by his own choice that bring upon him troubles, disasters, dangers, and illnesses - because of what he eats, because of how he behaves, because of his lifestyle. He brought it upon himself. The same is true in interpersonal relationships: a significant portion of people's troubles involves others. Who is a person's greatest enemy? "A man's enemies are the people of his own household." When a person lives a good life, fortunate is he; but when his life is not good, the hardest, most terrible, and ugliest battle - as is evident from tragic cases that unfortunately arise - takes place right in his home: strife between husband and wife that deteriorates into dreadful situations. And if one asks, "Who caused this to you?" the answer is: you did. If your character traits were more refined, reality would look completely different. Likewise, someone pursued by another because he wronged him, who now lives in fear of him - who caused it? His own free choice; he tangled himself into the mess he now suffers from.
Providential Suffering: Cleansing the Past and Rectifying the Future
Yet there is also another type of suffering - providential suffering, which comes upon a person from Divine Providence, either to cleanse his sins or to bring him to repentance. Cleansing sins pertains to the past: up until now you accumulated certain transgressions that require purification, and that purification comes through suffering. The second possibility is when Hashem wants to bring him to repentance. A person walks along his path with an abyss ahead of him; there are red lights, warning signs, and loudspeakers blaring, "Abyss ahead!" - yet he keeps marching forward. People shout at him from behind, but he is stiff-necked and will not even turn his head to see who is speaking to him. What choice is left? To walk up and give him a sharp slap across the face, waking him up to realize that in another moment he would have been like the Scapegoat, which did not even reach halfway down the mountain before its limbs were broken apart. The slap is intended to bring him back in teshuvah. Hashem says: I do not want you to reach Gehinnom; I want you to stop before you do.
We therefore have two broad categories: suffering that a person brings upon himself through his conduct, actions, and character traits; and suffering that Hashem brings upon him through Providence. This second category is itself divided into two: either to atone for past misdeeds, or to correct him from here on.
הִנֵּה אַשְׁרֵי אֱנוֹשׁ יוֹכִחֶנּוּ אֱלוֹהַּ וּמוּסַר שַׁדַּי אַל תִּמְאָס׃ (ה, יז) - "Behold, fortunate is the man whom God rebukes; therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty" (5:17).
Fortunate is the person whom the Holy One, Blessed is He, rebukes directly, speaking to him, as it were, through suffering. "Whom God rebukes" - this refers to milder suffering intended to reprove him and steer him toward the right path, a slap across the face to halt him in his tracks and turn him toward good from now on. "Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty" - chastening refers to the afflictions Hashem brings upon you for past sins, and these too you should not despise.
כִּי הוּא יַכְאִיב וְיֶחְבָּשׁ יִמְחַץ וְיָדָו תִּרְפֶּינָה׃ (ה, יח) - "For He causes pain, but binds up; He wounds, but His hands heal" (5:18).
The verse addresses both of these categories. "For He causes pain, but binds up" - this refers to suffering intended to rectify the future, prompting one to repent. It is like a person who has a wound that is bandaged so that it does not spread or become infected, ensuring a small wound does not turn into a severe one. Hashem inflicts pain upon you, but does so to bandage the wound so that it will not worsen. "He wounds, but His hands heal" - this is a harsher blow, meant to atone for the past. The very hands that inflicted the suffering are the ones that heal the wound, like a physician who applies medicinal remedies to a patient's wound. The view among earlier generations was that a remedy that does not sting does not heal. One recalls when antiseptic washes first came out to replace iodine; and that old iodine, how it burned! When sting-free antiseptics were introduced, their benefit seemed doubtful to people, because when it burns, you feel that it is working, that it is disinfecting. So too, "He wounds" - He applies stinging remedies to the wounds, which hurts, but "His hands heal" - through this very pain, He brings healing. We see, then, that suffering has two purposes: to bandage the wound so it will not spread, meaning so that a person will not persist in his evil ways; and to heal him from the spiritual damage that has already spread within him, cleansing him of his sins.
Six Troubles That Save from the Seventh
בְּשֵׁשׁ צָרוֹת יַצִּילֶךָּ וּבְשֶׁבַע לֹא יִגַּע בְּךָ רָע׃ (ה, יט) - "In six troubles He will deliver you, and in seven no evil shall touch you" (5:19).
At times, the Holy One, blessed be He, afflicts the righteous person in order to cleanse a past sin or to set right the future, for "there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin," and even the righteous man needs purification. Moreover, he tells him: Know that six troubles will come upon you, and through these very six troubles "He will deliver you" - from what? From the seventh, which is the harshest of all. "And in seven no evil shall touch you." Thus, the afflictions you suffered were for your own good, for they delivered you from a far more terrible calamity. It was better for you to endure six troubles than to receive the seventh, which is the most severe of all.
בְּרָעָב פָּדְךָ מִמָּוֶת וּבְמִלְחָמָה מִידֵי חָרֶב׃ (ה, כ) - "In famine He has redeemed you from death, and in war from the power of the sword" (5:20).
Now he provides examples. Sometimes the Holy One, blessed be He, brings a famine, and through this very famine He redeems the person from death. The righteous man sits in his place without a morsel of bread. Master of the Universe! "I have not seen a righteous man forsaken, nor his seed begging bread," yet must I wander for food? Left with no choice, he gets up, gathers his belongings, and moves to another country. It is possible that, Heaven forbid, a grievance creeps into his heart: Why is Hashem not sustaining me here? Two weeks later, he hears on the news that an earthquake struck that country, all the houses were destroyed, and nothing remains of his home but piles of rubble. Then he says: Thank You, Master of the Universe, for bringing famine upon me! Were it not for the famine, I would have stayed there and died along with everyone else. "In famine He has redeemed you from death."
And sometimes, "and in war from the power of the sword." How so? A draft is declared, and he too is called up. He takes his rifle and his gear and heads out to battle. Meanwhile, another person lay in ambush waiting to kill him. Normally, a person does not leave home armed, but because he received an emergency call-up notice, he went out strapped with weapons. When the enemy ambushed him, he had a weapon in hand to defend himself. It turns out that the war, which is a negative thing, was for his benefit: he was called up to war so that he would be armed, and when that wicked person came to attack him, he was able to defend himself and kill his attacker.
בְּשׁוֹט לָשׁוֹן תֵּחָבֵא וְלֹא תִירָא מִשֹּׁד כִּי יָבוֹא׃ (ה, כא) - "You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not fear destruction when it comes" (5:21).
Sometimes a slanderer gains power over you, slandering you and speaking evil against you before the king and ministers, until they throw you into prison. It seems to you like a misfortune, but know that it is for the good: "And you shall not fear destruction when it comes." Devastation and ruin strike the city, yet you, hidden away in prison, are spared. An invading army arrives, conquers the city, and slaughters everyone. And who survives? The one in prison! The invaders did not have keys and could not enter, so they left and continued on their way. Thus, the affliction of prison became your shield.
לְשֹׁד וּלְכָפָן תִּשְׂחָק וּמֵחַיַּת הָאָרֶץ אַל תִּירָא׃ (ה, כב) - "At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and of the beasts of the earth you shall not be afraid" (5:22).
Kafan means famine. He tells him: If destruction and famine come, you will laugh, and you will not even fear the wild beasts of the land that are poised to ravage the city. For when you were in prison, you had no fear of wild beasts. It turns out that when famine came and I was forced to flee, or when they imprisoned me and I was forced to sit behind bars, it was salvation for me: the invading troop did not harm me, and I have no fear of wild beasts. The misfortune you sometimes suffer turns out to be for your benefit. As Chazal illustrate with a parable: two men wished to set sail on the sea; one stepped on a thorn in his foot and could not travel. He began cursing his misfortune: Why did this thorn pierce me? I missed the ship, I lost my merchandise! Sometime later, he heard that his fellow's ship had sunk at sea. Says the Midrash: You see that the thorn was for his good.
The Story of Rabbi Akiva
A story is recounted in the Yalkut Shimoni and in the Gemara in Berachot (60b) regarding Rabbi Akiva. He arrived at a town, but the residents refused to let him in, and no one offered him hospitality. Having no alternative, he went out to sleep in the field. He had with him a candle to study by, a donkey to ride on, and a rooster to serve as an alarm clock. A lion came and devoured the donkey, a cat came and ate the rooster, and the wind blew out the candle. He thought: As if all the troubles weren't enough, these three misfortunes pursued me too - I was left with no place to lodge, no donkey, no rooster, and no candle. In the morning, he went to enter the town to get something to eat, and it became clear to him that a band of raiders had passed through and killed all the townspeople. Had he been there, he would have died alongside them. Moreover, they had passed right near him: had the rooster crowed, they would have killed him as well; had they seen the candle, they would have killed him as well; and had the donkey brayed, they would have killed him as well. Thus, Hashem took from him the three things that could have betrayed his location, thereby saving Rabbi Akiva's life. This is Elifaz's argument: you can see that Hashem brings things upon a person that seem bad from his perspective, but know that they are truly for your benefit.
כִּי עִם אַבְנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה בְרִיתֶךָ וְחַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה הָשְׁלְמָה לָּךְ׃ (ה, כג) - "For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you" (5:23).
Through divine providence, you will be protected to the point of having a covenant even with the beasts, and the predatory animals will make peace with you and not harm you. This is what Moshe Rabbeinu says: "On palms they will bear you, lest your foot strike a stone," "You will tread upon lion and adder." And "the stones of the field" (avnei hasadeh) are a type of creature resembling a human being in form, like a baboon, connected by its navel to the ground and able to walk only within the radius of its umbilical cord. How was it killed? An arrow was shot at its navel, severing it; it would scream terrible cries and die. Presumably, because this creature was so restricted, it became extinct, and we do not have such creatures today, but there are descriptions of it in the words of Chazal and also in Sefer HaBris. And regarding the plague of wild beasts (Arov), it is written: "and also the ground upon which they are," which the commentators explain to mean that He also brought the avnei hasadeh upon them; and since this creature cannot survive without the earth to which it is attached by its navel, He brought the earth along with them to strike them.
Children, Life, and Sustenance - All Through Divine Providence
וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי שָׁלוֹם אׇהֳלֶךָ וּפָקַדְתָּ נָוְךָ וְלֹא תֶחֱטָא׃ (ה, כד) - "And you will know that your tent is at peace, and you will inspect your dwelling and find nothing missing."
Once you see that there is divine providence from the Holy One, blessed be He, and that matters do not stem from fortune or astrological systems, you will realize that even the three primary things regarding which Chazal said, "The matter depends not on merit but on fortune" - children, life, and sustenance (banei, chayei, and mezonei) - ultimately come through divine providence from Hashem. Corresponding to sustenance, which comprises household needs, food, drink, and clothing, it says: "And you will know that your tent is at peace" - you will lack nothing when Hashem watches over you. "And you will inspect your dwelling" - when you examine your home to see if anything is missing, "and you will not lack [velo techeta]," which is an expression of deficiency, as in "I and my son Solomon will be lacking [chata'im]" (Melachim I 1:21), meaning deprived. You will not suffer any lack whatsoever.
וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי רַב זַרְעֶךָ וְצֶאֱצָאֶיךָ כְּעֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ׃ (ה, כה) - "And you will know that your seed is numerous, and your offspring like the grass of the earth."
This corresponds to children: you will have children, and the older ones will grow and multiply, and your descendants will be fruitful and proliferate like the grass of the earth.
תָּבוֹא בְכֶלַח אֱלֵי קָבֶר כַּעֲלוֹת גָּדִישׁ בְּעִתּוֹ׃ (ה, כו) - "You will come to the grave in full vigor, like the harvesting of a sheaf in its season."
And this corresponds to life. You will be saved from pestilence, and as Rashi explains, "in full vigor [bekhelach]" is like a grain stack gathered when it is abundant and full. That is to say, you will enter the grave while still fresh - at an advanced age, but still vital, retaining your freshness; not like someone who has become completely frail and needs four people to move him, but like a person who has reached old age and eighty years, yet still stands in full strength.
"Hear It and Know It for Yourself" - Between Prophecy and Rational Inquiry
הִנֵּה זֹאת חֲקַרְנוּהָ כֶּן הִיא שְׁמָעֶנָּה וְאַתָּה דַע לָךְ׃ (ה, כז) - "Behold, this we have investigated, so it is; hear it, and know it for yourself."
Eliphaz says to him: At first, I told you that the afflictions of the righteous come to atone for sins and for areas where they fell short in their divine service, and that is why the Holy One, blessed be He, afflicts them - and that I told you through prophecy, as it was revealed to me "in disquieting thoughts from visions of the night." That is the primary reason, for I attained it through Ruach HaKodesh. But what I am explaining to you now - that suffering is intended to save you from future harm - that I tell you based on my own logic and intellectual perception. In my eyes, it is not the primary reason, as I derived it through investigation and contemplation. And such an explanation you are not obligated to accept, for what seems reasonable to my mind through investigation and contemplation does not necessarily have to be acceptable to yours, and it is possible that your reasoning and analysis will lead you to different conclusions. Therefore he says: "Behold, this we have investigated, so it is; hear it, and know it for yourself" - I advise you to investigate and contemplate this as well, and then decide for yourself whether my words are sound and should be accepted, or whether you reject them. But it is clear that this answer was not received from God, but rather stems from my own mind and intellectual perception.
In summary:
Eliphaz teaches Iyov that just as man's actions are partly through free choice and partly through divine providence, so too are his afflictions: there is suffering that a person brings upon himself through his conduct, his character traits, and his anger - and concerning this it is said, "For anger kills the foolish man"; and there is suffering that comes through divine providence, either to cleanse the past or to bring him to repentance for the future, which is "For He wounds, but binds up; He strikes, and His hands heal." Furthermore, at times the trouble itself is the salvation - six troubles that save from the seventh, famine that redeems from death, war that saves from the sword, and captivity that saves from devastation, like the story of the thorn that prevented a man from boarding a ship that sank, and like the story of Rabbi Akiva, where the loss of the candle, the donkey, and the rooster saved his life. From this it follows that children, life, and sustenance are likewise subject to the providence of the Holy One, Blessed be He. And finally, Eliphaz candidly acknowledges: the first reason he received through prophecy, whereas this second approach is the product of his own investigation and contemplation - "Hear it, and know it for yourself."