We are entering Chapter 15 of Sefer Iyov, which contains the eighth response: the response of Eliphaz the Temanite. As is our custom, we will first outline Eliphaz's general message, and then we will examine the text itself verse by verse.
Until now, the debate revolved around the question of tzaddik vera lo - the righteous person who suffers. Iyov argued: I am righteous, yet I suffer; give me an explanation. To this, the friends countered: Are you truly righteous? What is considered "bad"? Perhaps you harbor hidden sins, or perhaps higher demands are placed upon you, and failing to achieve what is expected of you is reckoned as a sin. That was the focus of the preceding chapters.
Here, however, Iyov raised an entirely new question: rasha vetov lo - the wicked person who prospers. All your answers may be satisfactory - according to your perspective, at least - regarding the suffering of the righteous. But what explanation can you give for the prosperity of the wicked? What could you say, that he is not truly wicked, but only gives the impression of being so? It is far harder to defend a wicked person than it is to find flaws in a righteous one. Regarding a righteous person, one could argue: That is merely on the surface; he is not truly righteous. But what can you say about a wicked person? That he is not truly a thief? That he did not truly murder? His deeds are public and well-known.
Eliphaz's claim is that the success of the wicked is not genuine success. Notice the logic: with a suffering righteous person, one cannot say that the suffering is unreal, since he feels it acutely; therefore, the friends answered that his righteousness is not complete. But when dealing with a wicked person who prospers, one cannot say that his wickedness is unreal, because the wickedness is undeniable. What, then, is unreal? The "good" is unreal. That is Eliphaz's line of argument: outwardly, you see that the wicked person prospers, amassing wealth, property, and apparent happiness. But know that deep down, he is constantly gripped by fear. It perpetually seems to him as though a sword is pursuing him, as though someone is trying to steal his wealth, as though calamities, bandits, and ruin lurk in wait, with everyone coveting what he owns. Consequently, he has no peace in his wealth and no genuine joy in his possessions - it only seems that way from the outside.
Today, this is easy for us to understand. We see actors, celebrities, and famous figures, and ask: Do they have good lives? It seems that hardly anyone still believes they lead good lives. Everyone knows that many are miserable and depressed, living on pills, sleeping pills, and anti-anxiety medications. They have no tranquil home, no joy from their children; there are endless conflicts, third or fourth marriages, non-stop lawsuits against various companies. They have neither peace nor tranquility, constantly running, flying, and restless. Would anyone trade places for such a life? Or do you say: "Better a dry crust of bread with peace and quiet"?
This is precisely Eliphaz's argument to Iyov: Do not look at the outer veneer of those wealthy, wicked people who appear to be doing well. Know that deep inside, the wicked man is eaten away by fear, perpetually worried and anxious lest someone take away his wealth, wondering what he stands to lose and what will happen to him. And why is this so? This is the punishment Hashem inflicts upon the wicked: that he should always be plagued by fear and trembling. For what is true success? Peace of mind, joy of the heart, serenity of spirit. "Better a dry crust of bread with peace and quiet" - that is surely better than all else.
Who today would want to trade places with a former prime minister standing trial? One would not want his money, nor his five apartments, nor anything at all. Just give a person his modest apartment, his quiet, his home, and his children. Who wants media scrutiny? Who wants the noise? Who wants the peak when he was riding high, or the abyss when he fell? What is truly good for a person? Shelomo said: "Better a dry crust of bread with peace and quiet." Let a person have his own little corner, in quiet and tranquility. Anyone who has ever faced a trial knows what a person goes through on the inside. Even an ordinary person facing traffic court or a minor financial lawsuit has no peace and cannot sleep at night. How intensely he longs to get out of that situation, to return to tranquility, to put his head on the pillow and fall asleep like a child. That is what a person truly yearns for. True success is having a good life, a zest for life, genuine happiness. Notice that whenever people speak of the wealthy, they ask: "Where is the happiness?" Because man's ultimate aspiration is happiness, and wealth does not guarantee happiness. Wealth only guarantees that one can navigate life with greater physical ease.
And this is what he tells him: As for the wicked person - it appears to you that things are good for him, but in truth they are not good; he has no peace of mind. What seems to you to be success is merely an outer coating, while inside everything is rotting. And so it was with you as well, Iyov. For according to Eliphaz's view, Iyov was a sinner, and therefore, even during his period of serenity, what was inside him? Fear. Indeed, Iyov himself testified: "For the fear that I feared has come upon me" - I was always afraid that everything here was precarious and that I was about to fall, and in the end, it indeed came. Thus, says Eliphaz: You see that Hashem gave you that inner fear even back then.
At the outset of his words, Eliphaz rebukes Iyov for denying reward in the World to Come and the resurrection of the dead. This denial contains two parts: one is that the dead will live again, and the other, which precedes it, is Gan Eden and Gehinnom - the immortality of the soul. Iyov denied both. Eliphaz comes and tells him: Even if you deny the resurrection of the dead, you have no argument against the immortality of the soul. You argue: How can a person rise again after having decayed and perished? Set that aside; that is a challenge against physical resurrection. But the soul is eternal; it does not wear out. You argue that one who descends to the grave knows nothing more - that applies to the body, but there is also a soul. Fundamentally, success and happiness are matters of the soul, not matters of the body. Therefore, even according to your view that the body has no continuation, the soul certainly endures.
He further debates him regarding Iyov's claim that man lacks free choice and is compelled in his actions. Elifaz seeks to prove to him that man does indeed possess free choice and is not compelled in his actions by Hashem. The primary proof is this: every rational person instinctively feels that he is free in his choice. If someone tells me to lift a cup and I lift it - why did I lift it? Because he forced me by telling me to do so, or because I decided to? Any rational person who lifts the cup feels within himself: I lifted it because I decided to lift it, and now I decide to set it down, so I set it down. In simple terms, there is straightforward common sense here, a basic intuition that requires no proofs, evidence, or philosophical treatises: I spoke because I wanted to speak, and if I wish to remain silent, I will remain silent. I slapped you because I chose to, and had I wanted to, I could have given you a hundred shekels for tzedakah instead of that slap, which is a sin and iniquity. Thus, the matter is entirely in my hands. What are you talking about, Iyov, when you speak of compelled actions? Do you not feel within yourself that your actions are subject to your own decision - if you want, you do it, and if you do not want, you do not?
Consequently, if man is free in his actions, he must pay a price for any wrong deed he commits. It follows, therefore, that you too, Iyov, are held accountable for misdeeds, for it is impossible for a person never to sin: "For there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin." Hashem is merely penalizing you with a temporary punishment in this world instead of the World to Come, which is an eternal world.
In essence, this is what he had already answered him in the first exchange, but there Iyov understood that it referred to the body, and therefore focused his response on the body, arguing that the body does not return to life. Now Elifaz focuses on the soul: even if you argue that the body is lost, suffering comes to save you from spiritual excision (karet), so that your soul is not severed from its supernal Root - and that is the purpose of suffering. For regarding the body, Iyov had claimed: You tell me that Hashem will grant me goodness in the future, but I have no interest in that. If You give me fifty bad years followed by fifty good years - I would rather forfeit the fifty bad years. Give me the fifty good years right away and take me afterward. Why do I need to be given fifty bad years in the middle just to receive fifty good ones in exchange at the end? I have no interest in such a trade. Elifaz comes along and argues: Know that there is reward for the soul, and the life of the soul is eternal. Fifty bad years, or even a thousand bad years, are as nothing compared to eternal life, and eternal life is the life of the soul. This is the answer to Iyov's claim that He should grant him good life directly without evil in between: evil comes to atone for sins, for otherwise you would face evil for all eternity - and it is far better to receive this suffering now on a temporary basis.
Beyond this: if until now Elifaz regarded Iyov as someone guilty merely of minor sin, someone who did not serve Hashem out of love, or someone held to strict scrutiny on slight imperfections, from here on he considers him a complete rasha. Why? Once you deny all the cornerstones of faith, the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead, and open your mouth against Hashem - that is outright wickedness. Suddenly it becomes clear that this is not an unintentional misstep, but grave transgressions.
And if you say: All of this happened only after I began to suffer, so why was suffering brought upon me in the first place, seeing that I never spoke like this beforehand? To this Elifaz counters: From the fluency and polish of your speech, I see that these ideas have been brewing inside you for a very long time. When I challenge someone with a question and he responds with an organized answer, in articulate and elevated language, I see that he has done his homework and came prepared. So says Elifaz: From the way you answer, I realize these are matters you have been mulling over for a long time, well before the suffering began. If so, even back then you were already a rasha; even back then heresy resided within you. This is not a case of "I was struck, so I cried out"; rather, it is evident that your thoughts were already well-ordered.
Furthermore, he mocks Iyov's folly in lodging complaints against the Master of the Universe: Why did You create man? Look at how man suffers; see how many troubles he endures! To what may this be compared? To a factory that has manufactured ten thousand cars to date, and one specific car had defects and damage and caused endless trouble. A person comes along and tells the factory owner: Why did you create cars? Look, cars are nothing but suffering; see how much trouble this one caused! Should the factory be shut down just on your account? After all, there are thousands of other people for whom we produced cars, and they bless us morning and evening. You step into the middle of creation and ask: Why did You create man? Yet the entire world thanks Hashem for being alive, and if a person did not appreciate being alive, he would have already left this world. Look how tenaciously a person clings to life when his time comes to depart from the world. Everyone thanks Hashem that they are alive, yet you suddenly come along and ask: Why give life at all, why live when it is only evil - as if you reinvented the wheel.
Having seen the general outline, let us now examine the text of the verses.
וַיַּעַן אֱלִיפַז הַתֵּימָנִי וַיֹּאמַר. הֶחָכָם יַעֲנֶה דַעַת־רוּחַ וִימַלֵּא קָדִים בִּטְנוֹ. - Elifaz the Temanite answered and said: Does a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
Eliphaz says to him: A wise man must consider two things. First, that his words be spoken with wisdom, so that he does not speak vanity and folly. Second, that even if he speaks with wisdom, his words must serve a constructive purpose. He must not utter words that have no utility, and all the more so words that cause harm. Corresponding to speaking with wisdom, he says: "Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge?" Is it conceivable that a wise man should answer with words of wind and foolishness? Is such a thing proper? And not only is it inappropriate for him to speak words of wind, but even within his thoughts it is unfitting for him to harbor vain ideas. This is the meaning of "and fill his belly with the east wind" - "east wind" like a scorched desert blast, and "his belly" refers to his inner being: even in his inward parts it is unfitting for him to entertain vain thoughts, not only in his speech.
הוֹכֵחַ בְּדָבָר לֹא יִסְכּוֹן וּמִלִּים לֹא־יוֹעִיל בָּם. - Should he argue with words that do not profit, and with talk in which there is no benefit?
This corresponds to the second condition: utility. A wise man does not argue over something from which no benefit will emerge. This is something that often requires careful attention. There are people who simply love to argue; it is human nature: you offer an explanation, and the person feels compelled to attack what you said; you offer another explanation, and he attacks from another angle, and then from yet another side. A wise man does not enter such a dispute, because he asks: What is the purpose? You will not succeed in convincing him. And if you say, "But I have words of wisdom and reason" - that is not enough. A wise man considers two things: that his words be words of wisdom and reason, and that some benefit will emerge from the debate.
All the more so, he will not argue in a situation where harm will result. For example, someone is reviling and insulting a certain person, and I want to demonstrate to him that this person is decent and upright. My words may be words of wisdom, but will any good come of them? There are people with whom proving that the person is decent will only fuel their fire to prove to me how wicked he is: "Let me tell you what happened two days ago; let me tell you what happened with his mother and his father." In such a situation, true wisdom is to remain silent.
This is the meaning of "Should he argue with words that do not profit [yiscon]" - what is the point of rebuking, meaning arguing, about something from which no benefit will come? Yiscon is related to benefit or utility, as in the phrase "and let her be a companion [sochenet] to him" (I Melachim 1:2), and as in "one who chops wood warms [yisachen] himself with it" (Kohelet 10:9) - where some explain it as warming, that the woodchopper is warmed by that wood, and like Rashi's explanation of sochenet as warming, but here it means utility and benefit. And not only is there no constructive substance, but "and with talk in which there is no benefit": the very form of expression must also be productive, yet even the words you use provide no benefit, neither in the substance of the arguments nor in their phrasing.
אַף־אַתָּה תָּפֵר יִרְאָה וְתִגְרַע שִׂיחָה לִפְנֵי־אֵל. - Indeed, you undermine fear of God, and diminish prayer before God.
Here he demonstrates to him how pointless his words are, and worse, that actual harm results from them. "Indeed, you undermine fear of God" - when you come and claim that Hashem does not supervise the world, that there is no Divine Providence (hashgachah pratis) and Hashem does not watch over human actions, do you not thereby destroy the fear of God among people? People who until now possessed fear of Heaven (yiras Shamayim) and revered the deeds of Hashem - by what you have said, you cause them to lose their reverence, for Iyov asserted that there is no reward and punishment and no free will. It follows, then: not only do your words lack utility, they cause immense damage. And regarding the words themselves, he says, "and diminish prayer before God" - your discourse is degraded, it is deficient and disrespectful before God. How can you speak this way before the Almighty?
כִּי יְאַלֵּף עֲוֺנְךָ פִיךָ וְתִבְחַר לְשׁוֹן עֲרוּמִים. - For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
He says to him: I see that your iniquity has trained your mouth, meaning that you express these ideas with such fluency, like someone expert and well practiced, as though the words were trained into your mouth. Aleph denotes teaching or training, as in "I will teach you [aalefcha] wisdom" (Iyov 33:33) and "I will teach you understanding" - that is, learned and practiced. And "you choose the tongue of the crafty" - you have a distinct vocabulary, the language of philosophers. From this I understand that these notions did not just arise in you now; rather, these are matters you have been grinding over for many days.
יַרְשִׁיעֲךָ פִיךָ וְלֹא־אָנִי וּשְׂפָתֶיךָ יַעֲנוּ־בָךְ. - Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.
From this you understand that there is no need for me to condemn you, nor is there any need for me to search for your faults. Your own mouth, which speaks such harsh words against the Creator of the world in such rich language and in such an impressive manner, proves to me how many years these things have lived inside you, and how much you have rehearsed them. There is no need for me to find iniquity in you: the eloquence and the manner in which you speak are themselves the greatest proof of your iniquity, and that you have harbored rebellious thoughts against Hashem for a very long time - "and your lips testify against you."
Eliphaz's response in chapter 15 revolves around the question of "the wicked who prospers" raised by Iyov, and his answer is that the success of the wicked is merely an illusion: on the outside there is wealth and possessions, but inside there is fear, dread, and a lack of tranquility, which is itself his punishment. True success is peace of mind and joy of the heart - "Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it." Furthermore, he rebukes Iyov for his denial of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead, answering that the soul's reward is eternal, and therefore temporary suffering comes to save the soul from being cut off; he proves from simple logic that man possesses free will and therefore bears responsibility for his deeds; and he scoffs at the complaint "why did You create man," for the entire world thanks Hashem for its life. At the outset of his words, he establishes the two conditions for the speech of a wise man: that his words be spoken with wisdom and that they produce constructive benefit - and Iyov failed on both counts, for his words undermine fear of God and cause harm. Finally, Eliphaz proves the depth of Iyov's wickedness from his sheer fluency: from the fact that his words are so well-trained and arranged in his mouth, he deduces that they have been brewing inside him for a long time, even before his afflictions - "Your own mouth condemns you, and not I."