איוב, פרק כ״ג, פסוק א׳

Job's latest response emerges as a sharp reaction to the claims of his friend Eliphaz, pushing the debate over Divine providence and the suffering of the righteous into a new phase. He begins by expressing the depth of his difficult situation. This state is understood either as a profound bitterness that overwhelms him because he has found no one to offer comfort, or as a reference to the opposition and resistance his friends display toward his words. He feels a heavy weight pressing down on him, which represents either the severe physical toll of his afflictions or the crushing burden of his constant sighing that remains unrelieved [תקות אנוש].

Job then directly confronts two central arguments raised by Eliphaz. The first argument suggested that Job’s suffering was meant to test and purify him, implying that his devotion was not purely for its own sake but was motivated by the expectation of reward and the fear of punishment. In response, Job expresses a desperate longing to find God and stand before His throne of judgment [תקות אנוש]. He argues that it is inconceivable to be subjected to such absolute and severe torment simply for harboring an external hope for reward, especially since he actively kept God's commandments and refrained from doing evil. He remains certain that if he were to stand trial before God, his devotion would be proven pure. Even if fleeting thoughts of personal gain ever crossed his mind, he immediately returned to serving God purely. Consequently, Job concludes that his righteous nature was already known and predetermined by Divine knowledge. Therefore, rather than being rewarded, he feels he was left to chance and to a fate of suffering fixed from birth [מלבי״ם].

Next, Job dismantles Eliphaz's second argument, which justified the prosperity of the wicked by claiming that punishing them immediately would eliminate free will from the world. Job counters this by pointing to criminals who actively destroy society and shatter the peace of humanity without facing God's destruction. He reasons that if individual Divine providence truly existed, God would be obligated to protect innocent people from such destructive forces. Furthermore, Job highlights the existence of violent bandits who live in isolated areas and embark on murderous raids. If God were to punish these individuals secretly within their hidden dwellings, the masses would never know, and humanity's free will would remain completely intact. For Job, this glaring lack of Divine intervention only solidifies his conclusion that God does not oversee individual lives, but instead abandons everything to the natural order. Confronted with this bleak reality, Job cries out in despair, wishing he had never been brought into existence [מלבי״ם].