We have come to the point in our study of the Book of Job, where we are introduced to Job’s friends, “Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite…” (Job 2:11). We don’t know much about them, but we know they loved and respected Job. They were his friends. They were also his peers. They, too, were wealthy and were considered wise, and sought to serve God, according to their understanding. Some scholars take the position that they are literary figures. That is the friends have roles to play and the author of the Book of Job causes them to live out their respective roles for the purpose of his literary work. Without denying the value of the roles the friends play, I take the position that Job was a real person, and if this is true, the friends must be real people, as well.
When the friends heard of Job’s troubles. they met together and decided to go to their friend and mourn with him and comfort him, which begs the question: ‘how did they find out, and how is it that they found out at the same time?’ The text doesn’t say, but it may be that satan sent for them, hence, “they made an appointment together…” (verse-11). These three men were truly Job’s friends, but their different approaches to the then dominant worldview, what one sows that shall he reap, were known to Job’s adversary. Thus, it is implied that they were together, when they were told of the calamities that had come upon their friend, and if this is logical and true, we must ask: where were they, when they heard the news? In our present context, that place must have been satan’s quarters, wherever that may have been (cp. Job 1:10; the land of the Sabeans or that of the Chaldeans).
The friends may have had business dealings with the satan, or he must have sent for them, and told them what occurred, hiding, of course, the part he played in Job’s undoing. No doubt they were unprepared for an immediate journey to visit Job, so “they made an appointment together” concerning where to meet and when (cp. Job 2:11). After the scheduled meeting took place, the three men traveled to Job’s city and asked where he was. When they were told, and after they stood outside the city’s gate and saw Job afar off, they simply didn’t recognize him. Originally, they may even have passed him by, if their journey to the city took them through that particular gate. Astonished at seeing their friend in such a state they wept and mourned with him, casting up dust upon their heads (Job 2:12).
There they sat with Job for seven days, seeing his great sorrow, they said nothing, but simply offered him the comfort of their presence (Job 2:13). No matter what is said or done later in the book, not a word of criticism was made for what they did for these seven days!
Thus, the stage is set for the rest of the Book of Job. What will Job do or say in response to the question of his own integrity? “Does Job serve God for nothing?” Is Job truly righteous, as the Lord claimed (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3) or self-righteous, righteous for the sake of gain, as the satan claimed (Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5; cp. 32:1)? What evidence can be shown for either conclusion? And, who wins the wager, as that pertains to the question of Job’s righteousness, and at the end of the day does it matter?
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