Sometimes the most haunting moments of fear can drive us to search for truth, though they do not always reveal full understanding.
“Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.” (v.14)
In this passage, Job’s friend Eliphaz the Temanite describes a chilling experience that occurred during the night, one so frightening that it caused him to shake to the core. He lived in the land of Teman, believed to be in the region of Edom, which lay east of the Jordan (likely somewhere in the Fertile Crescent). Eliphaz speaks sometime after the flood and before Moses’s Law, during what scholars call the “Age of the Patriarchs”. In this single line, Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake (v.14), he confesses how the mysterious vision he experienced felt overwhelming and terrifying, making every fiber in his body quake with fear. This moment sets the stage for his upcoming counsel to Job, rooted in the assumption that spiritual events reflect moral reasoning.
Eliphaz’s vivid language conveys that he believed such supernatural dread signified a deeper lesson or warning. Throughout the Book of Job, we learn that Eliphaz—along with the other two friends—spoke many things about God and about Job’s suffering that were ultimately misguided. Later, the LORD chastises them, saying, “My wrath is kindled against you … because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (Job 42:7). Although Eliphaz sincerely seeks to explain God’s ways and use this night terror to guide Job, his counsel is limited by an assumption that calamity equals divine punishment. Audio echoes of Christ’s teaching centuries later remind us that suffering does not always indicate sin (John 9:1-3), but can serve as an opportunity for faith.
Eliphaz’s terror stands as a picture of how limited human wisdom can be when wrestling with divine mysteries.
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Job 4:14 meaning
“Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.” (v.14)
In this passage, Job’s friend Eliphaz the Temanite describes a chilling experience that occurred during the night, one so frightening that it caused him to shake to the core. He lived in the land of Teman, believed to be in the region of Edom, which lay east of the Jordan (likely somewhere in the Fertile Crescent). Eliphaz speaks sometime after the flood and before Moses’s Law, during what scholars call the “Age of the Patriarchs”. In this single line, Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake (v.14), he confesses how the mysterious vision he experienced felt overwhelming and terrifying, making every fiber in his body quake with fear. This moment sets the stage for his upcoming counsel to Job, rooted in the assumption that spiritual events reflect moral reasoning.
Eliphaz’s vivid language conveys that he believed such supernatural dread signified a deeper lesson or warning. Throughout the Book of Job, we learn that Eliphaz—along with the other two friends—spoke many things about God and about Job’s suffering that were ultimately misguided. Later, the LORD chastises them, saying, “My wrath is kindled against you … because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (Job 42:7). Although Eliphaz sincerely seeks to explain God’s ways and use this night terror to guide Job, his counsel is limited by an assumption that calamity equals divine punishment. Audio echoes of Christ’s teaching centuries later remind us that suffering does not always indicate sin (John 9:1-3), but can serve as an opportunity for faith.
Eliphaz’s terror stands as a picture of how limited human wisdom can be when wrestling with divine mysteries.