Elihu Character Analysis in Book of Job

Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, mysteriously appears after Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar quit arguing with Job. Elihu is angry—both at Job for insisting upon his own righteousness, and at Job’s three friends for failing to answer him adequately. He says that until now, he’s refrained from speaking up out of respect for the older men in the group, but after listening to everyone else, he can no longer contain himself. Elihu argues that God afflicts people in order to bring them back from the brink of Sheol. In some ways, his arguments are similar to the three friends’ arguments, in that he claims that God always repays people according to their deeds and therefore it isn’t right for evildoers to claim they’re righteous in God’s sight; that, indeed, it’s arrogant for anyone to defend themselves before him. In another way, Elihu shifts the debate somewhat, focusing less on human righteousness or wickedness and more on God’s mighty works and unsearchable greatness (setting the stage for God himself to speak after Elihu says his piece).

Elihu Quotes in Book of Job

The Book of Job quotes below are all either spoken by Elihu or refer to Elihu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

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So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.

Related Characters: , , , , ,

Elihu Quotes in Book of Job

The Book of Job quotes below are all either spoken by Elihu or refer to Elihu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

).

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he. But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.

Related Characters: , , , , ,