Elihu

Elihu, in the Hebrew Bible, a comforter of Job, the biblical prototype of undeserved suffering. Because Elihu’s speech, which appears in the Book of Job (chapters 32–37), differs in style from the rest of the work and because he is not mentioned elsewhere in it—as the other three comforters are—scholars consider his section to be a later interpolation, perhaps by a scribe who thought that the Book of Job’s subject matter ventured too close to blasphemy.

Elihu’s insights diverge from those of Zophar, Eliphaz, and Bildad, the three main comforters of Job. Rather than stressing the idea that suffering is a punishment for sinful actions, Elihu concentrates on Job’s sinful reaction to his undeserved suffering. Job, he says, reacts by questioning the justice of God’s ways and, indeed, takes a perverse pride in so doing. Instead, Job should recognize his suffering as a charitable discipline leading to reconciliation with God. In a statement that is unique for the comforters, Elihu also refers to a superhuman intermediary who will help restore Job to God. Elihu ends his arguments by stressing God’s omnipotence and justice.