וַיַּעַן אֱלִיפַז הַתֵּימָנִי וַיֹּאמַר׃

Elifaz the Temanite answered and said:

הֲנִסָּה דָבָר אֵלֶיךָ תִלְאֶה וַעְצֹר בְּמִלִּין מִי יוּכָל

What has happened to you? If a matter tries [hanissa] you, will you be enervated? Will you be weary and broken immediately after a test [nisayon], calamity, or other upheaval? Who can restrain his words? It is impossible to remain silent after hearing your comments.

הִנֵּה יִסַּרְתָּ רַבִּים וְיָדַיִם רָפוֹת תְּחַזֵּק

Behold, you have previously chastised many, advising them how to act, and you have strengthened feeble hands. When you enjoyed an elevated social standing, unfortunates turned to you, and you invariably lifted their spirits.

כּוֹשֵׁל יְקִימוּן מִלֶּיךָ וּבִרְכַּיִם כֹּרְעוֹת תְּאַמֵּץ

Your words have raised the weakened, and you have strengthened the unsteady knees of those too infirm to stand.

כִּי עַתָּה תָּבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ וַתֵּלֶא תִּגַּע עָדֶיךָ וַתִּבָּהֵל

But now it, suffering, comes upon you and you are enervated? It touches you and you panic? How is this possible?

הֲלֹא יִרְאָתְךָ כִּסְלָתֶךָ תִּקְוָתְךָ וְתֹם דְּרָכֶיךָ

Shouldn’t your reverence of God be your source of security [kislatekha] and stability, your hope and the virtuousness of your way? You can rely on your past perfect behavior. Kislatekha is based on the word kesalim, the flanks, which are the strongest and most stable part of an animal.

זְכָר נָא מִי הוּא נָקִי אָבָד וְאֵיפֹה יְשָׁרִים נִכְחָדוּ

Please remember, who is the innocent who perished? Was anyone who suffered ever entirely innocent? And where are the upright who were destroyed? You know that this is not the case.

כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי חֹרְשֵׁי אָוֶן וְזֹרְעֵי עָמָל יִקְצְרֻהוּ

According to what I have seen, they who plow, plan, iniquity and sow travail, sin, will reap them, will have to bear the results of their plots and deeds.

מִנִּשְׁמַת אֱלוֹהַּ יֹאבֵדוּ וּמֵרוּחַ אַפּוֹ יִכְלוּ

They will immediately perish merely by the angry breath of God, and from the blast of His wrath they will cease and be destroyed.

שַׁאֲגַת אַרְיֵה וְקוֹל שָׁחַל וְשִׁנֵּי כְפִירִים נִתָּעוּ

Even the initial manifestation of divine rage affects the strongest creatures, as immediately in response the roar of the lion and the voice of the great cat are heard, and the teeth of the lion cubs are broken.

לַיִשׁ אֹבֵד מִבְּלִי טָרֶף וּבְנֵי לָבִיא יִתְפָּרָדוּ

The lion [layish], another name for a lion, perhaps referring to a lion at some particular stage of its life or to a specific species of lion, in addition to the three names in the previous verse, perishes for lack of prey, and the young children of the lion, which remain together while they are young for protection, are scattered in a panic and are lost. When God roars, even those who consider themselves as strong as lions are broken and destroyed.

וְאֵלַי דָּבָר יְגֻנָּב וַתִּקַּח אָזְנִי שֵׁמֶץ מֶנְהוּ

Elifaz is indicating that he was imbued with a heavenly spirit. Here he describes a prophetic vision he received that referred to the secrets behind events that occur in the world. As is the case for other gentile prophets, his prophetic experience occurred in the middle of the night. A matter was smuggled to me, which I did not hear directly, and my ear received a trace, a slight hint of it.

בִּשְׂעִפִּים מֵחֶזְיוֹנוֹת לָיְלָה בִּנְפֹל תַּרְדֵּמָה עַל־אֲנָשִׁים

The source of my knowledge of heavenly matters is in thoughts that come from the dreamlike visions of the night. I heard these hints at a time when slumber falls on men.

פַּחַד קְרָאַנִי וּרְעָדָה וְרֹב עַצְמֹתַי הִפְחִיד

Fear summoned me, and trembling at the revelation; it made my many bones quake.

וְרוּחַ עַל־פָּנַי יַחֲלֹף תְּסַמֵּר שַׂעֲרַת בְּשָׂרִי

A heavenly spirit would pass before me; it would cause the hair of my flesh to bristle.

יַעֲמֹד וְלֹא־אַכִּיר מַרְאֵהוּ תְּמוּנָה לְנֶגֶד עֵינָי דְּמָמָה וקוֹל אֶשְׁמָע

I could tell that it, whatever it was, would stop, but I would not recognize its appearance. It was a form before my eyes, but I did not know what it was. I would hear silence and a voice. There was silence, and yet a voice came from within the silence.

הַאֱנוֹשׁ מֵאֱלוֹהַּ יִצְדָּק אִם־מֵעֹשֵׂהוּ יִטְהַר־גָּבֶר

The voice declared: Will a human be more just than God in a debate between them? Will a man be purer than his Maker?

הֵן בַּעֲבָדָיו לֹא יַאֲמִין וּבְמַלְאָכָיו יָשִׂים תָּהֳלָה

Behold, He does not trust even His servants, the angels and heavenly hosts, and to His angels He attributes misconduct, as He considers them blemished and does not rely on them.

אַף שֹׁכְנֵי בָתֵּי־חֹמֶר אֲשֶׁר־בֶּעָפָר יְסוֹדָם יְדַכְּאוּם לִפְנֵי עָשׁ

All the more so is He aware of the weaknesses of dwellers in houses of clay, the physical body, whose founding is in dust, who are made despondent and destroyed before, by means of, a moth.

מִבֹּקֶר לָעֶרֶב יֻכַּתּוּ מִבְּלִי מֵשִׂים לָנֶצַח יֹאבֵדוּ

From morning to evening they, people, are broken. What starts in the morning as a mere crack in their world can turn into a complete rupture by night. Forever unnoticed, they perish. They are lost forever without anyone paying attention to them.

הֲלֹא נִסַּע יִתְרָם בָּם יָמוּתוּ וְלֹא בְחָכְמָה

Hasn’t their remnant gone away from them? Alternatively, when God brings tragedy upon people, aren’t their remains scattered? They are ruined and eradicated, ultimately dying without wisdom. In his dispute with God, man, who is small and lowly in comparison, will never emerge triumphant.