Elihu (biblical figure)
human biblical figure (Book of Job)
Elihu (Hebrew: אֱלִיהוּא, romanized: ʾĔlîhûʾ, 'my God is he') is a critic of Job and his three friends in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He is said to have been the son of Barachel and a descendant of Buz, who may have been from the line of Abraham (Genesis 22:20–21 mentions Buz as a nephew of Abraham).
Elihu's monologues
Towards the end of the book, Elihu is introduced in Job 32:2. His speeches comprise chapters 32–37, and he opens his discourse with more modesty than displayed by the other comforters. Elihu addresses Job by name (Job 33:1, 33:31, 37:14), and his words differ from those of the three friends in that his monologues discuss divine providence, which he insists is full of wisdom and mercy.
The narrator's preface Job 32:4–5 and Elihu's own words in Job 32:11 indicate that he has been listening intently to the conversation between Job and the other three men. He also admits his non-elder status (32:6–7). As Elihu's monologue reveals, his anger against the three older men was so strong he could not contain himself (32:2–4). An "angry young man", he is critical of both Job and his friends:I have words for a reply to you and your friends as well. Andrew B. Davidson argues that the "friends" (or companions) in this verse are not his three friends—Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar—but "most probably Job is considered here the centre of a circle of persons who cherished the same irreligious doubts in regard to God’s providence as he did".
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