The Book of Job

1. What external things defined Job's identity and success before his losses?

2. Why does Satan believe Job's faithfulness depends on his good circumstances?

3. What three different responses to Job's suffering do we see in this chapter, and how does each person handle watching someone they care about in crisis?

4. Why do you think Job's friends chose to sit in silence for seven days instead of immediately trying to comfort him with words?

5. What specific things does Job wish for when he breaks his silence, and how do these wishes reveal the depth of his pain?

6. Why do you think Job waited seven days to speak, and what does his explosive response tell us about suppressing overwhelming emotions?

7. What shift happens in Eliphaz's speech from the beginning to the end?

8. Why does Eliphaz need to believe that Job deserves his suffering?

9. What specific advice does Eliphaz give Job, and what assumptions is he making about why Job is suffering?

10. Why does Eliphaz need to believe that Job must have done something wrong? What would it mean for Eliphaz's worldview if good people could suffer for no reason?

11. What does Job compare his grief to, and why does he say his words come out wrong?

12. How does Job's metaphor about seasonal streams describe what his friends have become?

13. What specific changes happen in Job's approach to expressing his pain in this chapter?

14. Why does Job compare himself to a day laborer counting hours until quitting time, and what does this reveal about his mental state?

15. What specific advice does Bildad give Job, and how does he justify his harsh words about Job's children?